"Wife!"
"In short, it must have been you who placed the portrait!"
"I—oh!"
"But who is it then?"
"You, madame."
"I!"
"Yes," cried Pipelet wildly, "it is you; I have reason to believe it is you. This morning, having my back turned toward the bed I could see nothing."
"But, old darling, I tell you it must be you, otherwise I shall think it was the devil."
"I have not left the lodge, and when I went upstairs to answer to the call of the masculine organ, I had the key; the door was shut. You opened it; deny that!"
"Ma foi; it is true!"