He did not disturb her, for she had no love for him, and he waited till she had gone.

When he came into the room again he found Pomfrette in a sweet sleep, and a jug of tincture, with a little tin cup, placed by the bed.

Time and again he had sent for Mme.

Degardy, but she would not come.

She had answered that the dear Luc could go to the devil for all of her; he'd find better company down below than in Pontiac.
But for a whim, perhaps, she had come at last without asking, and as a consequence Luc returned to the world, a mere bundle of bones.
It was still while he was only a bundle of bones that one Sunday morning, Parpon, without a word, lifted him up in his arms and carried him out of the house.