"And so," added Boutan, "I have now been instructed to choose a fresh
nurse. And it is a pressing matter, for I am really feeling anxious about
that poor little Andree."
"But why did not the mother nurse her child?" asked Mathieu.
The doctor made a gesture of despair. "Ah! my dear fellow, you ask me too
much. But how would you have a Parisienne of the wealthy bourgeoisie
undertake the duty, the long brave task of nursing a child, when she
leads the life she does, what with receptions and dinners and soirees,
and absences and social obligations of all sorts? That little Madame
Seguin is simply trifling when she puts on an air of deep distress and
says that she would so much have liked to nurse her infant, but that it
was impossible since she had no milk. She never even tried! When her
first child was born she could doubtless have nursed it. But to-day, with
the imbecile, spoilt life she leads, it is quite certain that she is
incapable of making such an effort. The worst is, my dear fellow, as any
doctor will tell you, that after three or four generations of mothers who
do not feed their children there comes a generation that cannot do so.
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