"By no means; but by observing——"
"But if one observes badly?"
Vaucorbeil took this phrase for an allusion to Madame Bordin's skin eruption—a story about which the widow had made a great outcry, and the recollection of which irritated him.
"To start with, it is necessary to have practised."
"Those who revolutionised the science did not practise—Van Helmont, Boerhaave, Broussais himself."
Without replying, Vaucorbeil stooped towards Gouy, and raising his voice:
"Which of us two do you select as your doctor?"
Mutually becoming afflicted, they looked at their tongues
The patient, who was falling asleep, perceived angry faces, and began to blubber. His wife did not know either what answer to make, for the one was clever, but the other had perhaps a secret.