"So they can," replied the doctor. "But now, how are you going to manage?"
"I did mean to take the poor fellow to Saint-Philbert and hide him there till he died or recovered."
"You can't do that now," said the doctor. "He must have been saved by what we call a clot, which has plugged the artery. The slightest jar now would prove fatal. Besides, in your mother's inn at Saint-Philbert, with so many going and coming, you could never conceal his presence."
"Good God! do you believe that in such a state they would have the cruelty to arrest him?"
"They would not put him in prison, of course; but they would take him to some hospital, and as soon as he recovers they would try him, and condemn him either to death or to the galleys. Jean Oullier is one of those obscure leaders who are so dangerous through their influence on the body of the people that the government will be pitiless toward him. Why don't you confide in your sister-in-law? Jean Oullier and she hold the same opinions."
"You heard what she said?"
"That's true. I see you can't have much confidence in her pity. And yet, God knows, she of all people ought to be merciful to her neighbor, for if her husband were taken it might go far worse with him than with Jean Oullier."
"Yes, I know that," said the widow, in a gloomy voice. "Death is upon them all."
"Well," said the doctor, "the question is, can you hide him here?"
"Here? Yes, of course I can; he will even be safer here than elsewhere, because the house is thought to be empty. But who would take care of him?"