gainst those wily Norman
minds, he replied to the questions put to him on the nature of Madame de
Dey's illness in a manner that hoodwinked the community. He related to a
gouty old dame, that Madame de Dey had almost died of a sudden attack of
gout in the stomach, but had been relieved by a remedy which the famous
doctor, Tronchin, had once recommended to her,--namely, to apply the
skin of a freshly-flayed hare on the pit of the stomach, and to remain
in bed without making the slightest movement for two days. This tale had
prodigious success, and the doctor of Carentan, a royalist "in petto,"
increased its effect by the manner in which he discussed the remedy.

Nevertheless, suspicions had taken too strong a root in the minds of
some obstinate persons, and a few philosophers, to be thus dispelled;
so that all Madame de Dey's usual visitors came eagerly and early that
evening to watch her countenance: some out of true friendship, but most
of them to detect the secret of her seclusion.

They found the countess seated as usual, at the corner of the great
fireplace in her salon, a room almost as unpretentious as the other
salons in Carentan; for, in order not to wound the narrow view of her
guests, she denied herself the luxuries to which she was accustomed.
The floor of her reception room was not even waxed, the walls were
still hung with dingy tapestries; she used the country furniture,
burned tallow candles, and followed the customs of the town,--adopting
provincial life, and not shrinking from its pettiness or its many
disagreeable privations. Knowing, however, that her guests would pardon
luxuries if provided for their own comfort, she neglected nothing which
conduced to their personal enjoyment, and gave them, more especially,
excellent dinners.

Toward seven o'clock on this memorable evening, her guests were all
assembled in a wide circle around the fireplace. The mistress of the
house, sustained in her part by the sympathizing glances of the old
merchant, submitted with wonderful courage to the minute questioning and
stupid, or frivolous, comments of her visitors. At every rap upon her
door, every footfall echoing in the street, she hid her emotions by
starting topics relating to the interests of the town, and she raised
such a lively discussion on the quality of ciders, which was ably
seconded by the old merchant, that the company almost forgot to
watch her, finding her countenance quite natural, and her composur