DUPONT. What! You give away fifteen thousand francs to the first comer because you are unhappy!
CAROLINE. I hope he will be grateful for what I have done for him, and that—
DUPONT. Well?
CAROLINE. I am no longer young, I know; but he is not young either.
DUPONT. You think he will marry you!
CAROLINE. Yes.
DUPONT. Then you don’t know—
MME. DUPONT. Hush.
CAROLINE. I can’t go on living alone. I am too wretched. For a long time I have thought—when I saw M. Courthezon, so steady and careful and quiet—I thought I could be happy with him. But I knew he would never marry me without money, and there was only enough for Julie. The time when I was most unhappy was when M. Antonin was here. He used to talk to Julie. They took no notice of me. They used to kiss one another. And though I don’t think I’m jealous, it made me very wretched. So when this legacy came, and I knew M. Courthezon needed money for his invention, I thought I would give him some.
MME. DUPONT. You should at least have given him some idea of what you meant. It would have saved you from disappointment, my poor child.