ANTONIN. Read! Oh, yes, she’s read! She reads everything she comes across. Before her marriage she read the proofs of everything her father printed. Here she has unearthed a lot of books left behind by an old fool M. Dupont bought the house from. She’s read them all.
LIGNOL. But then—
ANTONIN. But she doesn’t understand a word of what she reads. Not a word! The other day I looked at the author’s name on the book in her hand. It was Mill. You know, John Stuart Mill.
LIGNOL [nods] Yes, I know.
ANTONIN. So do I, by name. But I’ve never read him, thank goodness. No, I tell you Julie’s stupid. But she’s pretty and she knows how to put on her clothes. I knew what I was about when I married her. With a little instruction from me she’ll learn to manage the house well enough. And that’s all I ask of a woman.
LIGNOL. Indeed. Well, my dear chap, if you imagine you’ve married a stupid woman you’re mistaken.
ANTONIN. How do you know?
LIGNOL. She and I have been talking while you were entertaining your inventor.
ANTONIN. You got her to talk, did you?
LIGNOL. Certainly.