Madame Fourchambault--I thought my dowry permitted me to indulge a few whims, but it seems I was wrong.
Fourchambault--A whim costing eight thousand francs!
Madame Fourchambault--Would you have to pay for it?
Fourchambault--That's the kind of reasoning that's ruining me.
Madame Fourchambault--Now he says I'm ruining him! His whole fortune comes from me.
Fourchambault--Now don't get angry, my dear. I want you to have everything in reason, but you must understand the situation.
Madame Fourchambault--The situation?
Fourchambault--I ought to be a rich man; but thanks to the continual expenses you incur in the name of your dowry, I can barely rub along from day to day. If there should be a sudden fall in stocks, I have no reserve with which to meet it.
Madame Fourchambault--That can't be true! Tell me at once that it isn't true, for if it were so you would be without excuse.
Fourchambault--I or you?