“Yes, my poor Severin, quite true, but who told you?”
“Pretty well everybody. I understand! And I suppose you know all about marriages, as you marry people?”
“What about marriage?”
“With regard to one's rights.”
“What rights?”
“The husband's rights and then the wife's rights.”
“Of course I do.”
“Oh! Then just tell me, M'sieu Cacheux, has my wife the right to go to bed with Polyte?”
“What, to go to bed with Polyte?”
“Yes, has she any right before the law, and, seeing that she is my wife, to go to bed with Polyte?”