"No" she replied, and smiled bravely up at him. "Only very tired and a little dizzy. The atmosphere in Catherine Théot's rooms was stifling, and then when I came out——"
He took her hand, obviously making an effort to be patient and to be kind; and she, not noticing the effort or his absorption, began to tell him about her little adventure with the asthmatic giant.
"Such a droll creature," she explained. "He would have frightened me but for that awful, churchyard cough."
But the matter did not seem to interest Bertrand very much; and presently he took advantage of a pause in her narrative to ask abruptly:
"And Mother Théot, what had she to say?"
Régine gave a shudder.
"She foretells danger for us all," she said.
"The old charlatan!" he retorted with a shrug of the shoulders. "As if every one was not in danger these days!"
"She gave me a powder," Régine went on simply, "which she thinks will calm Joséphine's nerves."
"And that is folly," he broke in harshly. "We do not want Joséphine's nerves to be calmed."