After gazing at Onésime in silence for several seconds, Suzanne stepped back, and, beckoning the attendant to come closer, said to her, in a whisper:
"How has he been since I went out?"
"He hasn't seemed to suffer quite as much, I think."
"Has he complained at all?"
"Very little. He has tried to question me several times, but I remembered your orders and would tell him nothing."
"He has recovered consciousness, then?"
"Entirely, madame. It is very evident that he would be glad enough to talk, if he could get any one to answer his questions."
"Has he asked for me?"
"Oh, yes, madame, he said to me several times: 'My aunt will be in soon, won't she?' I told him that you came in almost every half-hour. He made a slight movement of the head to indicate that he thanked me, and then he fell asleep, but only to wake with a start a few minutes afterward."
"He doesn't seem to suffer much from his wound now, does he?"