se to
say; the old servant, however, would not yield; she seemed resolved on
everything, but George, who had been at first astonished, and then
frightened at those angry voices, began to utter shrill screams, and
remained behind his father, and he roared with his face puckered up and
his mouth open.

His son's screams exasperated Parent and filled him with rage and
courage. He rushed at Julie with both arms raised, ready to strike
her, and exclaiming: "Ah! you wretch! you will send the child out of
his senses." He was already touching her, when she said: "Monsieur, you
may beat me if you like, me who reared you, but that will not prevent
your wife from deceiving you, or alter the fact that your child is not
yours ..." He stopped suddenly, and let his arms fall, and he remained
standing opposite to her, so overwhelmed that he could understand
nothing more, and she added: "You need only look at the child to know
who is its father! He is the very image of Monsieur Limousin, you need
only look at his eyes and forehead, why, a blind man could not be
mistaken in him...."

But he had taken her by the shoulders, and was now shaking her with
all his might, while he said: "Viper ... viper! Go out the room,
viper! ... go out, or I shall kill you! ... Go out! Go out! ..."

And with a desperate effort he threw her into the next room. She fell
onto the table which was laid for dinner, breaking the glasses, and
then, getting up, she put it between her master and herself, and while
he was pursuing her, in order to take hold of her again, she flung
terrible words at him: "You need only go out this evening after dinner,
and come in again immediately ... and you will see! ... you will see
whether I have been lying! Just try it ... and you will see." She had
reached the kitchen door and escaped, but he ran after her, up the back
stairs to her bedroom into which she had locked herself, and knocking
at the door, he said! "You will leave my house this very instant." "You
may be certain of that, Monsieur," was her reply. "In an hour's time I
shall not be here any longer."

He then went slowly downstairs again, holding on to the banister, so as
not to fall, and went back to the drawing-room, where little George was
sitting on the floor, crying; he fell into a chair, and looked at the
child with dull eyes. He understood nothing, be knew nothing more, he
felt dazed, stupefied, mad, as if he had just fallen on his head, and he
scarcely even r