He paid dearly for this weakness of the will.

Apparently the violent restraint that he had exercised over himself for an hour had exhausted his strength.

It seemed to him that his heart ceased to beat; he felt his legs stiffen, and refuse to serve him; his teeth clinched, his pupils dilated, consciousness forsook him.

Suddenly, heavily as a mass of lead, he fell prone upon the floor, where he remained in a senseless condition.
Mlle.

Moriaz could not suppress a cry, and seemed for a moment on the point of fainting herself.Mme.de Lorcy drew her arm around her waist, and hurried her into the next room, throwing to M.Langis a bottle of salts as she did so, and saying, "Take care of Count Larinski." The first thing that M.Langis did was to set the bottle on the table, after which he went close up to Samuel Brohl, who, fainting and inanimate, bore almost the appearance of death.