Felix (aside)
What is this old woman grumbling about? (Aloud) Whom are you
complaining of now, Marguerite? I'll bet it is the mistress.
Marguerite
No, it is not; I am blaming the master.
Felix
The General? You had better mind your own business. He is a saint, is
that man.
Marguerite
Yes, a stone saint, for he is blind.
Felix
You had better say that he has been blinded.
Marguerite
You hit the nail on the head there.
Felix
The General has but one fault--he is jealous.
Marguerite
Yes, and obstinate, too.
Felix
Yes, obstinate; it is the same thing. When once he suspects anything
he comes down like a hammer. That was the way he laid two men lifeless
at a blow. Between ourselves, there is only one way to treat a trooper
of that sort; you must stuff him with flattery. And the mistress
certainly does stuff him. Besides, she is clever enough to put
blinders on him, such as they put on shying horses; he can see neither
to the right nor to the left, and she says to him, "My dear, look
straight ahead!" So she does!
Marguerite
Ah! You think with me that a woman of thirty-two does not love a man
of seventy without some object. She is scheming something.
Ramel (aside)
Oh, these servants! whom we pay to spy over us!
Felix
What can be her scheme? She never leaves the house, she never sees
anyone.
Marguerite
She would skin a flint! She has taken away the keys from me--from me
who always had the confidence of the former mistress; do you know why
she did so?
Felix
I suppose she is saving up her pile.
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