"
Fanny made no reply. She could hardly remind this respectable person
that after the doctor left her she employed herself first in examining
the cupboards, drawers, _armoire,_ and other things; that she then
found a book with pictures, in which she read for a quarter of an hour
or so; that she then grew sleepy and dropped the book--
"I then," continued the widow, "made arrangements against his
waking--that is to say, I drew back the curtains and turned over the
sheet to air the bed"--O Madame! Madame! Surely this was
needless!--"shook up the pillows, and occupied myself in the cares of a
conscientious nurse until the time came to administer the first dose of
medicine. Then I proceeded to awaken my patient. Figure to yourself! He
whom I had left tranquilly breathing, with the regularity of a
convalescent rather than a dying man, was dead! He was dead!"
"You are sure he was dead?"
"As if I had never seen a dead body before! I called the doctor, but it
was for duty only, for I knew that he was dead."
"And then?"
"Then the doctor--who must also have known that he was dead--felt his
pulse and his heart, and looked at his eyes, and declared that he was
dead."
"And then?"
"What then? If a man is dead he is dead.
Pages:
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500