“Fear nothing,” said she; “I will answer for the discretion of my people; make sure of your valet’s silence, and the story of this adventure will never leave the place. Besides, even should something of the kind be told, we would all be perfectly justified in saying that you had had an attack of fever, and that it pleased these superstitious souls to interpret it to suit their credulity. And really, this would only be the truth. You had a sun stroke coming here on horseback on a scorching day. You were ill during the night. On the following days I tormented you with this unfortunate law suit, and I stopped at nothing to bring you over to my way of thinking.” She paused, and, in a different tone said: “Do you remember what I said to you the day before yesterday in the library?” “I confess that I did not understand, I was under the influence.”—— “Of the fever? I saw that very plainly.” “Will it please you to repeat to me, now that my head is no longer affected, what you were saying about apparitions?” Madame d’Ionis hesitated. “Has your memory preserved the idea of this apparition?” said she carelessly, but examining me rather anxiously. “No,” I replied, “it is very confused now, confused as a dream of which one is still conscious, but no longer cares to remember.” I lied boldly, Madame d’Ionis was deceived, and I saw that she also was lying, when she pretended having spoken to me in the library only about the effect of the manuscript, in order to blame herself for having lent it to me at a time when I was already greatly agitated. It was evident that through fear caused by my mental condition, she had on that evening said certain things, that she was very glad now I had not understood, but I could not imagine what they might be. She saw I was quite confused, so she believed me cured. I talked very decidedly about my vision as though it were the effect of a high fever. She made me promise to think no more of it, and never to torment myself about it. “Don’t go and think yourself more weak-minded than other people; there is no one in the world who has not had their hours of delirium. Remain with us two or three days longer, no matter what the doctor says. I do not like to send you back to your parents, so weak and pale. We will say nothing more about the suit, it is useless; I will go and see your father and talk it over with him; without worrying you any more about it.” By evening I was already cured, and I tried to get into my old room, it was shut up. I risked asking Zéphyrine for the key, who replied that it had been given to Madame d’Ionis. They did not wish to put anyone there, until the recently unearthed legend had again been buried in oblivion.