DUPONT [lying fluently] She’s in India.
MME. DUPONT. In India?
DUPONT [to Madame Dupont] Yes, with her aunt, a sister of my first wife’s. I have had news of her from time to time. [To Madame Mairaut] Indirectly, of course.
MME. MAIRAUT. I repeat, M. Dupont, all this does you honor. [Thoughtfully] Still, some people might feel—However, I don’t think this discovery need make us abandon our project at once. Not at once. [To Mairaut] What do you think, my dear?
MAIRAUT. I?
MME. MAIRAUT. You think, as I do, that we must take time to consider, do you not? [A pause]. Without any definite promise on either side, but merely in order to get rid of all money questions, which are most distasteful to me, will you allow me to ask you one question, M. Dupont?
DUPONT. Certainly, Madame Mairaut.
MME. MAIRAUT. Have you ever considered [she hesitates] what you would give your daughter?
DUPONT. Oh, yes—roughly, you know.
MAIRAUT. Just so.