“Ill,” answered the other.  “Very ill, so that one cannot tell whether he sleeps or wakes.  There should be a nun here to nurse him, only—­”

O’Neill nodded.  The sick man’s bed was set in the centre of the great room, shielded from the draughts of the door by a tall screen of gilt leather.  From behind this screen, a shaded lamp by the bedside made an island of soft radiance in the darkness.

They went together past the screen and stopped to look at Regnault.  He was lying on his back, with closed eyes, and his keen aquiline face upturned to the pallor of the “light” in the roof.  The white hair tumbled on the pillow, and the long, beautiful hands that lay on the coverlet were oddly pathetic in contrast to the potency of the unconscious face.  Even in sleep it preserved its cast of high assurance, its note of ideals outworn and discounted.  It was the face of a man who had found a bitter answer for most of life’s questions.  By the bed sat Truelove, his servant, ex-corporal of dragoons.  He rose noiselessly as O’Neill approached.

“No change, sir,” he reported.  “Talked a bit, an hour ago.  Mr. Buscarlet was then ’ere.”

“Any attacks?” asked O’Neill.

“One, sir, but I ’ad the amyl under ‘is nose at the first gasp, an’ ’e came round all right.”

“Good,” said O’Neill.  “You go and get some supper now, Truelove.  I’ll attend to everything till you get back.”

The corporal bowed and went forthwith.  O’Neill set the capsules out on the table to be easily accessible, and joined Buscarlet by the great fireplace at the end of the room, whence he could keep watch on the still profile that showed against the gold of the screen.  From without there came the blurred noises of the Paris street, mingled and blended in a single hum, as though life were laying siege to that quiet chamber.

Buscarlet was eager to talk.  He was a speciously amiable little man, blonde and plump, a creature of easy emotions, prone to panic and tears.

“Ah, he talked indeed!” he said, as soon as O’Neill was seated.  “At first I thought:  ’This is delirium.  He is returning to the age of his innocence.’  But his eyes, as he looked at me, were wise and serious.  My friend, it gave me a shock.”

“What did he talk about?” asked O’Neill.

Buscarlet coughed.  “Of his wife,” he answered.  “Fancy it!”

“His wife?  Why, is he married?” demanded O’Neill in astonishment.

Buscarlet nodded two or three times.  “Yes,” he replied; “that is one of the things that has happened to him.  One might have guessed it, hein?—­a life like that!  Ah, my friend, there is one who has put out his hours at usury.  What memories he must have!”

O’Neill grunted, with his eyes on the bed.  “He’s had a beastly life, if that’s what you mean,” he said, “Who was the woman?’

“One might almost have guessed that, too,” said Buscarlet.  He rose.  “Come and see,” he said.