Page:Zodiac stories by Blanche Mary Channing.pdf/209

192 Nannette,' he has said with the tears running down his cheeks for pain; 'I am a De Lys, and the men of my house have always been brave.' But, the loneliness is worse than the pain."

"I suppose his father feels the child's illness very keenly?" asked Mrs. Vaughn.

"But terribly, Madame! Still, it is not the same with a man as with a woman; the woman stays close to the child that suffers, and suffers, too. A man—well, Madame knows that a man tries to forget! Still, M. le Marquis does everything for M. Bertrand—everything." She looked sharply at the lady to see if she had said too much. Mrs. Vaughn seemed not to notice the look.

"I suppose a great many doctors have seen the boy?" she asked.

Nannette raised her eyes to the ceiling expressively.

"But thousands of doctors!" she answered.