GUERET. Would it suit me! Oh, my dear Feliat, how can I possibly thank you? To tell you the truth, I've been wondering what in the world I should do with myself now; and I was dreading the future. What you offer me is better than anything I could have dreamt of. What do you say, Marguerite? MADAME GUERET. I am delighted. FELIAT. Then that's all right. GUERET [_to his brother-in-law_] I think you won't regret having confidence in me. FELIAT. And your goddaughter? MADAME GUERET. Therese? FELIAT. Yes; how is _she_ going to face this double news of her ruin and the breaking off of her engagement? MADAME GUERET. I think she ought to have sense enough to understand that one is the consequence of the other. She can hardly expect Rene's parents to give their son to a girl without money. FELIAT. I suppose not. But what's to become of her? GUERET. She will live with us, of course. MADAME GUERET. "Of course"! I like that. GUERET. She has no other relations, and her father left her in my care. MADAME GUERET. He left her in _your_ care, and it's _I_ who have been rushed into all the trouble of a child who is nothing to me. GUERET. Child! She was nineteen when her father died. FELIAT. To look after a young girl of nineteen is a very great responsibility. MADAME GUERET [_laughing bitterly_] Ho! Ho! Look after! Look after Mademoiselle Therese! You think she's a person who allows herself to be looked after! And yet you've seen her more or less every holidays. GUERET. You've not had to look after her; she has been at the Lycee. _Therese comes in dressed as Kalekairi from "Barberine." She is a pretty girl of twenty-three, healthy, and bright._ THERESE. The bell, the bell, godmother! You're forgetting the bell! Good-evening, Monsieur Feliat. _Therese takes up the bell, which is on the table._ MADAME GUERET. I was going to forget it! Oh, what a nuisance! All this is so new to me. FELIAT. Excuse me! I really didn't recognize you for the moment. THERESE [_laughing_] Ah, my dress. Startling, isn't it? MADAME GUERET [_with meaning_] Startling is the right word. RENE [_appearing at the back, disappearing again immediately, and calling_] The bell! And you, on the stage, Mademoiselle Therese! THERESE. I'm coming. [_She rings_] Here I am! _She goes out._ MADAME GUERET [_with a sigh_] And I had it let down! FELIAT. What? MADAME GUERET. Her dress. [_To her husband_] What I see most clearly in all this is that she must stay with us. _Rene comes fussing in._ RENE. Where's the queen? Where's Madame Nerisse? MADAME GUERET. I've not seen her. RENE. But goodness gracious--! [_He goes to the door on the left and calls_] Madame Nerisse! MADAME NERISSE [_from outside_] Yes, yes, I'm ready. _Madame Nerisse comes in. She is about forty, flighty, and a little affected._ RENE. I wanted to warn you that Ulric will be on your right, and if he plays the fool-- MADAME NERISSE. Very well. Is it time?