“Young Bruno,” said Suzanne the bride, “surely he is too honorable to have dreamed of such a thing. Oh, no!”
“That is all very well to say,” returned the red-haired gossip, “but when a man is in love with a coquette, he sometimes comes pretty near being a villain.”
“You are an old scandal-monger, Madame Calasse, permit me to say,” broke in Andoche, who had just returned from his tour of investigation.
“Well, nobody asked your opinion, sir,” she retorted.
“No: I give it unsolicited, and nobody here can prevent me, either.”
“You scoundrel!”
“You viper!”
“Come, come,” interposed Sidonie, indignantly. “Don’t dispute in the presence of death. A poor soul is dying.”
“Pooh, little simpleton! You are a great one to talk. You will have enough to do if you stand up for Bruno.”
“That is my affair,” replied Sidonie.