'He did nothing but talk to himself the first two days,' said Trueman;
'but yesterday he has been more quiet.'
Baroni advanced to the divan behind the head of Tancred, so that he
might not be observed, and then, letting himself fall noiselessly on the
carpet, he touched with a light finger the pulse of Lord Montacute.
'There is not too much blood here,' he said, shaking his head.
'You don't think it is hopeless?' said Freeman, beginning to blubber.
'And all the great doings of my lord's coming of age to end in this!'
said Trueman. 'They sat down only two less than a hundred at the
steward's table for more than a week!'
Baroni made a sign to them to leave the tent. 'God of my fathers!' he
said, still seated on the ground, his arms folded, and watching Tancred
earnestly with his bright black eyes; 'this is a bad business. This is
death or madness, perhaps both. What will M. de Sidonia say? He loves
not men who fail. All will be visited on me. I shall be shelved. In
Europe they would bleed him, and they would kill him; here they will not
bleed him, and he may die. Such is medicine, and such is life! Now, if I
only had as much opium as would fill the pipe of a mandarin, that would
be something. God of my fathers! this is a bad business.
Pages:
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415