“Where is the child?”

“Alas!  I did but kiss him once, and my good hostess carried him away I know not where.  The Holy Virgin heard my prayers, for my pains, though sharp, were soon over, and a quarter of an hour after my delivery I was still sneezing.  Tell me whether you are a man or an angel, for I fear lest I sin in adoring you.”

“This is good news indeed.  And how about the lay-sister?”

She still breathes, but we have no hope that she will recover.  Her face is terribly distorted.  We have sinned exceedingly, and God will punish me for it.”

“No, dearest, God will forgive you, for the Most Holy judges by the heart, and in your heart you had no evil thoughts.  Adore Divine Providence, which doeth all things well.”

“You console me.  The country-woman assures me that you are an angel, for the powder you gave me delivered me.  I shall never forget you, though I do not know your name.”

The woman then came, and I thanked her for the care she had taken of the invalid.  I again warned her to be prudent, and above all to treat the priest well when the lay-sister breathed her last, and thus he would not take notice of anything that might involve leer in disaster.

“All will be well,” said she, “for no one knows if the lay-sister is well or ill, or why the lady does not leave her bed.”

“What have you done with the child?”

“I took him with my own hands to Anneci, where I bought everything necessary for the well-being of this lady and for the death of the other one.”

“Doesn’t your brother know anything about it?”

“Lord preserve us—­no!  He went away yesterday, and will not be back for a week.  We have nothing to fear.”

I gave her another ten louis, begging her to buy some furniture, and to get me something to eat by the time I came next day.  She said she had still plenty of money left, and I thought she would go mad when I told her that whatever was over was her own.  I thought the invalid stood in need of rest, and I left her, promising to return at the same hour on the following day.

I longed to get this troublesome matter safely over, and I knew that I could not regard myself as out of the wood till the poor lay-sister was under the sod.  I was in some fear on this account, for if the priest was not an absolute idiot he must see that the woman had been poisoned.

Next morning I went to see the fair Zeroli, and I found her and her husband examining the watch he had bought her.  He came up to me, took my hand, and said he was happy that his wife had the power to keep me at Aix.  I replied that it was an easy task for her, and a “bravo” was all he answered.

The chevalier was one of those men who prefer to pass for good-natured than foolish husbands.  His wife took my arm, and we left him in his room while we proceeded to the fountain.  On the way she said she would be alone the next day, and that she would no longer indulge her curiosity in my nocturnal excursions.