"You have remained, madame?" said he.
"Yes, my son," replied Catharine, "I must speak to you on important matters."
"Speak, madame," said Charles, again recoiling.
"Sire!" said the queen, "you said just now that your physicians were great doctors!"
"And I say so again, madame."
"Yet what have they done during your illness?"
"Nothing, it is true—but if you had heard what they said—really, madame, one might afford to be ill if only to listen to their learned discussions."
"Well, my son, do you want me to tell you something?"
"What is it, mother?"
"I suspect that all these clever doctors know nothing whatever about your malady."