"Against whom?"
"But you are such a coward that you just lay there pretending to be asleep and taking good care not to answer me."
"Tell me seriously, Suzanne,—what occurred last night? Did you really think you needed me?"
"Hear that, will you! They might have set fire to the house and murdered us, it wouldn't have made the slightest difference to you. M. Segoffin was snug in bed and there he remained."
"Set fire to the house and murdered you! What on earth do you mean?"
"I mean that two men tried to break into this house last night."
"They were two of your lovers, doubtless."
"Segoffin!"
"You had probably made a mistake in the date—"
But the head gunner never finished the unseemly jest. His usually impassive features suddenly assumed an expression of profound astonishment, succeeded by one of fear and anxiety. The change, in fact, was so sudden and so striking that Dame Roberts, forgetting her companion's impertinent remarks, exclaimed: