Ferdinand (aside)
What an infernal creature!

Gertrude
And there is this consideration.  What would you do if the barrier
which separates you from Pauline were never broken down?

Ferdinand
Pauline will be able to maintain her own independence.

Gertrude
But if her father should marry her to some one else?

Ferdinand
It would be my death.

Gertrude People die of love in romance.  In real life they console themselves with some one else, and a man only does his duty by being true to her with whom he has plighted troth.

The General (outside)
Gertrude!  Gertrude!

Gertrude I hear the general calling. (The General appears.) You will then finish your business as quickly as you can, M. Ferdinand, and return promptly; I shall wait for you here.

(Exit Ferdinand.)

Scenethird

The General, Gertrude, then Pauline.

The General
This is rather early in the morning for you to be holding a conference
with Ferdinand!  What were you discussing?  The factory?

Gertrude What were we discussing?  I will tell you; for you are exactly like your son; when once you begin to ask questions, you must have a direct answer.  I had an impression that Ferdinand had something to do with Pauline’s refusal to marry Godard.

The General
When I come to think of it, you were perhaps right.

Gertrude I got M. Ferdinand to come here for the purpose of clearing up my suspicions, and you interrupted us at the very moment when I seemed likely to gain some information.

(Pauline pushes the door ajar unseen.)

The General
But if my daughter is in love with M. Ferdinand—­

Pauline (aside)
I must listen.

The General I do not see why, when I questioned her yesterday in a paternal manner and with absolute kindness, she should have concealed it from me, for I left her perfectly free, and her feeling for him would be absolutely natural.

Gertrude She probably misunderstood you or you questioned her before she had made up her mind.  The heart of a young girl, as you ought to know, is full of contradictions.

The General And why should there not be something between them?  This young man toils with the courage of a lion, he is the soul of honor, he is probably of good family.

Pauline (aside)
I understand the situation now.

(Pauline withdraws.)

The General He will give us information on this point.  He is above all things trustworthy; but you ought to know his family, for it was you who discovered this treasure for us.

Gertrude
I proposed him to you on the recommendation of old Madame Morin.

The General
But she is dead!

Gertrude (aside)
It is very lucky that I quoted her then! (Aloud) She told me that his
mother was Madame de Charny to whom he is devoted; she lives in
Brittany and belongs to the Charnys, an old family of that country.