; they
admitted no visitors; Madame lived on the ground-floor, and Monsieur on
the first floor. When the Countess was left alone, she was never seen
excepting at church. Subsequently, at home, at the chateau, she refused
to see the friends, whether gentlemen or ladies, who went to call on
her. She was already very much altered when she left la Grande Breteche
to go to Merret. That dear lady--I say dear lady, for it was she who
gave me this diamond, but indeed I saw her but once--that kind lady was
very ill; she had, no doubt, given up all hope, for she died without
choosing to send for a doctor; indeed, many of our ladies fancied she
was not quite right in her head. Well, sir, my curiosity was strangely
excited by hearing that Madame de Merret had need of my services. Nor
was I the only person who took an interest in the affair. That very
night, though it was already late, all the town knew that I was going to
Merret.

"'The waiting-woman replied but vaguely to the questions I asked her on
the way; nevertheless, she told me that her mistress had received the
Sacrament in the course of the day at the hands of the Cure of Merret,
and seemed unlikely to live through the night. It was about eleven when
I reached the chateau. I went up the great staircase. After crossing
some large, lofty, dark rooms, diabolically cold and damp, I reached the
state bedroom where the Countess lay. From the rumors that were current
concerning this lady (monsieur, I should never end if I were to repeat
all the tales that were told about her), I had imagined her a coquette.
Imagine, then, that I had great difficulty in seeing her in the great
bed where she was lying. To be sure, to light this enormous room, with
old-fashioned heavy cornices, and so thick with dust that merely to see
it was enough to make you sneeze, she had only an old Argand lamp. Ah!
but you have not been to Merret. Well, the bed is one of those old world
beds, with a high tester hung with flowered chintz. A small table stood
by the bed, on which I saw an "Imitation of Christ," which, by the
way, I bought for my wife, as well as the lamp. There were also a deep
armchair for her confidential maid, and two small chairs. There was no
fire. That was all the furniture, not enough to fill ten lines in an
inventory.

"'My dear sir, if you had seen, as I then saw, that vast room, papered
and hung with brown, you would have felt yourself transported into a
scene of a romance. It was