"Why he is angry? No."
"It seems to me, it is some whim about Muguet."
"Bah! truly; then you must send the girl away. I will not deprive myself of a friend like Maurice for the sake of a femme-de-chambre."
"Oh!" said Geneviève, "he is not, I think, so angry as to require her to be sent away; it will suffice to—"
"What?"
"To exile her from my chamber."
"And Maurice is right," said Dixmer; "it is you he comes to visit, and not Muguet; it is therefore quite unnecessary that she should be present."
"But, my dear Dixmer," replied she, regarding her husband with astonishment.
"Geneviève," replied Dixmer, "I hoped to have found in you an ally who would render more easy the task imposed upon me, and find, on the contrary, that your fears redouble our dangers and difficulties. Four days since I thought all was settled between us, and now everything must be done over again. Have I not told you that I confide in you, in your honor? Have I not told you that it is positively necessary that Maurice should become our friend, more intimate than before, but less suspicious than ever? Oh, mon Dieu! these women are an everlasting obstacle to our projects."
"But, is there no other way? I have told you before, that for all our sakes it would be better if Monsieur Maurice returned here no more."