“To tell you the truth, Nicolas, the only people who allow themselves to be operated on without any qualms, are young people at the point of death, and aware of their state.
“Understanding the necessity of overcoming the danger they apprehended, I felt ready for new researches—but greatly disillusioned, thenceforward knowing that even were these rewarded by a second discovery, my clients would be few, but also aware that they would be sufficient to secure me my fortune and happiness. But all this was deferred till the Greek Calends.
“I came back to Fonval—bitter, silent, and with rage in my heart.
“Emma and Donovan could not have found a more implacable judge. I surprised them. I took my revenge. You have guessed it, have you not? Yesterday, the two Macbeths carried off the brain of Nell, and the soul of Donovan is lodged in the body of the St. Bernard!
“The same punishment awaited both of you for the same fault. Solomon could not have better judged, nor Circe have better carried the sentence into execution.
“Now, look here, nephew! I have worked at what, but for your intrusion, and my need for watching your acts, would in a few days, have been the beginning of the interchange of personalities without surgical intervention.
“I was wise enough, you see, not to give up my vegetable grafting. I had even carried all its developments very far, and this training, supplemented by my zoölogical experiments, constitutes almost the whole curriculum of grafting.
“It was the combination of this science with other sciences, which revealed the probable solution to me.