Madame de Fersen took it, and approached the spoon to the child's lips.
But her hand trembled to such an extent that the liquid was spilled.
"I am afraid," said she, with a frightened look.
She gave back the spoon to the doctor. He filled it once more, and with a firm hand put it to Irene's lips.
The child swallowed it without reluctance.
It is impossible to express the intense alarm, the mortal anguish, with which we watched the effects of the potion.
The doctor himself, eagerly bending over the bed, watched Irene's face with anxious eyes.
Soon the potion began to work.
By degrees, Irene began moving her arms and hands, and her cheeks assumed a faint tinge of colour. Several times she quickly turned her head on her pillow, moaned piteously, closed her eyes, and then opened them.
The lamp was in front of her, and the bright light seemed painful, for she covered her eyes with her hands.