Good--I shall soon know everything. Secrets are like young girls,
the more you conceal them, the sooner they are discovered. I will
send two of my rascals to the Church of St. Thomas Aquinas. They
won't work out their salvation in that way, but they'll work out
something else.-- Good-bye.


SCENE SIXTH.

Joseph (alone)
He is an old friend--and that is the worst nuisance in the world. He
will make me lose my place. Ah, if I were not afraid of being poisoned
like a dog by Jacques Collin, who is quite capable of the act, I would
tell all to the duke; but in this vile world, every man for himself,
and I am not going to pay another man's debt. Let the duke settle with
Jacques; I am going to bed. What noise is that? The duchess is getting
up. What does she want? I must listen. (He goes out, leaving the door
slightly ajar.)


SCENE SEVENTH.

The Duchesse de Montsorel (alone)
Where can I hide the certificate of my son's birth? (She reads)
"Valencia. . . . July, 1793." An unlucky town for me! Fernand was
actually born seven months after my marriage, by one of those
fatalities that give ground for shameful accusations! I shall ask my
aunt to carry the certificate in her pocket, until I can deposit it in
some place of safety. The duke would ransack my rooms for it, and the
whole police are at his service. Government refuses nothing to a man