That is true, and I did right. Moreover, I shall never be tired asserting that what I did was right. MME. DE RONCHARD [_still tapping on the table_] And for my part I shall never be tired of saying that Gilberte has not married the right man. LÉON [_still tapping_] Well, what kind of man do you think Gilberte ought to have married? MME. DE RONCHARD A man of position, a public official, or an eminent physician, or--an engineer. LÉON Do you mean a theatrical engineer? MME. DE RONCHARD There are other kinds of engineers. Then, above all, she should not have married a handsome man. LÉON Do you reproach Jean for his good looks? If you do, my dear Aunt, there are a good many men in the world who must plead guilty. Suppose, even, that a man has no need of good looks, it does not follow that he ought to be ugly. MME. DE RONCHARD [_sits on a little stool by the table, clasps her hands, and looks upward_] My husband was handsome, nay, superb, a veritable guardsman--and I know how much it cost me. LÉON It might have cost you a great deal more if he had been ugly! [Mme. de Ronchard _rises to go away_.] Besides Jean is not only good-looking but he is good. He is not vain, but modest; and he has genius, which is manifesting itself more and more every day. He will certainly attain membership in the Institute. That would please you, would it not? That would be worth more than a simple engineer; and, moreover, every woman finds him charming, except you. MME. DE RONCHARD That's the very thing for which I blame him. He is too good and too honest. He has already painted the portraits of a crowd of women, and he will continue to do that. They will be alone with him in his studio for hours at a time, and everybody knows what goes on in those studios. LÉON You have been accustomed to go there, my dear Aunt? MME. DE RONCHARD [_dreamily_] Oh, yes. [_Corrects herself_.] I mean to say, once I went to Horace Vernet's studio. LÉON The painter of battle scenes! MME. DE RONCHARD Well, what I say of Jean, I say of all artists--that they ought not to be allowed to marry into a family of lawyers and magistrates, such as ours. Such doings always bring trouble. I ask you as a man, is it possible to be a good husband under such conditions--among a crowd of women continually around you who do nothing but unrobe and re-dress themselves, whether they be clients or models (_pointedly_), especially models? [Mme. de Ronchard _rises and_ Léon _is silent_.] I said _models_, Léon. LÉON I understand you, Aunt. You make a very pointed and delicate allusion to Jean's past. Well, what of it? If he did have one of his models for a mistress, he loved her, and loved her sincerely for three years-- MME. DE RONCHARD You mean to tell me a man can love such women? LÉON Every woman can be loved, my dear Aunt; and this woman certainly deserved to be loved more than most women. MME. DE RONCHARD