ed her to pass into the adjoining room. Then,
standing by the side of the bed, he remained for a moment deliberating
whether it would be better to awaken Guiche, in order to acquaint him
with the good news. But as he began to hear behind the door the rustling
of the silk dresses and the hurried breathing of his two companions,
and as he already saw that the curtain which hung before the doorway
seemed on the point of being impatiently drawn aside, he passed round
the bed and followed the nurse into the next room. As soon as he had
disappeared, the curtain was raised, and his two female companions
entered the room he had just left. The one who entered the first made a
gesture to her companion which riveted her to the spot where she stood,
close to the door, and then resolutely advanced toward the bed, drew
back the curtains along the iron rod, and threw them in thick folds
behind the head of the bed. She gazed upon the comte's pallid face,
remarked his right hand enveloped in linen whose dazzling whiteness was
increased by the counterpane covered with dark leaves which was thrown
across a portion of the sick couch. She shuddered as she saw a spot of
blood becoming larger and larger upon the linen bandages. The young
man's white chest was quite uncovered, as if the cool night air would
assist his respiration. A small bandage fastened the dressings of the
wound, around which a bluish circle of extravasated blood was gradually
increasing in size. A deep sigh broke from her lips. She leaned against
one of the columns of the bed, and gazed, through the holes in her mask,
upon the harrowing spectacle before her. A hoarse harsh sigh passed like
a death rattle through the comte's clenched teeth. The masked lady
seized his left hand, which felt as scorching as burning coals. But at
the very moment she placed her icy hand upon it, the action of the cold
was such that De Guiche opened his eyes, and by a look in which revived
intelligence was dawning, seemed as if struggling back again into
existence. The first thing upon which he fixed his gaze was this phantom
standing erect by his bedside. At that sight his eyes became dilated,
but without any appearance of consciousness in them. The lady thereupon
made a sign to her companion, who had remained at the door; and, in all
probability, the latter had already received her lesson, for in a clear
tone of voice, and without any hesitation whatever, she pronounced
these words, "Monsieur le