About midnight
The efforts of Seron , the most celebrated physician in Paris , to bring Madelon back to herself were at length crowned with success , for she had lain for hours in a dead swoon , utterly unconscious . What the physician began was completed by De Scudéri , who strove to excite the mild rays of hope in the girl 's soul , till at length relief came to her in the form of a violent fit of tears and sobbing . She managed to relate all that had happened , although from time to time her heart-rending grief got the upper hand , and her voice was choked with convulsive sobs . About midnight she had been awakened by a light tap at her chamber door , and heard Olivier 's voice imploring her to get up at once , as her father was dying . Though almost stunned with dismay , she started up and opened the door , and saw Olivier with a light in his hand , pale and dreadfully agitated , and dripping with perspiration . He led the way into her father 's workshop , with an unsteady gait , and she followed him . There lay her father with fixed staring eyes , his throat rattling in the agonies of death .