ANNETTE. I don’t think so. Dearest, you are mistaken.
LUCIE. No, I’m not mistaken. I am certain. Go. [Annette goes out]. I’m not mistaken. But if I were! If there were no one but me to defend this child and her baby! [A knock at the office door]. Come in. [The clerk enters] What is it?
CLERK [laying a paper on the table] It is the circular from the Minister of the Interior. M. le sous-préfet told me to put it here.
ACT II
[Same scene.
[Lucie, the colonel, Madame Chevillot, Chevillot, the sous-intendant, Brignac, Jacques Poiret, Pierre Poiret, and Laurent. The last three are provincial mayors.
[Lucie and Madame Chevillot are in smart evening gowns; the colonel and the sous-intendant in uniform; Chevillot and Brignac are in evening dress; Jacques Poiret in a frock coat, and Laurent and Pierre Poiret in morning coats.
[It is after dinner. They are drinking coffee.