Page:The Mystery of Madeline Le Blanc (1900).djvu/5



"She is dead, belike?—Not so; I think she lives."'

late M. de Corbière, whom I had the honor to number among my friends, in the year 1885 found himself broken in health, so that he was compelled to retire from his duties at the University of Paris, and seek recuperation in the quiet of some small community. Tired of Paris and the other cities where he had been accustomed to spend his leisure, he migrated to a small town in the south of France. There he remained for seven months, during which time he lodged in an ancient stone house at the northern extremity of the town, with a Madame—Madame—well, since I think of it, he did not tell me her name. In fact, I now re-