"Adieu, father! I have no more to tell you. Do whatever you wish, and forgive me."
The colonel wiped his forehead, which was covered with perspiration. His coolness; the coolness of days when he had stood on the field of battle, suddenly came back to him. He rang.
A man-servant made his appearance. "Send in Philippe to me," said he. Then, he opened the drawer of his table.
The man entered almost immediately—a big soldier with red moustache, a malignant look, and a cunning eye.
The colonel looked him straight in the face.
"You are going to tell me the name of my wife's lover."
"But, my colonel—"
The officer snatched his revolver out of the half-open drawer.
"Come! quick! You know I do not jest!"
"Well—my colonel—it is Captain Saint-Albert."