On examining himself he had the satisfaction to feel that he was calmer than in the morning, and that as the moment of attack approached, his agitation decreased; decision, firmness, and coolness came to him; he felt master of his will, and capable of obeying it.

At six o’clock precisely he rang at Balzajette’s door, and they started immediately for the Rue Sainte-Anne.  Happy to have a complaisant listener, Balzajette did all the talking, so that Saniel had only to reply “yes” or “no” from time to time, and of course it was not of Madame Dammauville that he spoke, but other matters—­of a first representation on the previous evening at the Opera Comique; of politics; of the next salon.

At exactly a quarter past six they reached the house in the Rue Sainte-Anne, where Saniel had not been since Caffies death.  On passing the old concierge’s lodge he felt satisfied with himself; his heart did not beat too quickly, his ideas were firm and clear.  Should danger arrive, he felt assured of mastery over himself, without excitement, as without brutality.

Balzajette rang the bell, and the door was opened by a maid, who was, evidently, placed in the vestibule to await their arrival.  Balzajette entered first, and Saniel followed him, giving a hasty glance at the rooms through which they passed.  They reached a door at which Balzajette knocked twice.

“Enter,” replied a feminine voice in a firm tone.

This was the decisive moment; the day was everything that could be wished, neither too light nor too dark.  What would Madame Dammauville’s first glance mean?

“My confrere, Doctor Saniel,” Balzajette said on going toward Madame Dammauville, and taking her hand.

She was lying on the little bed of which Phillis had spoken, but not against the windows, rather in the middle of the room, placed there evidently after the experience of a sick person who knows that to be examined she must be easily seen.

Profiting by this arrangement, Saniel immediately passed between the bed and the windows in such a way that the daylight was behind him, and consequently his face was in shadow.  This was done naturally, without affectation, and it seemed that he only took this side of the bed because Balzajette took the other.

Directed by Saniel, the examination commenced with a clearness and a precision that pleased Balzajette.  He did not lose himself in idle words, the young ‘confrere’, any more than in useless details.  He went straight to the end, only asking and seeking the indispensable; and as Madame Dammauville’s replies were as precise as his questions, while listening and putting in a word from time to time he said to himself that his dinner would not be delayed, which was the chief point of his preoccupation.  Decidedly, he understood life, the young ‘confrere’; he might be called in consultation with his heavy appearance and careless toilet, there was no danger of rivalry.