H

Dupre, Rousseau and Madame Rousseau.

Rousseau
Sir, we are at our wits' end--Madame du Brocard, my sister-in-law,
came this morning and told us all sorts of stories.

Mme. Rousseau
Sir, I am in the most serious alarm.

Dupre (offering her a seat)
Pray be seated, madame.

Rousseau
If all she says be true, my son is still in difficulties.

Dupre
I pity you; I do indeed!

Rousseau
It seems as if I should never get free! This unfortunate affair has
lasted for six months, and it seems to have cut ten years off my life.
I have been forced to neglect the most magnificent speculations,
financial combinations of absolute certitude, and to let them pass
into the hands of others. And then came the trial! But when I thought
the affair was all over, I have been compelled once more to leave my
business, and to spend my precious time in these interviews and
solicitations.

Dupre
I pity you; I do indeed!

Mme. Rousseau
Meanwhile it is impossible for me--

Rousseau
It is all your fault, and that of your family. Mme. du Brocard, who at
first used always to call me "my dear Rousseau"--because I had a few
hundred thousand crowns--

Dupre
Such a sum is a fine varnish for a man.

Rousseau
From pride and ambition, she threw herself at the head of M. de Verby.
(De Verby and Mme. du Brocard listen.) Pretty couple they are! Two
charming characters, one a military lobbyist, and the other an old
hypocritical devotee!

(The two withdraw their heads quickly.)

Mme. Rousseau
Sir, she is my sister!

Dupre
Really, you are going too far!

Rousseau
You do not know them! Sir, I address you once again, there is sure to
be a new trial. What has become of that girl?

Dupre
That girl is to be my wife, sir.

Rousseau and Mme. Rousseau
Your wife!

De Verby and Mme. du Brocard
His wife!

Dupre
Yes, I shall marry her as soon as she regains her liberty--that is,
provided she doesn't become the wife of your son!

Rousseau
The wife of my son!--

Mme. Rousseau
What did he say?

Dupre
What is the matter? Does that astonish you? You're bound to entertain
this proposal--and I demand that you do so.

Rousseau (ironically)
Ah! M. Dupre, I don't care a brass button about my son's union with
Mlle. de Verby--the niece of a disreputable man! It was that fool of a
Madame du Brocard who tried to b