"What nonsense we talk! We don't know why we are crying. We are behaving like children. It's a shame."
"So, my love, it's true. You are not hiding anything from me. You didn't face that wretched man?"
"No, I scarcely saw him. He literally took to his heels. I advised him not to show himself in this quarter again, that's all. We'll say no more about it."
"Don't let's speak of him."
They dropped the subject, and indeed the rest of the drive to the villa was passed in silence. Then, when they were in the house, she said:
"Listen, dear, you must let me take care of you. A moment ago you were as cold as ice, and now your hands are burning. You are still suffering from fever. It's only a short time since you recovered from your wounds, and we are behaving very unwisely. You must have caught a cold on leaving Madame d'Erlande's. . . . But what are you doing? Leave the doors. The servants will dose them."
He was surprised to see himself locking the doors like a child who is overcome with fear.
And yet he had become slightly more composed. He longed to remain in doubt. He tried to doubt still. Might he not have made a mistake, for after all the vision of that man's face under the light of the street lamp was but a momentary one. It was not even a face. A forehead, a pair of eyes, that was all. Was that enough to convince him that he had encountered the Parisian? Surely not. He had to reckon with freaks of resemblance, as well as his own state of mind, ever ready to conjure up dangers and to imagine that they were near.
The Parisian at Nice! No, it was out of the question. The man had been captured and taken back to prison. The newspapers contained a report of the occurrence. And, besides, if the Parisian were at Nice would he not have been occupied in hunting different game from Giselle? Captain d'Haumont would have heard something about him.
Thus his thoughts ran on. Françoise's love, the anxious attentions with which she enveloped him, while they touched his heart also relaxed the tension of his nerves. They were perfectly happy and tranquil; a great peace fell upon them. And he could no longer believe that anything untoward would befall him. He kept quite quiet, took his medicine, allowed himself to be nursed, and—worn out by the new excitement which physically and mentally weighed down upon him—fell asleep.