Lucie has approached the witness-bar. She is thinner and older.
PRES [to the usher] Has the witness been sworn?
USHER. Yes, M. le président.
PRES [to Lucie] Was it of her own free will that your sister, the unfortunate Annette Jarras, in consequence of whose death the defendants have been arrested, came to Paris and placed herself in the hands of this woman?
LUCIE. Yes, M. le président.
PRES. Very well. Go and sit down. I will call you again presently. [Lucie retires to her place, sobbing]. Marie Caubert, come forward. [A small, thin woman rises]. Your name is Marie Caubert? How old are you?
SCHOOLMISTRESS. Twenty-seven.
PRES. Profession?
SCH. Schoolmistress.
PRES. You have come from the country, too: do you know what you are accused of?