She died twenty hours later.
In the delirium which preceded death, the words, "Whom does Philippe take after ?" escaped her.
Joseph followed his mother to the grave alone.

Philippe had gone, on business it was said, to Orleans; in reality, he was driven from Paris by the following letter, which Joseph wrote to him a moment after their mother had breathed her last sigh:-- Monster! my poor mother has died of the shock your letter caused her.

Wear mourning, but pretend illness; I will not suffer her assassin to stand at my side before her coffin.
Joseph B.
The painter, who no longer had the heart to paint, though his bitter grief sorely needed the mechanical distraction which labor is wont to give, was surrounded by friends who agreed with one another never to leave him entirely alone.

Thus it happened that Bixiou, who loved Joseph as much as a satirist can love any one, was sitting in the atelier with a group of other friends about two weeks after Agathe's funeral.

The servant entered with a letter, brought by an old woman, she said, who was waiting below for the answer.
Monsieur,--To you, whom I scarcely dare to call my brother, I am forced to address myself, if only on account of the name I bear .-- Joseph turned the page and read the signature.