“Oh! speak! If you but knew what Philip has promised me!”
“I can imagine.”
“But I must know if Louis I. is to die.”
“Thou wilt know it at the proper time. Pass on. The Captain has already entered the king’s chamber. He brings instructions from the royal parent. At this moment thou art announced as the first physician of the world. The people crowd the stairway to see thee arrive. Thou art about to meet Elena and the Countess of Rionuevo.”
“Oh! what happiness!” exclaimed Tito.
“Quarter past seven!” continued Death, consulting his pulse, which was his only and infallible timepiece. “They await thee. I must go.”
“But tell me—”
“True, I had forgotten! Listen:—If I am in the chamber when thou seest the king, thou wilt know that his illness has no cure.”
“And will you be there? Did you not say you were going away?”
“I do not know yet. I am ubiquitous, and should I receive Superior orders, there thou wilt see me, as in any other place where He may require my presence.”