"Madame does not leave mademoiselle for an instant; especially as when she is ill mademoiselle is not always very good about taking her medicine. But when her mamma says to her: 'You must take this, my child!' then she obeys instantly." "It is well; go; let them send the doctor to me when he has seen Blanche." The time seemed very long to Léodgard, who had become accustomed to the pleasure of seeing his daughter. We do not fully realize the value of things until we are deprived of them. Until that moment, the count had thought perhaps that his daughter's presence was simply an agreeable diversion; now, he felt that it had become an imperative need. At last the doctor came, and Léodgard questioned him eagerly concerning Blanche's condition. The doctor began by allaying his fears, and continued: "Even if this indisposition should prove to be one of the diseases common to children, we would cure her." "A disease! What disease do you suspect, doctor?" "Why, it is what used to be called _Pusula_--the _feu ardent_, _feu sauvage_, Saint Anthony's fire."[B] [B] Erysipelas. "You terrify me, doctor!" "But in those days they were very ignorant! It is simply the measles--what we doctors call _Boa_; a skin disease, very light in children, unless they are not properly cared for--unless there is imprudence. There is no danger of that in this case.--But how are you, monsieur le comte?" "I am doing well, and I wish that I might be allowed to rise." "Wait a few more days. If your wound should reopen, you would be kept in bed for a long, long time. Be reasonable, monsieur le comte; it is really a miracle that you have recovered." "Thanks, doctor; but henceforth give all your attention to the child." The doctor went away, but Jarnonville soon came to stay with the count. On this occasion he did not find him taciturn and pensive as usual. The count asked him with much eagerness if he had seen his daughter, questioned him about her condition, and told him what he had learned from the doctor. And as the chevalier never tired of talking about Blanche, those two men, whose aspect was sometimes so stern and forbidding, passed a large part of the day talking about a child. The next day, the doctor declared that his opinion was confirmed, and that the child had the measles--a disease attended with no danger, if not complicated by other circumstances. Léodgard did not allow five minutes to pass without ringing and sending servants to inquire for his daughter. He no longer hesitated to give her that title when he spoke of her; and Jarnonville could not conceal his joy when the count at last uttered that word. On the third day, after inquiring for Blanche, he exclaimed: "Oh! how fortunate her mother is! She is with her, she can see her, if nothing more; and I--who had become so accustomed to seeing her every day--how long the time seems to me now!"