"Yes, sir."
"Is it true that, on his return, they were no longer to be found?"
"Yes, sir."
"Is it true that, when he asked you where they were, you told him that you could give him no information on the subject?"
The commissary appeared to wait for Frances' reply with kind of anxious curiosity.
"Yes, sir," said she, with the utmost simplicity, "that was the answer I made my husband."
"What, madame!" said the magistrate, with an air of painful astonishment; "that was your only answer to all the prayers and commands of your husband? What! you refused to give him the least information? It is neither probable nor possible."
"It is the truth, sir."
"Well, but, after all, madame, what have you done with the young ladies that were entrusted to your care?"
"I can tell you nothing about it, sir. If I would not answer my poor husband, I certainly will not answer any one else."