hing he does not mean to do, and says "I cannot help it," he
is admitting this fact. If you were to ask Donna Angela if she means
to starve herself to death deliberately, she would deny it with
indignation, but would tell you that she really cannot eat, and
meanwhile she is starving. Give her a comparatively harmless illness
like the measles, severe enough to break up the ordinary automatic
habits of the body, and she will eat again, with an excellent
appetite. In all probability I could give her the measles by
artificial means, but unfortunately that sort of treatment is not yet
authorised!'

The young doctor, who was not by any means a dreamer, seemed much
amused at his own conclusion, which looks absurd even on paper, and
Madame Bernard did not believe a word he said. In questions of
medicine women are divided into two great classes, those who will
consult any doctor and try anything, and those who only ask the
doctor's opinion when they are forced to, and who generally do
precisely the opposite of what he suggests. This is a more practical
view and is probably the safer, if they must go to one of the two
extremes. Moreover, doctors are so much inclined to disagree that when
three of them give a unanimous opinion it is apt to be worthless.

The only immediate result of Madame Bernard's consultation with the
doctor was that she disappointed one of her pupils the next day in
order to gain an hour, which she devoted to making a very exquisite
'mousse de volaille' for Angela. The poor girl was much touched, but
could only eat two or three mouthfuls, and the effort she made to
overcome her repugnance was so unmistakable that the good little
Frenchwoman was more anxious for her than hurt at the failure.

She had tried two sciences, she said to herself, but the doctor of
medicine had talked the nonsense of theories to her, and the combined
wisdom of Vatel, Brillat-Savarin, and Careme had proved fruitless. A
person who could not eat Madame Bernard's 'mousse de volaille' could
only be cured by a miracle. Accordingly, she determined to consult a
churchman without delay, and went out early in the afternoon. Angela
did not notice that she was dressed with more than usual care, as if
for a visit of importance.

She had been gone about half-an-hour, and the young girl was sitting
in her accustomed place, listless and apathetic as usual, when the
door-bell rang, and a moment later the woman-servant came in, saying
that a forei