CAROLINE [_taking a letter from the mantelpiece_] Courthezon brought this letter for you. It is about the printing work for the Prefecture. DUPONT [_He reads the letter_]. Done, by Jove! Dumoulin gets the contract! Dumoulin! I expected this. I expected it. Uncle Maréchal has done it on purpose, curse him! [_To Julie_] How long have I been telling you you ought to pay him a visit. Have you been? No. And Antonin? Not he! Nor his father and mother! The old fool is offended, and this is his revenge. And if this goes on we shall never get a halfpenny of his money. Why haven’t you been to see him? JULIE. Antonin’s parents didn’t wish it. DUPONT. Ah! They didn’t wish it! Well, I have a word or two to say to Antonin’s parents, you’ll see. _I_ do my duty, _I_ go and call on Uncle Maréchal myself. _I_ amuse the old idiot, though it’s not the pleasantest sort of job to have to do. They didn’t wish it! I’ll show them the kind of man I am! And you—you were fool enough to do what they told you! I find a husband for you, a far better match than you could ever have hoped for. I _do_ the Mairauts— MME. DUPONT [_alarmed, looking round her_] Hush! DUPONT. Well, haven’t I _done_ the Mairauts? MME. DUPONT. Yes, yes. But don’t say it so loud. DUPONT. They aren’t here. And if they were, Julie’s married now. [_Speaking lower, but with the same fury_] I _do_ the Mairauts— MME. DUPONT. Are you quite sure? DUPONT. Am I quite sure? Haven’t I _done_ them? I tell you I’ve done them _brown_! _The maid-servant comes in._ SERVANT [_to Julie_] It’s about the beer, madame. JULIE. I’m coming. Will you come, too, Caro? [_Julie and Caroline go out_]. DUPONT [_fuming_] Brown, by jove! MME. DUPONT. Hush. Here they are. DUPONT. I’m glad to hear it. Now you’ll see. _M. and Madame Mairaut come in._ MME. MAIRAUT. Ah, you are here. Well, the wall has come down. DUPONT. I’m not thinking about the wall. MME. MAIRAUT. Very likely. You haven’t to pay for putting it up again. DUPONT. I’m not thinking about the wall. I’m thinking of something far more important. M. and Madame Mairaut, I regret to have to inform you that you are either deplorably unintelligent or else devoid of all sense of parental duty. MME. MAIRAUT. Indeed! So it’s you who propose to insult us just when— DUPONT. I am a father and I love my children. When their interests are at stake I have the sense to keep on good terms with those who may be useful to them later on. MME. MAIRAUT [_after a moment’s thought_] I see. Uncle Maréchal? DUPONT. You knew it. You did it on purpose! MME. MAIRAUT. Uncle Maréchal! [_She bursts out laughing uproariously_]. MAIRAUT. Charlotte. My dear. Don’t laugh like that. MME. MAIRAUT. Why shouldn’t I laugh? You aren’t going to forbid me, I suppose, [_looking full at Dupont and laughing more_] nor monsieur. DUPONT. Well, since you take it like that, I propose to give you _my_ view of the situation. Either you are hopelessly selfish or else you are hopelessly stupid.