"He said that he did not suffer much, but he faded perceptibly, and
was no more than the shadow of his former self. At last, one night,
toward two or three o'clock, he died in the arms of his wife and
his friend. Up to the last moment, he had preserved the full force
of his faculties. Less than an hour before expiring, he wished
everyone to be awakened, and that all the servants of the castle
should be summoned. When they were all gathered about the bedside,
he took his wife's hand, placed it in that of the Count de Tremorel,
and made them swear to marry each other when he was no more. Bertha
and Hector began to protest, but he insisted in such a manner as to
compel assent, praying and adjuring them, and declaring that their
refusal would embitter his last moments. This idea of the marriage
between his widow and his friend seems, besides, to have singularly
possessed his thoughts toward the close of his life. In the
preamble of his will, dictated the night before his death, to M.
Bury, notary of Orcival, he says formally that their union is his
dearest wish, certain as he is of their happiness, and knowing well
that his memory will be piously kept."

"Had Monsieur and Madame Sauvresy no children?" asked the judge of
instruction.

"No," answered the mayor.

M. Plantat continued:

"The grief of the count and the young widow was intense. M. de
Tremorel, especially, seemed absolutely desperate, and acted like a
madman. The countess shut herself up, forbidding even those whom
she loved best from entering her chamber--even Madame Courtois.