“As for me,” continued Baptiste, who was of a very positive temperament. “I slept in the room and saw nothing. I don’t believe any of these stories. But, when I heard you tormenting yourself during your fever, always talking about a beautiful lady who exists and who does not exist, who is dead and who lives—who knows what you haven’t said about it. It was all so pretty sometimes that I wished to remember it, or that I knew how to write it down, in order to preserve it, but it did you harm, and I decided upon bringing you here, where you are better off. Don’t you see, Monsieur, that this all comes from writing too many verses? Your father said rightly that it would turn your brain! You would do better to think only of your law papers.”
“Thou art certainly right, my dear Baptiste,” I answered “and I will try and take thine advice. In fact it does seem as if I had had an attack of madness.”
“Of madness? Oh! no indeed, Monsieur. Dieu merci. You have wandered a little in your fever just as it might happen to anyone; but now that it is all over, if you will take a little chicken broth, your brain will be as clear as ever.”
I resigned myself to the chicken broth, although I would have preferred something more nourishing so as to get well quickly. I was very weak, but little by little my strength came back during the day, and I was allowed a light supper. The following day, Madame d’Ionis came again to see me. I had risen and was feeling quite well. I talked very sensibly with her about what had happened, without however giving her any details upon the subject. I had been light-headed, I was much ashamed of it, and begged her to keep my secret; my position as a lawyer would be lost if I acquired the reputation of a ghost seer; and it would affect my father seriously.
“Fear nothing,” said she; “I will answer for the discretion of my people; make sure of your valet’s silence, and the story of this adventure will never leave the place. Besides, even should something of the kind be told, we would all be perfectly justified in saying that you had had an attack of fever, and that it pleased these superstitious souls to interpret it to suit their credulity. And really, this would only be the truth. You had a sun stroke coming here on horseback on a scorching day. You were ill during the night. On the following days I tormented you with this unfortunate law suit, and I stopped at nothing to bring you over to my way of thinking.”
She paused, and, in a different tone said:
“Do you remember what I said to you the day before yesterday in the library?”
“I confess that I did not understand, I was under the influence.”——
“Of the fever? I saw that very plainly.”
“Will it please you to repeat to me, now that my head is no longer affected, what you were saying about apparitions?”