The notary's nose;

230 UNCLE AND NEPHEW.
them in Paris. Possibly he had thought
his passion cured until Claire's presence
had undeceived him! But no, for before
seeing her, he had asked her in marriage.
All these questions were answered by
Francois in his delirium. Claire, hanging
on his lips, eagerly took in his lightest
words; she talked them over with her
mother and the doctor, who was not long
in getting at the truth. To a man accustomed to disentangle the most confused
ideas, and to read the minds of the insane like a partly obliterated page, the
wanderings of fever are an intelligible language, and the most confused delirium
is not without its lights. They soon knew
that he had lost his reason, and under
what circumstances, and they even made
out how he had been the innocent cause
of his uncle's malady.
Then began a new series of misgivings