A
priest entered, bearing a crucifix--the two sisters knelt. By the pale
light which shone like a glory around this bed, while the other parts of
the hall remained in obscurity, the almoner of the hospital was seen
leaning over this couch of misery, pronouncing some words, the slow sounds
of which were lost in the silence of night. At the end of a quarter of an
hour the priest took a sheet, which he threw over the bed.
Then he retired. One of the kneeling sisters arose, closed the curtains,
and returned to her prayers alongside of her companion. Then everything
became once more silent. One of the patients had just died. Among the women
who did not sleep, and who had witnessed this mute scene, were three
persons whose names have already been mentioned in the course of this
history: Mademoiselle de Fermont, daughter of the unhappy widow ruined by
the cupidity of Jacques Ferrand; La Lorraine, a poor washer-woman, to whom
Fleur-de-Marie had formerly given what money she had left; and Jeanne
Duport, sister of Pique-Vinaigre, the patterer of La Force. We know
Mademoiselle de Fermont and the juggler's sister. La Lorraine was a woman
of about twenty, with a sweet face, but extremely pale and thin: she was in
the last stage of consumption; there was no hope of saving her; she knew
it, and was wasting away slowly. The distance was not so great between the
beds of these two women but they could speak in a low tone, and not be
overheard by the sisters.
Pages:
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331