Le docteur Pascal

In the scorching heat of a July afternoon, the room, its shutters carefully closed, lay in a deep stillness. From the three windows came only thin arrows of light, slipping through the cracks of the old woodwork; and amid the shadow there was a very soft brightness, bathing the objects in a diffuse and tender glow. It was relatively cool inside, against the torrid oppression felt outdoors, where the blazing sun set the façade alight.