MME. DUPONT. My dear—
DUPONT. Be silent. Selfish or stupid? Which? [Madame Mairaut shrugs her shoulders]. Is Uncle Maréchal a man with money to leave, or is he not?
MME. MAIRAUT [decisively, after a moment’s thought] He is not!
DUPONT [staggered] He is not? But—
MME. MAIRAUT. I quite understand, and you have your answer. He is not.
DUPONT. He has not two hundred thousand francs?
MME. MAIRAUT. He had them. Somebody else has them now. He has lost them.
DUPONT. Lost them! If this is true—
MME. MAIRAUT. That is why we don’t waste our time in going to see him.
DUPONT. But—I don’t understand. [A pause. He controls himself]. How long ago did this happen?