She sat down in some agitation, with her eyes on the floor, and
without raising her veil said to me: "My dear cousin, I am going
to ask a great favor of you."

"What is it, cousin?"

"I do not like to tell you, and yet I must. I am in absolute want
of five thousand francs."

"What, you?"

"Yes, I, or rather my husband, who has asked me to procure them
for him."

I was so stupefied that I hesitated to answer. I asked myself
whether she had not really been making fun of me with Dr. Parent,
if it were not merely a very well-acted farce which had been got
up beforehand. On looking at her attentively, however, my doubts
disappeared. She was trembling with grief, so painful was this
step to her, and I was sure that her throat was full of sobs.

I knew that she was very rich and so I continued: "What! Has not
your husband five thousand francs at his disposal? Come, think.
Are you sure that he commissioned you to ask me for them?"

She hesitated for a few seconds, as if she were making a great
effort to search her memory, and then she replied: "Yes--yes, I
am quite sure of it."

"He has written to you?"