The young widow was preparing to call on the count on the day following that on which she had sent Cherami to him, being very curious to know if he had already improved her fiancÉ's health, when her maid announced Monsieur de la BÉriniÈre.

Fanny could not restrain a cry of surprise when the count entered her apartment as briskly as before his duel. It was the second day of the chartreuse treatment, and the count had taken three glasses before leaving home; that liqueur, which is really very strengthening when used with moderation, had restored his vigor; it had revived his mental powers; and Monsieur de la BÉriniÈre, overjoyed at a change which he took as evidence of a return to his normal condition, had determined to go in person to inform the young widow of it.

Fanny expressed all the joy she felt at finding him restored to health.

"Yes, I am feeling very well," said Monsieur de la BÉriniÈre. "My strength is coming back with a rapidity that surprises me. Would you believe, dear lady, that our good friend Monsieur Cherami is the one to whom I owe it all?"

"Can it be? Is he a doctor?"

"No; but he has a potion left him by an old cousin, which restores convalescents to full health in a twinkling. I have been taking it only two days, and I am a different man. To-morrow, Tuesday, I shall finish the bottle; and at the end of the week, I will lead you to the altar. I will make all my arrangements accordingly."

"Oh! how happy I am to have you entirely well again! You have recovered your former amiability, your merry humor."

"Yes, I have recovered a lot of things; and when I have taken the rest of my elixir, you'll have a husband of twenty-five!"

"Indeed, you seem hardly more than that to-day."

"Really, you are too kind! I preferred to come myself to tell you of this blessed change. Now I must leave you, to go to my banker's. I must make him give me a lot of money, for I propose to cover you with jewelry and fine clothes."

"Oh! monsieur le comte, don't be foolish, I beg!"

"It's not foolish, simply to try to please you. Ah! to-morrow, what quantities of things I will buy, and perhaps I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you; but expect me the day after to-morrow, about noon, with all my little gewgaws."

"You are always welcome, monsieur le comte."

Monsieur de la BÉriniÈre took his leave after kissing the young widow's hand; while she abandoned herself without reserve to the most intense delight.

"At last," she cried, "I am going to be a countess! Oh! that Monsieur Cherami is a delightful man! And when I am a countess and have my carriage and forty thousand francs a year, which I won't lose by speculating in stocks, then father won't think that I did wrong to refuse a second time to marry Gustave; for, in this world, it seems to me that it is one's duty to think of one's self first."

When the count woke on the third day of the new treatment, he was amazed to find that he felt almost as weak as before he began to drink the precious liquid; he did not realize that the strength which it gave him was purely artificial and vanished with the spirits which it contained. He summoned his valet, bade him give him the precious bottle, drank two glasses in quick succession, and soon felt revivified.

"I will drink it all to-day!" said the count to himself, while his valet was dressing him.—"How many more glasses are there in the bottle, FranÇois?"

"I should think there were at least six, monsieur le comte, besides the two you have drunk."

"That will make eight; but I shall be as lively as a cricket."

"Doesn't monsieur think that it may excite him too much?"

"No, no! Mere herbs! they're very strengthening! Give me a glass."

"Here it is, monsieur le comte."

"Ah! it's good! I am beginning to like it much. It's an extraordinary thing, the good it does me. I feel like pirouetting, FranÇois."

"Don't do it, monsieur; it would make you dizzy."

"Let us see: I have a lot of errands to do to-day, tradesmen to see, gifts to buy for my bride that is to be; for I am to be married on Saturday, FranÇois!"

"Indeed! so much the better, monsieur."

"I am going to make a list of the things I want to buy. I shall have a tiresome day. Give me another glass, FranÇois."

"Yes, monsieur."

"I don't know just where I shall dine to-day. I think I shall not come back here."

"At Madame MonlÉard's, perhaps?"

"Oh, no! that would embarrass her. I will dine at a restaurant, with the first friend I happen to meet. Have you ordered the carriage?"

"Yes, monsieur; it is waiting for you."

"I am off. Pardieu! another glass before I go."

"Monsieur is very much flushed now."

"So much the better! That's my natural color coming back. Just put the bottle in the carriage; I will finish it while I do my errands."

The count swallowed his fifth glass of chartreuse, made a demi-pirouette, and almost fell, because he was very dizzy; but his valet held him up, and he finally succeeded, after much bumping against walls, in reaching his carriage, into which he threw himself, saying:

"Deuce take me! I believe I am quite capable of climbing a greased pole!"

The day was passed by the future bridegroom in visiting emporiums of jewelry, laces, and shawls; he gave his orders, and from the multitude of those pretty trifles which are said to be necessaries of life, and with which ladies adorn their whatnots, he made a selection well calculated to flatter her who was to bear his name. This took a great deal of time, but he found leisure to finish the bottle he had brought with him; he had an unfamiliar burning sensation in his breast; he was tremendously thirsty, and said to himself:

"I will drink seltzer with my dinner."

About five o'clock, as he was leaving a famous fancy-goods shop, he spied his two seconds, Messieurs de MaugrillÉ and de Gervier, coming toward him arm in arm. He went forward eagerly to meet them.

"Good afternoon, messieurs! Where are you going?"

"Why, we are going to dine."

"With friends?"

"No; at the first restaurant we see, provided that it's a good one."

"Then you will give me the pleasure of dining with me; we will celebrate my recovery and my approaching marriage."

"So be it."

"Get into my carriage; we can sit close together. I will take you to Philippe's; will that suit you?"

