[_sings_]

Beau chevalier qui partez pour la guerre,
Qu'allez vous faire
Si loin d'ici?

Voyez-vous pas que la nuit est profonde
Et que le monde
N'est que souci.

MADAME GUERET [_civilly_] You have a delightful voice, Mademoiselle
Lucienne.

_Lucienne places her music on the piano with a smile to Madame Gueret._

RENE [_to Lucienne, drawing her to the partition window and showing her
where a pane has been removed_] And your little window! Have you seen
your little window? It was not there at the dress rehearsal. You lift
it like this. It's supposed to be an opening in the wall. It ought to
have been different; we were obliged to take out a pane. May I show her,
Madame Gueret?

MADAME GUERET [_resigned_] Yes, yes, of course.

RENE. You lift it like this; and to speak you'll lean forward, won't
you, so that they may see you?

LUCIENNE. I will, yes.

RENE. Don't touch it now. [_To Madame Gueret_] You won't forget the
bell, will you, Madame? There's plenty of time--ten minutes at least.
I'll let you know. Mademoiselle Lucienne, now, time to go on.

LUCIENNE. Yes, yes. [_She goes out_]

MADAME GUERET [_with a sigh_] To have a play being acted in the
circumstances we're in--it's beyond everything! I cannot think how I
came to allow it.

GUERET. You see they'd been rehearsing for a week. And Therese--

MADAME GUERET. And I not only allowed it, but I'm almost taking part in
it.

GUERET. We couldn't put off all these people at twenty-four hours'
notice. And it's our last party. It's really a farewell party. Besides,
we should have had to tell Therese everything.

MADAME GUERET. Well, you asked me to keep it all from her until
to-morrow--though it concerns her as much as it does us. [_Monsieur
Feliat comes in, a man of sixty, correct without being elegant_] Here's
my brother.

FELIAT. I've something to tell you. Shall we be interrupted?

MADAME GUERET. Yes, constantly.

FELIAT. Let's go into another room.

MADAME GUERET. I can't. And all the rooms are full of people.

GUERET. Marguerite has been good enough to help here by taking the place
of Madame Chain, who's ill.

MADAME GUERET [_angrily_] Yes, I've got to do the noises heard off! At
my age! [_A sigh_] Tell us, Etienne, what is it?

GUERET. We can wait until the play is over.

MADAME GUERET. So like you! You don't care a bit about what my brother
has to tell us. Who'd ever believe this is all you