shall employ every energy--

Mme. Rousseau
Oh! Thank you! But of course Jules is not guilty. To think of him as a
conspirator! Poor child, how could any one suspect him, who trembles
before me at the slightest reproach--me, his mother! Ah, monsieur,
promise that you will restore him to me!

Rousseau (entering the room)
(To Antoine) Yes, carry the letter to General de Verby. I shall wait
for him here. (To Dupre) I am glad to see you, my dear M. Dupre--

Dupre
The battle will doubtless begin to-morrow; to-day preparations are
being made, and the indictment drawn.

Rousseau
Has my poor Jules made any admissions?

Dupre
He has denied everything, and has played to perfection the part of an
innocent man; but we are not able to oppose any testimony to that
which is being brought against him.

Rousseau
Ah! Monsieur, save my son, and the half of my fortune shall be yours!

Dupre
If I had every half of a fortune that has been promised to me, I
should be too rich for anything.

Rousseau
Do you question the extent of my gratitude?

Dupre
We will wait till the result of the trial is known, sir.

Mme. Rousseau
Take pity on a poor mother!

Dupre
Madame, I swear to you nothing so much excites my curiosity and my
sympathy, as a genuine sentiment. And at Paris sincerity is so rare
that I cannot be indifferent to the grief of a family threatened with
the loss of an only son. You may therefore rely upon me.

Rousseau
Ah! Monsieur!

SCENE FOURTH

The same persons, General de Verby and Madame du Brocard.

Mme. du Brocard (showing in De Verby)
Come in, my dear general.

De Verby (bowing to Rousseau)
Monsieur--I simply came to learn--

Rousseau (presenting Dupre to De Verby)
General, M. Dupre.

(Dupre and De Verby exchange bows.)

Dupre (aside, while De Verby talks with Rousseau)
He is general of the antechamber, holding the place merely through the
influence of his brother, the lord chamberlain; he doesn't seem to me
to have come here without some object.

De Verby (to Dupre)
I understand, sir, that you are engaged for the defence of M. Jules
Rousseau in this deplorable affair--

Dupre
Yes, sir, it is a deplorable affair, for the real culprits are not in
prison; thus it is that justice rages fiercely against the rank and
file, but the chiefs are always passed by.