COL. (quietly entering and putting some money on the table near
Musetta) How is she?

RUD.  See, now!  She’s tranquil.

(RUDOLPH, turning round, sees MUSETTA, who makes a sign to him that the medicine is ready; getting off the chair, he is suddenly aware of the strange demeanor of MARCEL and SCHAUNARD.)

RUD. (huskily, almost in a speaking voice)
What’s the meaning of this going and this coming,
And these glances so strange?
(He glances from one to the other in consternation.)

MAR. (unable to bear up any longer, hastens to embrace Rudolph_ as he murmurs_) Poor fellow!

RUD. (flings himself on Mimi’s_ bed, lifts her up, shakes her by the hand, and exclaims in tones of anguish_) Mimi!  Mimi! (he falls, sobbing, upon her lifeless form) (Terror-stricken, MUSETTA_ rushes to the bed, utters a piercing cry of grief; then kneels sobbing, at the foot of the bed. SCHAUNARD, overcome, sinks back into a chair; to the left, COLLINE stands at the foot of the bed, dazed at the suddenness of this catastrophe. MARCEL, sobbing, turns his back to the footlights.  The curtain slowly falls._)