Never before had it seemed so white and pure to her; the walls, the bed, the air even, appeared as if filled with a clear, white breath.
Something within her wavered, and she was obliged to lean heavily against the back of a chair that was near her and not far from the door.
"What is the matter ?" asked Felicien anxiously.
She did not reply, but breathed with great difficulty.

Then, seized with a trembling, she could no longer bear her weight on her feet, but was forced to sit down.
"Do not be anxious; it is nothing.

I only want to rest for a minute and then we will go." They were silent.

She continued to look round the room as if she had forgotten some valuable object there, but could not tell what it was.
It was a regret, at first slight, but which rapidly increased and filled her heart by degrees, until it almost stifled her.

She could no longer collect her thoughts.