Saint Anthony
Allow me!... She is very far away. (In a deeper and more commanding tone.) Mademoiselle Hortense, return and arise from the dead.
(To the general amazement, the dead woman first makes a slight movement and then opens her eyes, unfolds her hands, raises herself slowly to a sitting posture, puts her night-cap straight and looks round the room with a crabbed and discontented air. Next she begins quietly to scratch at a bit of candle-grease which she has discovered on the sleeve of her night-gown. There is a moment of overpowering silence; then Virginie starts from the bewildered group, runs up to the bed and flings herself into the arms of the woman restored to life.)
Virginie
Mademoiselle Hortense! She’s alive! Look, she’s scratching at a bit of candle-grease; she’s feeling for her glasses.... Here they are! Here they are!... Saint Anthony! Saint Anthony!... A miracle! A miracle!... On your knees! On your knees!
Gustave
Come, come, be still!... Don’t talk nonsense!... This is no time for....
Achille
There’s no denying it, she’s alive.