I can only declare that the Countess's presence by your bedside
last night was no dream of yours. On her own authority I can testify
that it was a reality.'
'On her own authority?' Agnes repeated eagerly. 'Have you seen
her this morning?'
'I have seen her not ten minutes since.'
'What was she doing?'
She was busily engaged in writing. I could not even get her to look
at me until I thought of mentioning your name.'
'She remembered me, of course?'
'She remembered you with some difficulty. Finding that she wouldn't answer
me on any other terms, I questioned her as if I had come direct from you.
Then she spoke. She not only admitted that she had the same superstitious
motive for placing you in that room which she had acknowledged
to Francis--she even owned that she had been by your bedside,
watching through the night, "to see what you saw," as she expressed it.
Hearing this, I tried to persuade her to tell me how she got into
the room. Unluckily, her manuscript on the table caught her eye;
she returned to her writing. "The Baron wants money," she said;
"I must get on with my play.
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