Dr. Fargeas appeared very much pleased to see the Prince, and he thanked him warmly for having come.  A thin, light-haired man, with a pensive look and superb eyes, accompanied Fargeas, and the physician introduced him to the Prince as Dr. Sims.

Dr. Sims shared the opinion of his colleague.  Having taken the invalid away, and separated her from every thing that could recall the past, the physicians thought, that, by suddenly confronting her with a person so dear to her as Prince Zilah, the shock and emotion might rouse her from her morbid state.

Fargeas explained to the Prince why he had thought it best to transport the invalid from Maisons-Lafitte to Vaugirard, and he thanked him for having approved of his determination.

Zilah noticed that Fargeas, in speaking of Marsa, gave her no name or title.  With his usual tact, the doctor had divined the separation; and he did not call Marsa the Princess, but, in tones full of pity, spoke of her as the invalid.

“She is in the garden,” said Dr. Sims, when Fargeas had finished speaking.  “Will you see her now?”

“Yes,” said the Prince, in a voice that trembled slightly, despite his efforts to control it.

“We will take a look at her first; and then, if you will be so kind, show yourself to her suddenly.  It is only an experiment we are making.  If she does not recognize you, her condition is graver than I think.  If she does recognize you, well, I hope that we shall be able to cure her.  Come!”

Dr. Sims motioned the Prince to precede them.

“Shall I accompany you, gentlemen?” asked Vogotzine.

“Certainly, General!”

“You see, I don’t like lunatics; they produce a singular effect upon me; they don’t interest me at all.  But still, after all, she is my niece!”

And he gave a sharp pull to his frock-coat, as he would have tightened his belt before an assault.

They descended a short flight of steps, and found themselves in a large garden, with trees a century old, beneath which were several men and women walking about or sitting in chairs.

A large, new building, one story high, appeared at one end of the garden; in this were the dormitories of Dr. Sims’s patients.

“Are those people insane?” asked Zilah, pointing to the peaceful groups.

“Yes,” said Dr. Sims; “it requires a stretch of the imagination to believe it, does it not?  You can speak to them as we pass by.  All these here are harmless.”

“Shall we cross the garden?”

“Our invalid is below there, in another garden, behind that house.”

As he passed by, Zilah glanced curiously at these poor beings, who bowed, or exchanged a few words with the two physicians.  It seemed to him that they had the happy look of people who had reached the desired goal.  Vogotzine, coughing nervously, kept close to the Prince and felt very ill at ease.  Andras, on the contrary, found great difficulty in realizing that he was really among lunatics.