_LADY KNOLLYS SEES THE FEATURES_ Perhaps, if Madame had murmured, 'It is quite well--pray permit me to sleep,' she would have escaped an awkwardness.

But having adopted the role of the exhausted slumberer, she could not consistently speak at the moment; neither would it do by main force, to hold the coverlet about her face, and so her presence of mind forsook her.

Cousin Monica drew it back and hardly beheld the profile of the sufferer, when her good-humoured face was lined and shadowed with a dark curiosity and a surprise by no means pleasant.

She stood erect beside the bed, with her mouth firmly shut and drawn down at the corners, in a sort of recoil and perturbation, looking down upon the patient.
'So that's Madame de la Rougierre ?' at length exclaimed Lady Knollys, with a very stately disdain.

I think I never saw anyone look more shocked.
Madame sat up, very flushed.