Oh! she could not, she would not, see him again! Never again! From the
abyss before her came the faint sound of the waves as they broke on the
rocks. She stood up to throw herself over the cliff, and in a despairing
farewell to life, she moaned out that last cry of the dying--the word
that the soldier gasps out as he lies wounded to death on the
battlefield--"Mother!"

Then the thought of how her mother would sob when she heard of her
daughter's death, and how her father would kneel in agony beside her
mangled corpse, flashed across her mind, and in that one second she
realized all the bitterness of their grief. She fell feebly back on the
snow, and Julien and old Simon came up, with Marius behind them holding
a lantern. They drew her back before they dared attempt to raise her, so
near the edge of the cliff was she; and they did with her what they
liked, for she could not move a muscle. She knew that they carried her
indoors, that she was put to bed, and rubbed with hot flannels, and
then she was conscious of nothing more.

A nightmare--but was it a nightmare?--haunted her. She thought she was
in bed in her own room; it was broad daylight, but she could not get up,
though she did not know why she could not. She heard a noise on the
boards--a scratching, rustling noise--and all at once a little gray
mouse ran over the sheet. Then another one appeared, and another which
came running towards her chest. Jeanne was not frightened; she wanted to
take hold of the little animal, and put out her hand towards it, but she
could not catch it.

Then came more mice--ten, twenty, hundreds, thousands, sprang up on all
sides. They ran up the bed-posts, and along the tapestry, and covered
the whole bed. They got under the clothes, and Jeanne could feel them
gliding over her skin, tickling her legs, running up and down her body.
She could see them coming from the foot of the bed to get inside and
creep close to her breast, but when she struggled and stretched out her
hands to catch one, she always clutched the air. Then she got angry, and
cried out, and wanted to run away; she fancied someone held her down,
and that strong arms were thrown around her to prevent her moving, but
she could not see anyone. She had no idea of the time that all this
lasted; she only knew that it seemed a very long while.

At last she became conscious again--conscious that she was tired and
aching, and yet better than she had been. She felt very, very weak.