(_Going to the bed._) Do you know me, aunt? I am Achille, your nephew, Achille. LÉONTINE And me, auntie? I am your old niece Léontine. VALENTINE And me, my dear godmother, do you know me? I am little Valentine, to whom you left all your silver. GUSTAVE She’s smiling. ACHILLE Not at all, she looks displeased. GUSTAVE But she recognizes us all. ACHILLE (_Seeing MADEMOISELLE HORTENSE open her mouth and move her lips._) Listen! She’s going to speak. VIRGINIE Heavenly Father!... And she has seen God!... She’ll tell us about the delights of Paradise!... On your knees! On your knees! ACHILLE Listen! Listen! MADEMOISELLE HORTENSE (_Eyeing SAINT ANTHONY with scorn and disgust. In a shrill and angry voice._) Who is this person? Who has dared to let a bare-footed tramp into my drawing-room? He’s dirtied all the carpets as it is!... Put him out at once!... Virginie, how often have I told you not to let beggars.... SAINT ANTHONY (_Raising his hand imperiously._) Silence! (_The AUNT stops suddenly in the middle of her sentence, and sits up open-mouthed, unable to utter a sound._) GUSTAVE You must forgive her, she does not yet know how much she owes you. But we, we know. There’s no question but that what you have done was more than most people could have done. It may have been an accident or ... something else; upon my word, I don’t know. But what I do know is that I am proud and happy to shake you by the hand. SAINT ANTHONY I should like to go, please. I have work to do. GUSTAVE Oh, don’t be in such a hurry! We can’t let you go like this. You shall not leave empty-handed. I don’t know what my aunt will give you: that’s her affair: I cannot promise anything in her name. But, for my part, I will consult my brother-in-law; and, whether it be a coincidence or ... something else, we will pay for the coincidence without quibbling about the amount; and you shall have no reason to regret what you have done. That’s so, Achille, isn’t it? ACHILLE Certainly, you will not regret it, on the contrary. GUSTAVE We are not tremendously well off; we have wives and children and we have had our disappointments; but, after all, we know how to recognize a kindness; and, if it were only for the honour of the family, it would never do to have it said that a stranger, however poor, came and did us a service without receiving a reward, a decent reward, the best reward that in us lies, a reward in proportion to our means, which, I repeat, are limited.... Oh, I know, there are services which nothing can repay and which are not paid for: you need not tell me that! I know it, I know it: don’t interrupt me. But that’s no reason why we should not do something.... Come, what do you think we owe you? Name your own figure. Of course, you must not ask for anything excessive; we couldn’t give it you; but whatever seems reasonable you shall have. ACHILLE