With all my heart, I thank you. How good of you to think of my poor little orphans!
LÉON [whispers to Jean]
You diplomat, you!
JEAN
There is nothing extraordinary about it, Madame. I am very fond of dumb animals. They are really the foster-brothers of man, sacrificed for them, slaves to them, and in many cases their food. They are the true martyrs of the world.
MME. DE RONCHARD
What you say is very true, Monsieur, and I have often thought of it in that way. For instance, take those poor horses, scourged and beaten by coachmen in the streets.
LÉON [with sarcastic emphasis]
And the pheasants, Auntie, and the partridges and the blackcock falling on all sides under a hail of lead, flying panic-stricken before the horrible massacre of the guns.
MME. DE RONCHARD