"Cousin, I require one promise from you; it is the last proof of friendship which I shall ever ask at your hands." "Tell me what it is," she replied; "to oblige you is the only pleasure that is left to me." "Well then," rejoined Ralph, "swear to me that you will not resort to suicide without notifying me. I swear to you on my honor that I will not oppose your design in any way. I simply insist on being notified: as for life, I care about it as little as you do, and you know that I have often had the same idea." "Why do you talk of suicide?" said Madame Delmare. "I have never intended to take my own life. I am afraid of God; if it weren't for that!----" "Just now, Indiana, when I seized you in my arms, when this poor beast"--and he patted Ophelia--"caught your dress, you had forgotten God and the whole universe, poor Ralph with the rest." A tear stood in Indiana's eye. She pressed Sir Ralph's hand. "Why did you stop me?" she said sadly; "I should be on God's bosom now, for I was not guilty, I did not know what I was doing." "I saw that, and I thought that it was better to commit suicide after due reflection. We will talk about it again if you choose." Indiana shuddered. The cab stopped in front of the house where she was to confront her husband. She had not the strength to mount the steps and Ralph carried her to her room. Their whole retinue was reduced to a single maid servant, who had gone to discuss Madame Delmare's flight with the neighbors, and Lelièvre, who, in despair, had gone to the morgue to inspect the bodies brought in that morning. So Ralph remained with Madame Delmare to nurse her. She was suffering intensely when a loud peal of the bell announced the colonel's return. A shudder of terror and hatred ran through her every vein. She seized her cousin's arm. "Listen, Ralph," she said; "if you have the slightest affection for me, you will spare me the sight of that man in my present condition. I do not want to arouse his pity, I prefer his anger to that. Do not open the door, or else send him away; tell him that I haven't been found." Her lips quivered, her arms clung to Ralph with convulsive strength, to detain him. Torn by two conflicting feelings, the poor baronet could not make up his mind what to do. Delmare was jangling the bell as if he would break it, and his wife was almost dying in his chair. "You think only of his anger," said Ralph at last; "you do not think of his misery, his anxiety; you still believe that he hates you. If you had seen his grief this morning!" Indiana dropped her arms, thoroughly exhausted, and Ralph went and opened the door. "Is she here?" cried the colonel, rushing in. "Ten thousand devils! I have run about enough after her; I am deeply obliged to her for putting such a pleasant duty on me! Deuce take her! I don't want to see her, for I should kill her!" "You forget that she can hear you," replied Ralph in an undertone. "She is in no condition to bear any painful excitement. Be calm."