Valsin [rising]. Would you like to see the warrant for her arrest? [He takes a packet of documents from his breast pocket, selects one, and spreads it open before her.] Let me read you her description: "Eloise d'Anville, aristocrat. Figure, comely. Complexion, blond. Eyes, dark blue. Nose, straight. Mouth, wide—"
Eloise [in a burst of passion, striking the warrant a violent blow with her clenched fist]. Let them dare! [Beside herself, she strikes again, tearing the paper from his grasp. She stamps upon it.] Let them dare, I say!
Valsin [picking up the warrant]. Dare to say her mouth is wide?
Eloise [cyclonic]. Dare to arrest her!
Valsin. It does seem a pity. [He folds the warrant slowly and replaces it in his pocket.] Yes, a great pity. She was the one amusing thing in all this somberness. She will be missed. The Revolution will lack its joke.
Eloise [recoiling, her passion exhausted]. Ah, infamy! [She turns from him, covering her face with her hands.]
Valsin [with a soothing gesture]. Being only her friend, you speak mildly. The d'Anville herself would call it blasphemy.
Eloise [with difficulty]. She is—so vain—then?
Valsin [lightly]. Oh, a type—an actress.
Eloise [her back to him]. How do you know? You said—