Now again we have the Bourgeois Forjot displaying qualities of temper, character and moral sense, of the very highest order: qualities of the chivalrous sort. He does not fly into a passion. He does not taunt this offender against maternal and conjugal obligations. But earnestly and simply he addresses the author of all this trouble; and with a self-restraint that would certainly not have been found in his English prototype, he invites her to examine her own conduct; and to ask herself whether it is Hélène and himself, or whether it is Gabrielle herself, and Gabrielle only, who has behaved cruelly and selfishly to Pascaline, as well as to the husband she betrayed and the good woman who has taken care of the child she abandoned. _Forjot._ Gabrielle, just remember. _You_ are the cause of all this trouble. It only depended upon you to stay on here, and never to be separated from your child. I never made your life unhappy! I loved you; and you know very well I should have forgiven you. I begged you to stay and you would not. What harm you have done by obeying your caprice! Just now I saw very well you hardly recognised me—so aged am I by all this. For my part, I have never harmed you. Hélène has never harmed you—what do you say? No, no; she has never harmed you! And yet it is we who are punished. It is because _you_ behaved badly in the past that _we_ are threatened to-day with distress and loneliness. After having poisoned my life, you wish then to hasten my death? _Gabrielle._ You know very well that I regret having made you suffer. _Forjot._ Let me tell you this: a great many people would not have acted as we have done. They might not have told our child the real story of your desertion; but they would not have invented excuses for you. _Gabrielle._ Yes; I know you have been very kind, and I thank you for it. _Forjot._ I am not the only one you ought to thank. Hélène has always respected you: she has taught Pascaline to love you! It seems to me that should touch you. Give our child back to us. Now, admit it, you have launched yourself upon a new life. You have made yourself different from us. I can’t well explain myself; and it is difficult to make you understand my feelings because I don’t want to use words that might hurt or irritate you; but I must put the facts before you plainly. Always generous is Forjot. Not one brutal, not one harsh word does he throw at his wife! He promises that Pascaline shall continue to visit her as often as she pleases, if Gabrielle, on the other side, will promise not to poison Pascaline’s mind against him and Hélène. Gabrielle is touched. Rising, she opens the door, and brings in Pascaline. And Pascaline, seeing her poor father’s anxious, care-worn face, runs up to him.