"Herman!" the old lady cried, plaintively.
Uncle Ruyvenaer and Aunt Lot approached.
"Have you seen him, Herman?" asked the old lady, wringing her old, knotted hands.
"No-o, Marie. But I ... I shall go to him to-morrow ... with Dr. van der Ouwe."
"And who is with him now?"
"A male nurse, Mamma," said Gerrit. "We've seen to everything. He's quite calm, Mamma dear, he's quite calm. It won't be very bad. It's only temporary: it'll pass, the doctor said."
Cateau's bosom suddenly loomed through the open doorway of the conservatory:
"Oh, Mam-ma," she said, "how sad ... about Ernst! Who would ever have im-a-gined ... that Ernst would become ... like this!"
And she bent over her mother-in-law and gave her a formal kiss, like the kiss of a stranger paying a visit of condolence.
"And how are you, Mamma?" asked Karel, as though there were nothing the matter. "I hope you're not suffering from the heat."