ilty than he is. Do you understand?

YANETTA. Yes, Monsieur.

MOUZON. Will you speak to him as I suggest? Shall I send for him?

YANETTA. Yes, Monsieur.

MOUZON. [_to the recorder_] Bring in the accused. Tell the gendarmes I
shall not need them.

_Etchepare enters._

SCENE X:--_The same, Etchepare._

YANETTA. Pierre! To see you here--my Pierre--a prisoner--like a thief!
My poor husband--my poor husband! Oh, prove you haven't done anything!
Tell his worship--tell him the truth. It'll be best. I beg you tell him
the truth.

ETCHEPARE. It's all no good. I know, I can feel, I'm done for. All that
I can do or say would be no use. Every word I do say turns against me.
The gentleman wants me to be guilty. I must be guilty, according to him.
So you see! What would you have me do, my poor darling? I've got no
strength to go on struggling against him. Let them do what they like
with me; I shan't say anything more.

YANETTA. Yes, yes, you must speak. You must defend yourself. I beg of
you, Pierre. I beg of you, defend yourself.

ETCHEPARE. What's the use?

YANETTA. I beg you to in the name of your children. They don't know
anything yet--but they cry because they see me crying--because, you see,
I can't hide it, I can't control myself always in front of them. I can't
be cheerful, can I? And then they love me, so they notice it. And they
ask me questions, questions. If you only knew! They ask me about you.
Andre was asking me again this morning, "Where's father? Are you going
to look for him? Tell me, are you going to fetch him?" I told him "yes"
and I ran away. You see you must defend yourself so as to get back to
them as soon as possible. If you've anything to reproach yourself with,
even the least thing, tell it. You are rough sometimes--so--I don't
know. But if you went to Irissary, you must say so. Perhaps you had a
quarrel with the poor old man. If that was it, say so, say so. Perhaps
you got fighting together and you--I'm saying perhaps you did--I don't
know--you understand--but his worship promised me just now that if it
was like that they wouldn't punish you--or not very much. My God, what
am I to say to you? What's to be done?

ETCHEPARE. So you believe I'm guilty--you too! Tell me now! Do you
believe me guilty too?

YANETTA. I don't know! I don't know!

ETCHEPARE [_to Mouzon_] Ah, so you've managed that too; you've thought
of that too, to torture me through my wife--and it was you put it into
her