Bastien barred the passage and cried elevating his voice:
"Stop there!"
"Silence, monsieur!" said the unhappy woman, whose fears were renewed lest David and Frederick should be awakened by the noise of an altercation.
So, waiting for new outrages, and resigned beforehand to submit to them, she said to Jacques, in a trembling voice:
"For pity's sake, monsieur, do not speak so loud, they will hear you. I will listen to you, as painful as this conversation is to me."
"I tell you that you have been no good to me since we were married; a servant hired for wages would have kept my house better than you, and with less expense."
"Perhaps, monsieur," replied Marie, with a bitter smile, "this servant might not, as I, have reared your son—"
"To hate his father?"
"Monsieur!"
"Enough! I saw that clearly this evening. If you had not prevented him, that blackguard would have used abusive language to me and ranged himself on your side. It is very plain, and he is not the only one. As soon as I arrive here, in my own house, each one of you says, 'There is the enemy, there is the wild boar, there is the ogre!' Ah, well, let me be an ogre; that suits me very well."