I quite agreed with her; for though four hours had gone by since we had laid Ange upon her bed, she had not spoken a single word to either of us; and, except that her eyes were open, and she occasionally heaved a deep sigh, she appeared almost as unconscious as when we found her on the floor. We had not left her for a moment since that time, but had been unable to persuade her either to speak or swallow nourishment; and I, for one, was becoming seriously alarmed. ‘We must not only send for the doctor, but your father must come home again, Tessie,’ I answered, ‘for I am afraid that Ange is going to be very ill. If you will write the letter at once, I will run down with it to the post before the afternoon diligence starts for Artois.’ ‘What a pity Mr. Charteris is away to-day. He might have been so useful to us,’ sighed Tessie. ‘Oh! we can do very well without _him_,’ I responded impatiently. I don’t know how it was, but at that moment I hated the thought of Cave Charteris in connection with our little Ange more than I had ever done before. Some people might imagine that in an emergency Madame Marmoret, being our servant, might have taken a letter to the post for us; but such people could never know what Madame Marmoret was like. She was far too fine and mighty to run menial errands, and this was certainly not the day on which I should have asked her to do so. So, without taking any notice of her as she sat in the kitchen, dropping tears into the _potage_ she was preparing for our dinner, I ran through the house into the street, and made my way to the post-office with Tessie’s letter. It was quite at the bottom of the town, and as I reascended the steep hill I came in collision with Mrs. Carolus, evidently bristling with some news of importance. ‘My dear Miss Marsh, how fortunate I am to meet you! I have just called at your house, but, hearing you were out, I refused to enter, though Sophy insisted upon going in to see Miss Lovett.’ ‘I am afraid she will hardly find it worth her while, for Tessie could not stay to talk to her. We are in great distress at home to-day, Mrs. Carolus. Ange has been suddenly taken very ill, and I have just posted a letter for the doctor.’ ‘Oh! indeed! I am most distressed to hear it. There seems nothing but misfortune in St. Pucelle to-day. Sophy has been nearly out of her mind all the morning, and, to tell truth, I was glad of any excuse to be rid of her company for a little while, for she quite drives me distracted by the way in which she goes on.’ ‘Miss Markham has had no bad news, I hope.’