trong an
impulse to kill seized him that he would have thrown himself upon the
first passer-by. He was of small stature, very dark, with a retreating
forehead, an aquiline face with a large nose and a very short chin, and
his left cheek was noticeably larger than his right. And the doctor had
obtained miraculous results with this victim of emotional insanity, who
for a month past had had no attack. The nurse, indeed being questioned,
answered that Sarteur had become quiet and was growing better every day.

"Do you hear, Clotilde?" cried Pascal, enchanted. "I have not the time
to see him this evening, but I will come again to-morrow. It is my
visiting day. Ah, if I only dared; if she were young still--"

His eyes turned toward Aunt Dide. But Clotilde, whom his enthusiasm made
smile, said gently:

"No, no, master, you cannot make life anew. There, come. We are the
last."

It was true; the others had already gone. Macquart, on the threshold,
followed Felicite and Maxime with his mocking glance as they went away.
Aunt Dide, the forgotten one, sat motionless, appalling in her leanness,
her eyes again fixed upon Charles with his white, worn face framed in
his royal locks.

The drive back was full of constraint. In the heat which exhaled from
the earth, the landau rolled on heavily to the measured trot of the
horses. The stormy sky took on an ashen, copper-colored hue in the
deepening twilight. At first a few indifferent words were exchanged;
but from the moment in which they entered the gorges of the Seille all
conversation ceased, as if they felt oppressed by the menacing walls of
giant rock that seemed closing in upon them. Was not this the end of the
earth, and were they not going to roll into the unknown, over the edge
of some abyss? An eagle soared by, uttering a shrill cry.

Willows appeared again, and the carriage was rolling lightly along the
bank of the Viorne, when Felicite began without transition, as if she
were resuming a conversation already commenced.

"You have no refusal to fear from the mother. She loves Charles dearly,
but she is a very sensible woman, and she understands perfectly that it
is to the boy's advantage that you should take him with you. And I must
tell you, too, that the poor boy is not very happy with her, since,
naturally, the husband prefers his own son and daughter. For you ought
to know everything."

And she went on in this strain, hoping, no doubt, to persuade Maxime and
draw a