Adieu, Monsieur de Randol. [_Exit_ Randol.] SCENE III. (M. de Sallus _and_ Mme. de Sallus.) M. DE SALLUS [_sinks into an armchair_] Was Randol here any length of time? MME. DE SALLUS No, possibly half an hour. M. DE SALLUS [_meditatively_] Half an hour plus a whole hour makes an hour and a half, does it not? Time seems to fly when you are with him. MME. DE SALLUS What do you mean by an hour and a half? M. DE SALLUS Just what I say. When I saw the carriage waiting at the door, I asked the footman, who was within. He told me that it was M. Jacques de Randol. “Has he been here long?” I asked. “He has been here since ten,” said the footman. Admitting that the man might have been mistaken, we will say, in the matter of a quarter of an hour, that would make an hour and a quarter, at the least. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, ho! What is this new attitude of yours? Have I not a right to receive whom I like now? M. DE SALLUS Oh, my dear, I deny you nothing, nothing, nothing. The only thing that astonishes me is that you do not know the difference between half an hour and an hour and a half. MME. DE SALLUS Are you looking for a scene? If you wish a quarrel, say so. I shall know how to answer you. You are simply in a bad temper. Go to bed and sleep, if you can. M. DE SALLUS I am not looking for a quarrel, neither am I in bad humor. I only state that time flies with you when you pass it in the company of Jacques de Randol. MME. DE SALLUS Yes, it does go quickly; far more quickly than when I am with you. M. DE SALLUS He is a very charming fellow, and I know you like him; and, moreover, he must like you very much, since he comes here every day. MME. DE SALLUS These insinuations are distasteful to me. Please speak plainly and say what you mean. Are you assuming the rôle of a jealous husband? M. DE SALLUS God forbid! I have too much confidence in you, and far too much esteem for you, to reproach you with anything, for I know that you have too much tact ever to give rise to calumny or scandal. MME. DE SALLUS Do not play with words. You think that M. Jacques de Randol comes too often to this house--to your house? M. DE SALLUS I do not find any fault with you for that. MME. DE SALLUS