What was
she doing at that moment? Thinking of him no doubt. She knew that the
crisis would come that very evening, or the next day at the latest. She
was probably praying. Albert was thoroughly exhausted; his head felt
dizzy, and seemed ready to burst. He rang for his servant, and ordered
some tea.
"You do wrong in not sending for the doctor, sir," said Lubin, his
valet. "I ought to disobey you, and send for him myself."
"It would be useless," replied Albert sadly; "he could do nothing for
me."
As the valet was leaving the room, he added,--"Say nothing about my
being unwell to any one, Lubin; it is nothing at all. If I should feel
worse, I will ring."
At that moment, to see any one, to hear a voice, to have to reply, was
more than he could bear. He longed to be left entirely to himself.
After the painful emotions arising from his explanations with the count,
he could not sleep. He opened one of the library windows, and looked
out. It was a beautiful night: and there was a lovely moon. Seen at this
hour, by the mild, tremulous evening light, the gardens attached to
the mansion seemed twice their usual size. The moving tops of the great
trees stretched away like an immense plain, hiding the neighbouring
houses; the flower-beds, set off by the green shrubs, looked like great
black patches, while particles of shell, tiny pieces of glass, and
shining pebbles sparkled in the carefully kept walks.
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