He was greatly touched by the passion of this poor emaciated child, so harshly stricken in her youth and beauty, and wishing to appease her, he called her attention to Madame Vetu, who did not move, though with her eyes wide open she stared at all who passed.
“Look at madame, how quiet she is!” he said. “She is meditating, and she does right to place herself in God’s hands, like a little child.”
However, in a scarcely audible voice, a mere breath, Madame Vetu stammered: “Oh! I am suffering, I am suffering.”
At last, at a quarter to eight o’clock, Madame de Jonquière warned her charges that they would do well to prepare themselves. She herself, assisted by Sister Hyacinthe and Madame Désagneaux, buttoned several dresses, and put shoes on impotent feet. It was a real toilette, for they al
