"Ah! there you are, Caroline," he said; "we must now put matters right for you."
His nephew brought the clock and put it on the night table.
"I am very unsightly, am I not, my good Amédée?" Talma remarked. "My beard is so long...."
"You shall have it trimmed to-day."
"Give me a looking-glass."
He took it and looked at himself.
"I tell you, Amédée, I am losing my sight; for pity's sake, have something done for my eyes. Oh! I shall lose them—I cannot see at all to-day."
The lawyers arrived and, with them, M. Davilliers. But Talma tried in vain to discuss business matters—he was past all that; he could only speak in whispers, although he believed he was speaking very loudly, and his speech grew more and more indistinct. MM. Arnault and de Jouy were announced. Talma signed for them to be brought to him. M. Arnault embraced Talma, to whom he was tenderly attached, and, as he did so, the word "Adieu" escaped from his lips.
"Are you going away, then?" asked Talma.
"Yes," Amédée answered hastily, "these gentlemen are going to Brussels."