DURAND. I can't be sure that this is really a debt, as I don't keep the accounts, but if you have deceived me you shall hear from me. Now I'll go and get the bread. Afterward we'll find out.
[Goes out. Antonio alone. Afterward Thérèse comes in, carrying a rat-trap. She wears a morning negligée and her hair is down.]
THÉRÈSE. Oh, there you are, Antonio! I thought I heard the old man.
ANTONIO. Yes, he went to get the coffee-bread, he said.
THÉRÈSE. Hadn't he done that already? No, do you know, we can't stand him any longer.
ANTONIO. How beautiful you are today, Thérèse! But that rat-trap isn't becoming.
THÉRÈSE. And such a trap into the bargain! I have set it for a whole month, but never, never get a live one, although the bait is eaten every morning. Have you seen Mimi around?
ANTONIO. That damned cat? It's usually around early and late, but today I've been spared it.
THÉRÈSE. You must speak beautifully about the absent, and remember, he who loves me, loves my cat. [She puts rat-trap on table and picks up an empty saucer from under table.] Adèle, Adèle!
ADÈLE [In the kitchen door]. What does Her Highness demand so loudly?