, her complete
enjoyment, were remarked by more than one of her acquaintances; she
danced one dance with her lover, and with another young man made an
engagement for the following week.

Meanwhile, at the Rue de Boulogne, Gaudry sat and waited in the widow's
bedroom. From the window he could see the gate and the lights of the cab
that was to bring the revellers home. The hours passed slowly. He tried
to read the volume of Montaigne where Georges had left it open, but the
words conveyed little to him, and he fell asleep. Between two and three
o'clock in the morning he was waked by the noise of wheels. They had
returned. He hurried downstairs and took up his position in the shadow
of one of the pavilions. As Georges de Saint Pierre walked up the drive
alone, for the widow had stayed behind to fasten the gate, he thought he
saw the figure of a man in the darkness. The next moment he was blinded
by the burning liquid flung in his face. The widow had brought down her
pigeon.

At first she would seem to have succeeded perfectly in her attempt.
Georges was injured for life, the sight of one eye gone, that of the
other threatened, his face sadly disfigured. Neither he nor anyone
else suspected the real author of the crime. It was believed that the
unfortunate man had been mistaken for some other person, and made by
accident the victim of an act of vengeance directed against another.
Georges was indeed all the widow's now, lodged in her own house to
nurse and care for. She undertook the duty with every appearance of
affectionate devotion. The unhappy patient was consumed with gratitude
for her untiring solicitude; thirty nights she spent by his bedside. His
belief in her was absolute. It was his own wish that she alone should
nurse him. His family were kept away, any attempts his relatives or
friends made to see or communicate with him frustrated by the zealous
widow.

It was this uncompromising attitude on her part toward the friends of
Georges, and a rumour which reached the ears of one of them that she
intended as soon as possible to take her patient away to Italy, that
sounded the first note of danger to her peace of mind. This friend
happened to be acquainted with the son of one of the Deputy Public
Prosecutors in Paris. To that official he confided his belief that there
were suspicious circumstances in the case of Georges de Saint Pierre.
The judicial authorities were informed and the case placed in the hands
of an exa