"Oh! Justine, what an unlucky creature I am! The idea of having indigestion just when you are going to be married!"
"It's inexcusable, madame."
"And to think that it has come just when everything was ready! There are people with him, I suppose?"
"Oh! yes, madame."
"Do you think that I might go there this evening?"
"What's the use, madame, when he is delirious? He wouldn't know you."
"All right! I will go to-morrow. Ah! I am really greatly to be pitied."
Three days later, on Saturday, Cherami betook himself to Rue de la Ville-l'Évêque, to see what effect the tonic had had on the count.
"It was on Sunday that I gave it to him," he reflected; "he must be vigorous and lively now, or else he never will be."
According to his custom, Cherami did not stop to speak to the concierge; he went up to the count's reception-room, and found there the valet de chambre holding a handkerchief to his eyes.