"Ah ha!" said the Count, "what the devil is Taddeo doing there against the drapery, there like a jealous Spaniard at a corner of Seville, listening to a serenade given by his rival?" "True! true!" replied d'Harcourt, "but I think the serenade has been given, for his features express the most malevolent expression." The emotion of Taddeo was so violent when he heard the words of the Duchess, that he had not strength to leave. He, however, restrained himself, and listened to the raillery of his friends. "Like yourselves," said he, with a quivering voice, "I was in search of fresh air, for it is fearfully warm." "Do not get sick here," said d'Harcourt, "for Doctor Matheus is not here to cure you." "Silence," said Taddeo, changing his expression at once, "how imprudent you are to pronounce his name." All three of them entered the boudoir. "True," said d'Harcourt, "my tongue is always quicker than my mind. I will however try and make them keep time." "When will there be a consultation?" asked Taddeo, trying to be calm. "Eight days hence!" "At what hour?" "Midnight!" "Are there many patients?" "More than ever," said the Count, "and the poor devils are anxious as possible to be cured!" "Then," said d'Harcourt, "the practice of the Doctor increases." "Every day. He will soon be unable to turn around." "That does not make me uneasy," said d'Harcourt, "our Doctor is a skilful man, a great philosopher, and fully acquainted with the new medicine." "Yes, very new;--he treats the mind, rather than the body." "Ah, that is its very essence," replied the Vicompte, "and I know some wonderful cures of his--so wonderful, indeed, that on the other day I presented him to my father." "To the Duke?" said Monte-Leone,--"introduce Doctor Matheus to the Duke d'Harcourt?" Then in a low voice he continued, "Why did you present him to the Doctor?" "For a reason which was important and very dear to my heart. My young sister was suffering; my father, who consulted in behalf of my brothers the most eminent practitioners of Paris, lost all confidence in the faculty when he lost his sons. He did not know whom to consult about his daughter; I spoke to him of Matheus, and told him several wonderful cures he had effected, and the Duke became very anxious to see him." "And did the stern Matheus consent to go to your father's house?" "He was anxious to do so, and as his house is not far from ours, I in a few minutes was able to introduce him into the patient's room; and would you believe it, a few of the simplest remedies possible exerted a great effect. The agitation of my sister was calmed--her cough arrested--and this evening you see her dancing and waltzing, pretty and gay as possible."