“If you are not now, you soon will be.”
“What must I do, then? Command me, doctor.”
“This young man must be cured either with kindness or coercion. The woman whose name he evokes every instant must kill or cure him.”
“Doctor, you exaggerate. Can you kill a man with a hard word, or cure a madman with a smile?”
“If your majesty be incredulous, I have only to pay my respects, and take leave.”
“No, doctor; tell me what you wish.”
“Madame, if you desire to free this palace from his cries, and from scandal, you must act.”
“You wish me to come and see him?”
“Yes.”
“Then I will call some one—Mademoiselle de Taverney, for example—and you have all ready to receive us. But it is a dreadful responsibility to run the risk of kill or cure, as you say.”