"Yes!" said she. "Will you answer my questions?" "Yes!" "Do you read in my heart any malevolence or hostility to you?" "No!" "You then have confidence in me?" "Yes!" "Are you sure that in questioning you, as I am about to, I have no other object but to relieve you of uneasiness in relation to the Marquis?" "I am sure that is the case." "Well," said the Doctor, placing his thumbs on Aminta's forehead, "I wish you to go at once to Rome, to Italy." "It is far away," said the Marquise, feebly. "I wish you to," said Matheus, imperiously. "Well, well," said the sleeper, with a smile, "there is no reason why you should be angry." She was silent. All the spectators, with their eyes fixed and their necks extended, seemed to watch with anxiety every scene of this whimsical drama. Their souls seemed hung on their lips. "Ah! my God!" said the Marquise, with agitation, "what a journey--how cold it is amid these mountains." "She crosses the Alps," said the doctor. The Marquise coughed. "You see," said Marie, "she will take cold." The young girl wrapped the shawl around her friend. "This cold will not be dangerous," said the Vicomte, gayly. "Silence!" said Matheus. "Ah!" said the somnambulist, "what a magnificent country! What a sun! This then is Rome," said she, with enthusiasm, "the city of the Caesars--the eternal city--the city of God!" She bowed herself respectfully. "True," said Matheus, "and now you must find him you love; you must look for your husband amid this vast city." "No, no!" said the Marquise. "Why not?" "I shall lose myself amid these long streets; besides I am afraid of these men in masks." "Do not fear. I _wish_ you to see the Marquis at once." The Marquise clasped the bracelet of her husband's hair convulsively, and then uttering a cry of joy, said: "It is he--Henri, Henri, I see him." She extended her arms as if to embrace him. The flush which had covered her face was soon succeeded by a mortal pallor. "What is the matter?" asked the doctor. "Oh God!" said she, "he does not see me. He passes by without looking at me. Whither does he go? Why is he so sad? Why is his hair so disordered? Why? why?" The tone in which these words were uttered were so deeply sorrowful, that the doctor reached forward his hand and said to the Prince: "_Must I awaken the Marquise?_" Before the Prince could reply, Aminta stood erect and said, "No! I will go with him. Henri, Henri! for pity's sake do not. I never will forgive you! Henri, you would not commit perjury? My God!" said she, clasping her hands, "he will go thither! Fatal, terrible passion!" She then shed tears, and fell back into the arms of Marie, who sustained her. "Enough, doctor, enough!" said Marie, "I beseech you. She suffers, you see. She shall not do so. I will not consent to."