tiresome as himself for presuming to call on me without having made my
acquaintance; I told him that I knew him very well as the nephew of our
cure, and asked what I could do for him.

He turned uneasily from one side to the other with an air of constraint,
searching for phrases and fingering everything on the table before him as
if at a loss what to say. Finally he informed me that Madame Pierson was
ill and that she had sent word to me by him that she would not be able to
see me that day.

"Is she ill? Why, I left her late yesterday afternoon, and she was very
well at that time!"

He bowed.

"But," I continued, "if she is ill why send word to me by a third person?
She does not live so far away that a useless call would harm me."

The same response from Mercanson. I could not understand what this
peculiar manner signified, much less why she had entrusted her mission to
him.

"Very well," I said, "I shall see her to-morrow and she will explain what
this means."

His hesitation continued.

"Madame Pierson has also told me--that I should inform you--in fact, I am
requested to--"