So severe a
form of hysteria as hers must have worn her out by this time. It is
difficult for me to think that any nervous system could withstand a
strain so severe and so prolonged.'
I felt the terrible truth of his words, but I made no answer.
'But let this be your consolation,' said he. 'Her death is a blessing
to herself, and the knowledge that she is dead will be a blessing to
you.'
'A blessing to me?' I said.
'I mean that it will save you from the mischief of these alternations
between hope and despair. You will remember that it was I who saw her
in her first seizure and told you of it. Such a seizure having lasted
so long, nothing could have given her relief but death or magnetic
transmission of the seizure. It is a grievous case, but what concerns
me now is the condition into which you yourself have passed. Nothing
but a successful effort on your part to relieve your mind from the
dominant idea that has disturbed it can save you from--from--'
'From what?'
'That drug of yours is the most dangerous narcotic of all.
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