nt at not feeling more in touch with the
husband whom she had so sincerely regretted. She remembered also, as if
she saw it for the first time, that Martin, formerly quick, lively, and
hasty tempered, now seemed thoughtful, and fully master of himself.

This change of character she had supposed due to the natural development
of age, she now trembled at the idea of another possible cause. Some
other little details began to occur to her mind--the forgetfulness or
abstraction of her husband as to a few insignificant things; thus it
sometimes happened that he did not answer to his name of Martin, also
that he mistook the road to a hermitage, formerly well known to them
both, and again that he could not answer when addressed in Basque,
although he him self had taught her the little she knew of this
language. Besides, since his return, he would never write in her
presence, did he fear that she would notice some difference? She had
paid little or no attention to these trifles; now, pieced together, they
assumed an alarming importance. An appalling terror seized Bertrande:
was she to remain in this uncertainty, or should she seek an explanation
which might prove her destruction? And how discover the truth--by
questioning the guilty man, by noting his confusion, his change of
colour, by forcing a confession from him? But she had lived with him
for two years, he was the father of her child, she could not ruin him
without ruining herself, and, an explanation once sought, she could
neither punish him and escape disgrace, nor pardon him without sharing
his guilt. To reproach him with his conduct and then keep silence would
destroy her peace for ever; to cause a scandal by denouncing him would
bring dishonour upon herself and her child. Night found her involved in
these hideous perplexities, too weak to surmount them; an icy chill came
over her, she went to bed, and awoke in a high fever. For several days
she hovered between life and death, and Martin Guerre bestowed the most
tender care upon her. She was greatly moved thereby, having one of those
impressionable minds which recognise kindness fully as much as injury.
When she was a little recovered and her mental power began to return,
she had only a vague recollection of what had occurred, and thought she
had had a frightful dream. She asked if Pierre Guerre had been to
see her, and found he had not been near the house. This could only be
explained by the scene which had taken place,