"Perfectly; one can dine very well there."

They entered the carriage. As they drove along, Monsieur de MaugrillÉ glanced very often at the count. Finally, he said to him:

"Are you completely cured?"

"As you see."

"Your face seems to me very much flushed; your eyes gleam with supernatural brilliancy."

"That's the result of the medicine I have been taking; a very agreeable remedy, I give you my word."

"Something that your doctor prescribed?"

"No; I got it from my opponent, Monsieur Cherami."

"Your opponent! You have seen him again?"

"To be sure; we are the best of friends. He's a hot-head, but a very good fellow."

"Did you ask him who those two Mohicans were who acted as his seconds?"

"Yes; one was a rich landed proprietor of Auvergne, who sends water here from Mont-Dore; the other was his clerk."

"Ah, yes! the so-called Pole, Monsieur de Chamousky. I shall know those two worthies again."

They arrived at Philippe's. The count ordered a dainty dinner, with wines of the finest vintages; and as he felt very thirsty, he deemed it advisable to begin with champagne frappÉ. His guests celebrated the count's recovery, and drank to his future bride; Monsieur de Gervier, who was in very high spirits, insisted on drinking to Cherami's seconds, whom he felt sure of meeting some day, when he proposed to buy some Mont-Dore water of them. The count did not spare himself, but tossed off glass after glass of champagne, crying:

"This is the end of my bachelor life!"

"Be careful, my dear De la BÉriniÈre," said Monsieur de MaugrillÉ; "for a convalescent, you go rather fast; you don't spare yourself at all."

"I have never felt so well."

Suddenly Monsieur de Gervier, who had gone to the window for a breath of air, burst into a roar of Homeric laughter, and shouted:

"There they are; yes, those are they; I recognize them."

"Who, pray?"

"The dealers in Mont-Dore water. Come, look at them! they're going along the street, and their cask with them."

Monsieur de MaugrillÉ looked out, and exclaimed in dire wrath:

"Water-carriers! they were water-carriers!"

The count, having also looked out, declared that he did not recognize them; at last, Monsieur de Gervier observed:

"Oh, well! to be sure, it isn't Mont-Dore water that they sell; but, after all, it's a kind of water that's even more indispensable. For my part, this makes the affair all the more amusing, and that duel will be one of my most delightful recollections."

Monsieur de MaugrillÉ made a wry face and held his peace, and the count returned to the table.

"Come, messieurs," he said, "this need not prevent our drinking to my approaching happiness; it's extraordinary how thirsty I am to-night!"

The dinner lasted until a late hour, but at last they left the table and parted: Monsieur de Gervier going to see his Dulcineas, Monsieur de MaugrillÉ to play his game of whist, and the count to bed; he was very tired.

It was Wednesday, and the pretty widow was awaiting all the gifts which her fiancÉ had promised her.

"I flatter myself that it won't be to-day as it was that other time," she thought; "I shall not wait in vain. He won't have another duel on his hands; there's nobody to challenge him now. Monsieur Cherami is on my side; he wants me to marry the count. It's strange how he has turned about; perhaps he has had a row with Gustave; the main point is that he has kept his promise; he has restored Monsieur de la BÉriniÈre's health, and that's a service I shall not forget."

But the clock struck twelve, and one, and two; and neither the bridegroom nor his presents appeared. Fanny paced her room impatiently, muttering:

"Oh! what a bore it is to wait! It may not be the count's fault, but for some time past it has seemed as if I were destined to be vexed and thwarted all the time."

When the clock struck four, the young woman could restrain her impatience no longer.

"Justine," she said to her maid, "you must hurry to Monsieur de la BÉriniÈre's again and find out what has happened, what prevents him from coming. I can't pass my whole life waiting for that man. Go quickly, take a cab by the hour. I am ruining myself in cabs for him; it's to be hoped that he will make it up to me."

Justine obeyed her mistress; but when she returned, it was with a woe-begone face, as before.

"Mon Dieu! what has happened now?" cried Fanny.

"Monsieur le comte returned home late last night, about ten o'clock, madame, with a violent headache; he had been dining at a restaurant. He was hardly in bed when he had an attack of fever, followed by delirium; they sent for the doctor, who said that he had indigestion, inflammation of the intestines, and also of the lungs. In fact, he's very ill."

"Oh! Justine, what an unlucky creature I am! The idea of having indigestion just when you are going to be married!"

"It's inexcusable, madame."

"And to think that it has come just when everything was ready! There are people with him, I suppose?"

"Oh! yes, madame."

"Do you think that I might go there this evening?"

"What's the use, madame, when he is delirious? He wouldn't know you."

"All right! I will go to-morrow. Ah! I am really greatly to be pitied."

Three days later, on Saturday, Cherami betook himself to Rue de la Ville-l'ÉvÊque, to see what effect the tonic had had on the count.

"It was on Sunday that I gave it to him," he reflected; "he must be vigorous and lively now, or else he never will be."

According to his custom, Cherami did not stop to speak to the concierge; he went up to the count's reception-room, and found there the valet de chambre holding a handkerchief to his eyes.

"What's the trouble, my friend; how's your master?"

"Monsieur le comte died last night," the valet replied, with a sigh.

"Died!" cried Cherami. "What do you mean? Dead so soon! What in the devil did he die of?"

"Inflammation, indigestion. He took to his bed on Tuesday night, and the doctor said at once there was no hope."

"Poor count! Ah! that really causes me great distress.—It may be," thought Cherami, as he went away, "that we heated the oven a little too hot."