efusing Godard's proposal. The General, and especially
Gertrude, will try to find out the motives of her refusal! But I must
hasten to reach the veranda, so that I may have the appearance of
having come from the main avenue, as Leon said. I hope no one will
catch sight of me from the dining-room. (He meets Ramel.) What, Eugene
Ramel!

SCENE EIGHTH

Ferdinand and Ramel.

Ramel
You here, Marcandal!

Ferdinand
Hush! Don't pronounce that name in this place! If the General heard
that my name was Marcandal, he would kill me at once as if I were a
mad dog.

Ramel
And why?

Ferdinand
Because I am the son of General Marcandal.

Ramel
A general to whom the Bourbons are in part indebted for their second
innings.

Ferdinand
In the eyes of General Grandchamp, to leave Napoleon for service under
the Bourbons was treason against France. Alas! this was also my
father's opinion, for he died of grief. You must therefore remember to
call me by the name of Ferdinand Charny, my mother's maiden name.

Ramel
And what are you doing here?

Ferdinand
I am the manager, the cashier, the factotum of Grandchamp's factory.

Ramel
How is this? Do you do it from necessity?

Ferdinand
From dire necessity! My father spent everything, even the fortune of
my poor mother, who lived during her later years in Brittany on the
pension she received as widow of a lieutenant-general.

Ramel
How is it that your father, who had command of the Royal Guard, a most
brilliant position, died without leaving you anything, not even a
patron?

Ferdinand
Had he never betrayed his friends, and changed sides, without any
reason--

Ramel
Come, come, we won't talk any more about that.

Ferdinand
My father was a gambler--that was the reason why he was so indulgent
to me. But may I ask what has brought you here?

Ramel
A fortnight ago I was appointed king's attorney at Louviers.

Ferdinand
I heard something about it. But the appointment was published under
another name.

Ramel
De la Grandiere, I suppose.

Ferdinand
That is it.

Ramel
In order that I might marry Mlle. de Boudeville, I obtained permission
to assume my mother's name--as you have done. The Boudeville family
have given me their protection, and in a year's time I shall doubtless
be attorney-general at Rouen--a stepping-stone towards a position at
Paris.

Ferdinand
And what brings you to our quiet factory?

Ramel
I came to investigate