"
"Is there any cure for it?"
"None. It might be possible to stave death off for a time if a way
could be found of setting up a reaction in the lower extremities; but
if the symptoms do not abate by to-morrow evening, it will be all over
with him, poor old fellow! Do you know what has happened to bring this
on? There must have been some violent shock, and his mind has given
way."
"Yes, there was," said Rastignac, remembering how the two daughters
had struck blow on blow at their father's heart.
"But Delphine at any rate loves her father," he said to himself.
That evening at the opera Rastignac chose his words carefully, lest he
should give Mme. de Nucingen needless alarm.
"Do not be anxious about him," she said, however, as soon as Eugene
began, "our father has really a strong constitution, but this morning
we gave him a shock. Our whole fortunes were in peril, so the thing
was serious, you see. I could not live if your affection did not make
me insensible to troubles that I should once have thought too hard to
bear. At this moment I have but one fear left, but one misery to
dread--to lose the love that has made me feel glad to live.
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