He said it had obtained some respite, as the gentry in the
town and neighbourhood had given great assistance; but it was all
insufficient, and they were obliged to discharge the least suffering;
that they left the hospital in tears; and that several who lived in
distant villages had fallen on the road from weakness and
disappointment. All these details began to make Monsieur de Marne
very uneasy. The agent added at the end of his letter: "Every one
observed that the director had neither order nor economy: for a long
time the affairs of the hospital have been in a bad state, and the
loss of the suit has completed it." Then Monsieur de Marne felt his
conscience reproach him for what he had done: he pictured to himself
those unfortunate people leaving the hospital in tears, sinking
with weakness and grief, and perhaps calling for curses upon him. He
thought of the three days that they had been without either bread or
broth, and he fancied he saw their pale and emaciated countenances,
and began to consider each of them individually, as you just now
began to consider the trees of the forest.
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