Of
course, I did what she said. But no sooner was she down than I heard
a loud cry. Master, who had looked all in a stupor, heard it too: he
raised himself on his pillow, and asked me where my mistress was. I told
him, and he was just settling down to try and fall asleep again, when
the sound of loud voices came up to us. 'That is very singular,' said
master. I offered to go down and see what was the matter: but he told
me sharply not to stir an inch. And, when the voices became louder and
louder, he said, 'I will go down myself. Give me my dressing-gown.'
"Sick as he was, exhausted, and almost on his deathbed, it was very
imprudent in him, and might easily have cost him his life. I ventured to
speak to him; but he swore at me, and told me to hush, and to do what he
ordered me to do.
"The count--God be merciful to his soul!--was a very good man,
certainly; but he was a terrible man also, and when he got angry, and
talked in a certain way, everybody in the house began to tremble, even
mistress.
"I obeyed, therefore, and did what he wanted. Poor man! He was so weak
he could hardly stand up, and had to hold on to a chair while I helped
him just to hang his dressing-gown over his shoulders.
"Then I asked him if he would not let me help him down. But looking at
me with awful eyes, he said, 'You will do me the favor to stay here,
and, whatever may happen, if you dare so much as open the door while I
am away, you shall not stay another hour in my service.
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