evidently hesitated. She paused, as one always does
before venturing upon a decisive act, from which there will be no
return, whatever may be the consequences. An observer never remains
twenty minutes before a letter-box without witnessing this pantomime so
expressive of irresolution. At last, however, she shrugged her
shoulders with a gesture which eloquently expressed the result of her
deliberations; and drawing a letter from her bosom, she dropped it into
the box, and then hastened on more quickly than before.

"There is not the slightest doubt," thought the doctor, "that letter had
been prepared in advance, and whether it should be sent or not depended
on the answer I gave."

We have already said that M. Jodon was not a wealthy man, and yet
he would willingly have given a hundred-franc note to have known the
contents of this letter, or even the name of the person to whom it was
addressed. But his chase was almost ended. Madame Leon had reached the
Hotel de Chalusse, and now went in. Should he follow her? His curiosity
was torturing him to such a degree that he had an idea of doing so;
and it required an heroic effort of will to resist the temptation
successfully. But a gleam of common sense warned him that this would
be a terrible blunder. Once already during the evening his conduct had
attracted attention; and he began to realize that there was a better
way of winning confidence than by intruding almost forcibly into other
people's affairs. Accordingly he thoughtfully retraced his steps,
feeling intensely disgusted with himself. "What a fool I am!" he
grumbled. "If I had kept the old woman in suspense, instead of blurting
out the truth, I might have learned the real object of her visit; for
she had an object. But what was it?"

The doctor spent the two hours that remained to him before making his
second visit in trying to discover it. But, although nothing prevented
him from exploring the boundless fields of improbable possibilities, he
could think of nothing satisfactory. There was only one certain point,
that Madame Leon and Mademoiselle Marguerite were equally interested in
the question as to whether the count would regain consciousness or not.
As to their interests in the matter, the doctor felt confident that
they were not identical; he was persuaded that a secret enmity
existed between them, and that the housekeeper had visited him without
Mademoiselle Marguerite's knowledge. For he was not deceived by Mad