--Amélie Laferrier? --Elle-même!" What a pity it was not her husband! We shall, perhaps, see him. But he is not there, you may be sure, and I have a great longing to be presented to him. At this moment there is a knock at the door. It is a Sister of Charity. Adèle has written to the mayor, under the name of Madame Laurencin; she has depicted her misery in pitiable terms; the Sister of Mercy has been told and comes. Guess who that Sister of Charity is? It is Clarisse! Clarisse, who finds her sister weak, broken down, dying! Clarisse is in mourning, for Albert is dead. When Adèle recognises Clarisse, she faints away. Whilst Clarisse is bringing her back to consciousness with salts, the magistrates enter, brought by Amélie Laferrier. Naturally the meeting lacks effusion. The magistrates have come to arrest Madame Laurencin; but, as they must do this legally, they have sent to fetch the mayor. He arrives, and is Darcey, Amélie's husband, having become mayor of his arrondissement, thanks to conduct diametrically opposite to that of his wife! He is followed by his faithful Valdeja. The author does not tell us if Valdeja has been appointed deputy mayor under Darcey; it is likely, for, without this, how would he be there? "Quelle est cette femme que l'on parle d'arrêter? demande Darcey. --C'est la vôtre, monsieur! votre pauvre femme! --Ma femme! répond Darcey, qui repousse le mot avec indignation." It is a rude shock for Adèle: knowing herself to be dying, she raises herself up and asks her husband's forgiveness. "Jamais! répond Darcey." Adèle utters a cry and falls into an armchair. "DARCEY, _se laissant entraîner, dit à Valdeja, qui le pousse vers Adèle._ Tu le veux? Eh bien ... _(En ce moment, Adèle rend le dernier soupir.)_ Dieu! il n'est plus temps! VALDEJA. Elle expire! _(À Amélie et à Sophie.)_ Femmes, prenez ce cadavre! prenez-le donc, il est à vous ... Vos œuvres méritaient un salaire: le voilà! Honte à vous et à toutes vos semblables! _(À Darcey) À toi la liberté!_ DARCEY, _lui montrant Clarisse._ _Et à toi, je l'espère, bientôt le bonheur!_" These two last touches are a trifle harsh, it seems to us, before the body of Adèle and Clarisse's mourning garb; so harsh that, were we members of the Academy and deputed to award the prize for morality, it would be a ground for withholding the prize from the drama _Dix ans de la vie d'une femme._ [Footnote 1: TRANSLATOR'S NOTE, _Rosière_.--A young girl who in village life is awarded the prize of a rose for virtue.] CHAPTER III Doligny manager of the theatre in Italy--Saint-Germain bitten by the tarantula--How they could have livened up Versailles if Louis-Philippe had wished it--The censorship of the Grand-Duke of Tuscany--The bindings of printer Batelli--_Richard Darlington, Angèle, Antony_ and _La Tour de Nesle_ performed under the name of Eugène Scribe