And David, taking one step into the corridor, saw in the twilight of the dark passage, the doctor coming out of Marie's chamber.
"Pierre," said he, in a low voice, to hasten his coming, "Pierre!"
Doctor Dufour advanced rapidly toward David, when the latter heard a voice whisper:
"Doctor, I must speak to you."
At this voice Doctor Dufour stopped abruptly before the door of the dining-room, where he entered.
"Whose is this voice?" thought David. "Is it Marguerite? My God! what has happened?" and he listened on the side where the doctor entered. "It is Pierre who is talking; his exclamations announce indignation, dismay. There, he is coming out at last; here he is."
In fact, Doctor Dufour, his face altered, and frowning with anger, entered the library, his hands still clasped in a gesture of horror, and exclaimed:
"It is horrible! it is infamous!"
David, thinking only of Marie, sprang to meet his friend.
"Pierre, in the name of Heaven, how is she? The truth! I will have courage, but for pity's sake, the truth, frightful as it may be. There is no torture equal to what I have endured here for three hours, asking myself, is she living, agonising, or dead?"