"Marguerite! Marguerite!" At the alarmed voice of the doctor, Frederick, who had remained in the library, rushed to his mother's chamber, followed by David, who, forgetting all propriety, and yielding to an irresistible impulse, wished to see the woman he was about to leave, for the last time. "Frederick, support your mother," cried Doctor Dufour, "and you, Henri, go quick for some cold water in the dining-room--somewhere. I do not know where Marguerite is." David ran to execute the doctor's orders, while Frederick, supporting his mother in his arms, for she was almost without consciousness, said to the doctor, in a broken voice: "Oh, my God! this fainting fit, how long it lasts! how pale she is! Help, help!" Marguerite suddenly appeared; her distorted features presented a singular expression of astonishment, terror, and satisfaction. "Doctor," cried she, almost breathless, "if you only knew!" "Pierre, here is what you asked me for," said David, running and giving him a bottle filled with fresh water, of which the doctor poured out several spoonfuls in a cup. Then addressing the servant in a low voice, he said: "Marguerite, give me that vial, there on the chimneypiece. But what is the matter with you?" added Doctor Dufour, as he saw the old servant standing still and trembling in every limb. "Speak, do speak!" "Ah! monsieur," replied the servant, in a whisper, "it is what takes my breath away. If you only knew!" "Well, finish, what is it?" "Master is dead!" At these words the doctor stepped back, forgot Marie, stood petrified, and looked at the servant, unable to utter a word. David experienced such a violent commotion of feeling that he was obliged to lean against the wainscoting. Frederick, holding his mother in his arms, turned abruptly toward Marguerite, murmuring: "Oh, my God! Dead--dead--my father!" And he hid his face in his mother's bosom. Marie, although in a swoon, caused by complete prostration of her strength, was sufficiently conscious to hear. Marguerite's words, "Master is dead," reached her ears, but dimly and vague as the thought of a dream. The doctor broke the solemn silence which had greeted the servant's words and said to her: "How do you know? Explain yourself." "This night," replied the servant, "master, about six miles from here, wanted to cross a ford on a route covered by the overflow. The horse and carriage were dragged into the water. They have not found the body of M. Bridou, but they recognised master's body by his goatskin cloak; it was ground under the wheels of the mill at the pond; they found half his coat in one of the wheels; one of the pockets contained several letters addressed to master. It is by that the mayor of Blémur, who is there with a gendarme, knew that it was master who was drowned, and he has drawn up the act of death."