“Before anything else,” said the prelate, with his marked Italian accent, still holding to his nose his bottle of camphor, “have any choleraic symptoms returned?”

“No, my lord; the pernicious fever, which succeeded the attack of cholera, still continues.”

“Very good.  But will not the reverend father be reasonable?  What was the noise that I just heard?”

“His reverence wished absolutely to get up and dress himself; but his weakness is so great, that he could not have taken two steps from the bed.  He is devoured by impatience, and we fear that this agitation will cause a mortal relapse.”

“Has Dr. Baleinier been here this morning?”

“He has just left, my lord.”

“What does he think of the patient?”

“He finds him in the most alarming state, my lord.  The night was so bad, that he was extremely uneasy this morning.  Father Rodin is at one of those critical junctures, when a few hours may decide the life or death of the patient.  Dr. Baleinier is now gone to fetch what is necessary for a very painful operation, which he is about to perform on the reverend father.”

“Has Father d’Aigrigny been told of this?”

“Father d’Aigrigny is himself very unwell, as your eminence knows; he has not been able to leave his bed for the last three days.”

“I inquired about him as I came up,” answered the prelate, “and I shall see him directly.  But, to return to Father Rodin, have you sent for his confessor, since he is in a desperate state, and about to undergo a serious operation?”

“Dr. Baleinier spoke a word to him about it, as well as about the last sacraments; but Father Rodin exclaimed, with great irritation, that they did not leave him a moment’s peace, that he had as much care as any one for his salvation, and that—­”

“Per Bacco!  I am not thinking of him,” cried the cardinal, interrupting Ange Modeste Rousselet with his pagan oath, and raising his sharp voice to a still higher key; “I am not thinking of him, but of the interests of the Company.  It is indispensable that the reverend father should receive the sacraments with the most splendid solemnity, and that his end should not only be Christian, but exemplary.  All the people in the house, and even strangers, should be invited to the spectacle, so that his edifying death may produce an excellent sensation.”

“That is what Fathers Grison and Brunet have already endeavored to persuade his reverence, my lord; but your Eminence knows with what impatience Father Rodin received this advice, and Dr. Baleinier did not venture to persist, for fear of advancing a fatal crisis.”