CHAPTER III

DUMEY, the middle-aged physician who controlled the madhouse in the rue du Bac, received a visit late in the afternoon of the following day from the deputy Chauvinière. The deputy came in a travelling chaise, from which he removed a valise together with himself. This he set down in the doctor’s private room. He came straight to business in his peremptory, overbearing fashion. ‘Among the demented prisoners entrusted to your care this morning is a _ci-devant_, a _citoyenne_ de Montsorbier.’ ‘Ah, yes!’ The plump docto…