The man was there,
like a demon claiming at the close of a compact the soul that was sold
to him. He muttered angrily at finding his wife's face uncovered; then
after masking her carefully, he took her in his arms and laid her on
the bed in her chamber.
CHAPTER II
THE BONESETTER
The terror of that apparition and hasty removal stopped for a moment
the physical sufferings of the countess, and so enabled her to cast a
furtive glance at the actors in this mysterious scene. She did not
recognize Bertrand, who was there disguised and masked as carefully as
his master. After lighting in haste some candles, the light of which
mingled with the first rays of the sun which were reddening the window
panes, the old servitor had gone to the embrasure of a window and
stood leaning against a corner of it. There, with his face towards the
wall, he seemed to be estimating its thickness, keeping his body in
such absolute immobility that he might have been taken for a statue.
In the middle of the room the countess beheld a short, stout man,
apparently out of breath and stupefied, whose eyes were blindfolded
and his features so distorted with terror that it was impossible to
guess at their natural expression.
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