al
As for me, it would try my patience to see a man, even if he were my
son-in-law, deny his father; and your father, a right honest man, used
himself to drive his beeves from Caen to Poissy, and all along the
road was known as Godard--Father Godard.

Godard
He was highly thought of.

The General
He was, in his own class. But I see what's the matter; as his cattle
provided you with an income of forty thousand francs, you are counting
upon other animals to give you the name of De Rimonville.

Godard
Now come, General, you had better consult Mlle. Pauline; she belongs
to her own epoch--that she does. We are now in the year 1829 and
Charles X. is king. She would sooner hear the valet call out, as she
left a ballroom, "the carriage of Madame de Rimonville," than, "the
carriage of Madame Godard."

The General
Well, if such silliness as this pleases my daughter, it makes no
difference to me. For, after all, you would be the one they'd poke fun
at, my dear Godard.

Godard
De Rimonville.

The General
Godard, you are a good fellow, you are young, you are rich, you say
that you won't pay your court to women, but that your wife shall be
the queen of your house. Well, if you gain her consent you can have
mine; for bear in mind, Pauline will only marry the man she loves,
rich or poor. There may be one exception, but that doesn't concern
you. I would prefer to attend her funeral rather than take her to the
registry office to marry a man who was a son, grandson, brother,
nephew, cousin or connection of one of the four or five wretches who
betrayed--you know what my religion is--

Godard
Betrayed the Emperor. Yes, everyone knows your creed, General.

The General
God, first of all; then France or the Emperor--It is all the same to
me. Lastly, my wife and children! Whoever meddles with my gods becomes
my enemy; I would kill him like a hare, remorselessly. My catechism is
short, but it is good. Do you know why, in the year 1816, after their
cursed disbanding of the army of the Loire, I took my little
motherless child and came here, I, colonel of the Young Guard, wounded
at Waterloo, and became a cloth manufacturer of Louviers?

Godard
I suppose you didn't wish to hold office under them.

The General
No, because I did not wish to die as a murderer on the scaffold.

Godard
What do you mean?

The General
If I had met one of those traitors, I should have finished his
business for him. Even to-day, after some fifteen