DELORME. Good-night. _He goes out. Madame Vagret at once enters by another door._ SCENE V:--_Vagret, Madame Vagret, then Bertha, Bunerat, La Bouzole, Mouzon._ MADAME VAGRET. Well, I heard--he gave you back the brief. VAGRET. Yes--his health--the newspapers-- MADAME VAGRET. And now? VAGRET. Be careful. No one suspects anything yet. MADAME VAGRET. Make your mind easy. [_She listens_] This time it is our guests. BERTHA. [_entering_] Here they are. MADAME VAGRET. To your work, Bertha! And for me the _Revue des Deux Mondes_. _They sit down. A pause._ BERTHA. They are a long time. MADAME VAGRET. It's Madame Bunerat. Her manners always take time. THE MANSERVANT. His Honor the President of the Court and Madame Bunerat. MADAME VAGRET. How do you do, dear Madame Bunerat? [_They exchange greetings_] THE MANSERVANT. His Honor Judge La Bouzole. His worship Judge Mouzon. _Salutations; the guests seat themselves._ MADAME VAGRET [_to Madame Bunerat_] Well, Madame, so another session's finished! MADAME BUNERAT. Yes, at last! MADAME VAGRET. Your husband, I imagine, is not sorry. MADAME BUNERAT. Nor yours, I'm sure. MADAME VAGRET. And the President of Assizes? BUNERAT. He will be a little late. He wants to get away early to-morrow morning, and he has a mass of documents to sign. You must remember the Court has barely risen. When we saw that we should be sitting so late we sent for our evening clothes, and we changed while the jury was deliberating; then we put our robes on over them to pronounce sentence. MADAME VAGRET. And the sentence was? BUNERAT. An acquittal. MADAME VAGRET. Again! Oh, the juries are crazy! VAGRET. My dear, you express yourself just a little freely. MADAME BUNERAT. Now, my dear Madame Vagret, you mustn't worry yourself. _She leads her up the stage._ BUNERAT [_to Vagret_] Yes, my dear colleague, an acquittal. That makes three this session. MOUZON [_a man of forty, whiskered and foppish_] Three prisoners whom we have had to set at liberty because we couldn't hold them for other causes. BUNERAT. A regular run on the black! LA BOUZOLE [_a man of seventy_] My dear colleagues would prefer a run on the red. BUNERAT. La Bouzole, you are a cynic! I do not understand how you can have the courage to joke on such a subject. LA BOUZOLE. I shouldn't joke if your prisoners were condemned. MOUZON. I'm not thinking of our prisoners--I'm thinking of ourselves. If you imagine we shall receive the congratulations of the Chancellery, you are mistaken. BUNERAT. He doesn't care a straw if the Mauleon Court does earn a black mark in Paris.