Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/136

 century as well as those witnessed in the first, he might have thought that one had been vouchsafed for his own especial benefit. As it was, he shook himself and murmured, "I must have been asleep."

Soon after this, Therese awoke. She recognized Philip, and motioned to the woman to leave the room. When they were alone she said, "I have sent for you because I feared that I might lose my reason and tell things which I may not speak about. You understand me. Do you think that I shall die?"

"No, Therese, you will not die."

She was silent, and her hand sought some object beneath the pillow.

"I do not want to live, and yet I am afraid to die. I cannot die till I have kept my word."

She grasped the thing that was hidden behind her head, and then asked, "Have you seen Jean since?"

"Jean?"

"Yes, Jean Thoron, his brother." "No."

"Is it true that people say you killed him?"

Her face contracted with a sudden pain as she said these words, and tears started to her eyes.

"Yes, Therese; it is whispered, I believe."

"You have not been openly accused?"

"Not as yet."