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.
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