“And still I must see her. I must at any hazard place a note which my client has confided to me, in her own hands. And look here, doctor, I mean to be frank with you. It was exactly because I foresaw there would be difficulties, that I came to you to ask your assistance in overcoming or avoiding them.”
“To me?”
“Are you not the count’s physician?”
“Ten thousand devils!” cried Dr. Seignebos. “You do not mince matters, you lawyers!”
And then speaking in a lower tone, and replying apparently to his own objections rather than to M. Folgat, he said,—
“Certainly, I attend Count Claudieuse, whose illness, by the way, upsets all my theories, and defies all my experience: but for that very reason I can do nothing. Our profession has certain rules which cannot be infringed upon without compromising the whole medical profession.”
“But it is a question of life and death with Jacques, sir, with a friend.”
“And a fellow Republican, to be sure. But I cannot help you without abusing the confidence of the Countess Claudieuse.”
“Ah, sir! Has not that woman committed a crime for which M. de Boiscoran, though innocent, will be arraigned in court?”
“I think so; but still”—