A drawer in a piece of furniture stood open as Matilde had left it, and as Elettra passed, she dropped the package in, and with a movement of her hand covered it with some folded handkerchiefs, from a little heap, shutting the drawer with a quick push.

Neither Matilde nor the doctor saw her do it.

As Elettra spoke to the doctor, the countess started at the sound of her voice.

She thought the maid had come to say that Veronica was dead.
Almost violently the woman dragged the physician away with her, and Matilde smiled in the midst of her sufferings.
It would be useless to chronicle the details of the night and of the following morning.

The three poisoned persons were almost recovered within twelve hours.