“Had Madame de Saint-Méran any enemies?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Would her death affect anyone’s interest?”

“It could not indeed, my daughter is her only heiress⁠—Valentine alone. Oh, if such a thought could present itself, I would stab myself to punish my heart for having for one instant harbored it.”

“Indeed, my dear friend,” said M. d’Avrigny, “I would not accuse anyone; I speak only of an accident, you understand⁠—of a mistake⁠—but whether accident or mistake, the fact is there; it is on my conscience and compels me to speak aloud to you. Make inquiry.”

“Of whom?⁠—how?⁠—of what?”

“May not Barrois, the old servant, have made a mistake, and have given Madame de Saint-Méran a dose prepared for his master?”