“Meanwhile, the Professor became more and more absurd and irritable every day. He was living in an extraordinary state of excitement, never going out; working like a horse, genial, perhaps, but certainly ill.
“You ask me why I think so. I will tell you.
“His memory began to fail. He used to get strange fits of forgetfulness, and often asked me about things concerning his own past; he remembered nothing clearly except scientific matters.
“No more joking, that was true, and no more happiness with him!
“For a mere whim, Lerne would swear at me. For a suspicion, he would beat me. Not that I mind hard words or hard blows, but only from some one I love.
“I declared to this worn-out old creature that I had had enough solitude. ‘I want to be off,’ I said.
“Ah, my dear, if you had seen him. He fell at my knees and embraced them.
“What he said was, ‘Remain, my dear Emma, for two years more. Wait until then, and we will go away together, and you shall have the life of a queen. Have patience. I understand you are not made to be in this sort of position, as if in a convent. Take my word for it, I am making a vast fortune for you. Two more years, living like a little bourgeoisie, and then the life of an empress.’
“I was dazzled at the prospect, and remained at Fonval.
“But the years followed one after the other—the term was up, and no luxury yet. However, I waited and trusted, because Lerne was so confident, and so clever.