e; I must find out who it is. (Aloud)
Mademoiselle, will you at least permit me to feel that I am not in
disgrace and that I may stay here a few days?

Pauline
My father will answer you on that score.

Gertrude (coming forward to Godard)
Well, how are things going?

Godard
A blunt refusal, without even a hope of her relenting; her heart is
evidently already occupied.

Gertrude (to Godard)
Her heart occupied? This child has been brought up by me, and I know
to the contrary; and besides that, no one ever comes here. (Aside)
This youth has roused in me suspicions which pierce my heart like a
dagger. (To Godard) Why don't you ask her if such is the case?

Godard
How could I ask her anything? At my first word of jealous suspicion,
she resented my curiosity.

Gertrude
Well, I shall have no hesitation in questioning her.

The General
Ah, here comes the doctor! We shall now learn the truth concerning the
death of Champagne's wife.

SCENE FIFTH

The same persons and Dr. Vernon.

The General
Well, how are you?

Vernon
I was quite sure of it. Ladies (he bows to them), as a general rule
when a man beats his wife, he takes care not to poison her; he would
lose too much by that. He doesn't want to be without a victim.

The General (to Godard)
He is a charming fellow!

Godard
Charming!

The General (to the doctor, presenting Godard to him)
M. Godard.

Godard
De Rimonville.

Vernon (looking at Godard)
If he kills her, it is by mistake from having hit her a little too
hard; and he is overwhelmed with grief; while Champagne is innocently
delighted to have been made a widower by natural causes. As a matter
of fact, his wife died of cholera. It was a very rare case, but he who
has once seen Asiatic cholera cannot forget it, and I am glad that I
had that opportunity; for, since the campaign in Egypt, I have never
met with a case. If I had been called in time I could have saved her.

Gertrude
How fortunate we are, for if a crime had been committed in this
establishment, which for twelve years has been so free from
disturbance, I should have been horrified.

The General
Here you see the effect of all this tittle-tattle. But are you quite
sure, Vernon?

Vernon
Am I certain? That's a fine question to put to a retired
surgeon-in-chief who has attended twelve French armies, from 1793 to
1815, and has practiced in Germany, in Spain, in Italy, in Russia, in
Poland, and in E