19
The Formula
VELMOT dead, Berangere alive: the joy of it! The sudden sense of security! This time, the evil adventure was over, since the girl whom I loved had nothing more to fear. And my thoughts at once harked back to Noel Dorgeroux: the formula in which the great secret was summed up was saved. With the clues and the means of action which existed elsewhere, mankind was now in a position to continue my uncle's work.
Berangere called me back:
“He's dead, isn't he?”
I felt intuitively that I ought not to tell her a truth which was too heavy for her to bear and which she was afraid of hearing and I declared:
“Not at all… We haven't seen him… He must have got away…”
My answer seemed to relieve her; and she whispered:
“In any case, he is wounded… I know I hit him.”
“Rest, my darli
