He was surprised, he said, that Monsieur le Docteur had not answered, and proceeded to inform him of a new turn in the affair.
They had discovered that Madame la Comtesse injected herself secretly with morphine, pricked herself, Auguste said, and two Sisters of Mercy had to watch her day and night to prevent it.

Schrotter judged it unnecessary to inform Wilhelm of the contents of this letter.
Schrotter's visit had had an extremely salutary effect on Wilhelm.

His self-torture grew less poignant, the memory of Paris receded into the background, and in proportion as it paled the red returned to his cheeks and the light to his dull eyes.

He still held aloof from the busy turmoil of the world, and was still dominated by a profound consciousness of the aimlessness of his life, and yet, for the first time for years, perhaps since he took his degree, he entertained a desire, a hope, that he might be permitted to return to Berlin.
On the last Sunday in April Wilhelm was spending the afternoon at the Uhlenhorst.

The family were preparing to remove shortly to Friesenmoor, and Paul had gone over to the estate to make some arrangements.