ly to his law-agent, expressing
his satisfaction at the manner in which he had conducted his suit,
and to the person who had procured admission for the poor woman into
the hospital of incurables, thanking him for his kindness.

'For some time he thought no more of the matter; however, he one day
received a letter from his agent, telling him that the director had
become a bankrupt, and had fled; that no one knew where he was; and
to increase his dislike to the man, he added, that during three days
that his flight was unknown, because he said he was only going into
the country, the patients had neither bread nor broth, and that only
for some charitable individuals in the neighbourhood who had sent
them relief, most of them must have died; and that it was probable
some of them would die from the effects of their sufferings, and from
their dismay at hearing that the hospital was likely to fall to the
ground. He said it had obtained some respite, as the gentry in the
town and neighbourhood had given great assistance; but it was all
insufficient, and they were obliged to discharge the least suffering;
that they left the hospital in tears; and that several who lived in
distant villages had fallen on the road from weakness and
disappointment. All these details began to make Monsieur de Marne
very uneasy. The agent added at the end of his letter: "Every one
observed that the director had neither order nor economy: for a long
time the affairs of the hospital have been in a bad state, and the
loss of the suit has completed it." Then Monsieur de Marne felt his
conscience reproach him for what he had done: he pictured to himself
those unfortunate people leaving the hospital in tears, sinking
with weakness and grief, and perhaps calling for curses upon him. He
thought of the three days that they had been without either bread or
broth, and he fancied he saw their pale and emaciated countenances,
and began to consider each of them individually, as you just now
began to consider the trees of the forest. There was not one of them
that he would not have shed his blood to save. He could not endure
the idea of all the evil which he had caused them, and endeavoured to
throw all the blame upon the director. He wrote to his agent,
desiring him to send relief to a considerable amount, and as soon as
it was possible, he set off himself to this estate, where he had not
been for a long time. On his arrival, he repaired to the town where
the hospi