"What do you mean?"
"Why, if she had given her explanations with too much detail, we should have ended by doubting what she was telling us."
"By doubting it?"
"Well, hang it all, the story is a trifle far-fetched! That fellow arriving at night, with a live baby in his pocket, and going away with a dead one: the thing hardly holds water. But you see, my dear, I hadn't much time to coach the unfortunate woman in her part."
Hortense stared at him in amazement:
"What on earth do you mean?"
"Well, you know how dull-witted these countrywomen are. And she and I had no time to spare. So we worked out a little scene in a hurry ... and she really didn't act it so badly. It was all in the right key: terror, tremolo, tears...."
"Is it possible?" murmured Hortense. "Is it possible? You had seen her beforehand?"
"I had to, of course."
"But when?"