Lafouraille (to Buteux) Cannot you keep silence? Have we any right to judge him? Buteux And yet he condemns us! Vautrin (to the duke) I would inform your grace that these two men belong to me, and I claim possession of them. Saint-Charles Why, these are the domestics of Monsieur de Frescas! Vautrin (to Saint-Charles) Steward of the Langeacs, hold your tongue! (He points to Lafouraille) This is Philip Boulard. (Lafouraille bows.) Will your grace kindly send every one out of the room? The Duke What! Do you dare give your orders in my house? The Duchess Ah! sir, he is master here. The Duke What! This wretch? Vautrin If his grace the duke wishes to have an audience present we will proceed to talk of the son of Dona Mendes. The Duke Silence! Vautrin Whom you are passing off as the son of-- The Duke Once more I say, silence! Vautrin Your grace perceives, evidently, that there are too many people within hearing. The Duke All of you begone! Vautrin (to the duke) Set a watch on every outlet from your house, and let no one leave it, excepting these two men. (To Saint-Charles) Do you remain here. (He draws a dagger and cuts the cords by which Lafouraille and Buteux are bound.) Take yourselves off by the postern; here is the key, and go to the house of mother Giroflee. (To Lafouraille) You must send Raoul to me. Lafouraille (as he leaves the room) Oh! our veritable emperor. Vautrin You shall receive money and passports. Buteux (as he goes out) After all, I shall have something for Adele! The Duke But how did you learn all these facts? Vautrin (handing some documents to the duke) These are what I took from your study. The Duke These comprise my correspondence, and the letters of the duchess to the Viscount de Langeac. Vautrin Who was shot at Mortagne, October, 1792, through the kind efforts of Charles Blondet, otherwise known as the Chevalier de Saint-Charles. Saint-Charles But your grace very well knows-- Vautrin It was he himself who gave me these papers, among which you will notice the death certificate of the viscount, which proves that he and her grace the duchess never met after the Tenth of August, for he had then left the Abbaye for the Vendee, accompanied by Boulard, who seized the moment to betray and murder him. The Duke And so Fernand-- Vautrin The child sent to Sardinia is undoubtedly your son. The Duke And her grace the duchess-- Vautrin Is innocent. The Duke My God! (He sinks back into an armchair.) What have I done? The Duchess What a horrible proof--his death! And the assassin stands before us. Vautrin Monsieur le Duc de Montsorel, I have been a father to Fernand, and I have just saved your two sons, each from the sword of the other; you alone are the author of all this complication. The Duchess Stop! I know him better than you do, and he suffers at this moment all that I have suffered during twenty years. In the name of mercy, where is my son? The Duke What, Raoul de Frescas?