"Your son has been ill, madame?" I asked.
"Have you received a letter from your brother?" I inquired.
"No," he replied, "and that is the very thing that makes me uneasy."
"But, then, how can you possibly tell that he is out of sorts?"
"Because during the last few days I have been suffering myself."
"I hope you will excuse my continual questions; but, really, your answer does not make matters any clearer."
"Well, you know that we are twins, don't you?"
"Were you also informed that when we came into the world we were joined together?"
"No; I was ignorant of that circumstance."
"Well, then, it was a fact, and we were obliged to be cut asunder. So that, you see, however distant we may be, we have ever the same body, so that any impression, physical or moral, which one may receive is immediately reflected in the other. During the last few days I felt _triste,_ morose, dull, and without any predisposing cause, so far as I am aware. I have experienced terrible pains in the region of the heart, and palpitations, so it is evident to me that my brother is suffering some great grief."
I looked with astonishment at this young man, who affirmed such a strange thing without the slightest fear of contradiction, and his mother also appeared to entertain the same conviction as he did.
Madame de Franchi smiled sadly, and said, "The absent are in the hands of God, the great point is that you are certain that he is alive."
"Yes," replied Lucien, calmly, "for if he were dead I should have seen him."
"And you would have told me, would you not, my son?"
"I am satisfied. Excuse me, monsieur," she continued, turning to me, "I trust you will pardon my maternal anxiety. Not only are Louis and Lucien my sons, but they are the last of their race. Will you please take the chair at my right hand? Lucien, sit here."
She indicated to the young man the vacant place at her left hand.
We seated ourselves at the extremity of a long table, at the opposite end of which were laid six other covers, destined for those who in Corsica are called the family; that is to say, the people who in large establishments occupy a position between the master and the servants.
The table was abundantly supplied with good cheer. But I confess that although at the moment blessed with a very good appetite, I contented myself with eating and drinking as it were mechanically, for my senses were not in any way attracted by the pleasures of the table. For, indeed, it appeared to me that I had entered into a strange world when I came into that house, and that I was now living in a dream.