,
and not a servant remaining in the house; Villefort himself was obliged
to open to them. But he stopped on the landing; he had not the courage
to again visit the death chamber. The two doctors, therefore, entered
the room alone. Noirtier was near the bed, pale, motionless, and silent
as the corpse. The district doctor approached with the indifference of
a man accustomed to spend half his time amongst the dead; he then lifted
the sheet which was placed over the face, and just unclosed the lips.

"Alas," said d'Avrigny, "she is indeed dead, poor child!"

"Yes," answered the doctor laconically, dropping the sheet he had
raised. Noirtier uttered a kind of hoarse, rattling sound; the old man's
eyes sparkled, and the good doctor understood that he wished to behold
his child. He therefore approached the bed, and while his companion was
dipping the fingers with which he had touched the lips of the corpse in
chloride of lime, he uncovered the calm and pale face, which looked like
that of a sleeping angel. A tear, which appeared in the old man's eye,
expressed his thanks to the doctor. The doctor of the dead then laid his
permit on the corner of the table, and having fulfilled his duty, was
conducted out by d'Avrigny. Villefort met them at the door of his
study; having in a few words thanked the district doctor, he turned to
d'Avrigny, and said,--"And now the priest."

"Is there any particular priest you wish to pray with Valentine?" asked
d'Avrigny.

"No." said Villefort; "fetch the nearest."

"The nearest," said the district doctor, "is a good Italian abbe, who
lives next door to you. Shall I call on him as I pass?"

"D'Avrigny," said Villefort, "be so kind, I beseech you, as to accompany
this gentleman. Here is the key of the door, so that you can go in and
out as you please; you will bring the priest with you, and will oblige
me by introducing him into my child's room."

"Do you wish to see him?"

"I only wish to be alone. You will excuse me, will you not? A priest
can understand a father's grief." And M. de Villefort, giving the key to
d'Avrigny, again bade farewell to the strange doctor, and retired to his
study, where he began to work. For some temperaments work is a remedy
for all afflictions. As the doctors entered the street, they saw a man
in a cassock standing on the threshold of the next door. "This is the
abbe of whom I spoke," said the doctor to d'Avrigny. D'Avrigny accosted
the priest. "Sir," he said, "