Henriette.  No, I cannot do that.

Abbe.  There is something wrong behind all this and you have lost our sympathy, my friend.  A while ago I could have sworn that you were innocent, and I wouldn’t do that now.

Maurice. [To Jeanne] What you have to say means more to me than anything else.  Jeanne. [Coldly] Answer a question first:  who was it you cursed during that orgie out there?

Maurice.  Have I done that too?  Maybe.  Yes, I am guilty, and yet I am guiltless.  Let me go away from here, for I am ashamed of myself, and I have done more wrong than I can forgive myself.

Henriette. [To Adolphe] Go with him and see that he doesn’t do himself any harm.

Adolphe.  Shall I—?

Henriette.  Who else?

Adolphe. [Without bitterness] You are nearest to it—­Sh!  A carriage is stopping outside.

Mme. Catherine.  It’s the Commissaire.  Well, much as I have seen of life, I could never have believed that success and fame were such short-lived things.

Maurice. [To Henriette] From the triumphal chariot to the patrol wagon!

Jeanne. [Simply] And the ass—­who was that?

Adolphe.  Oh, that must have been me.

Commissaire. [Enters with a paper in his hand] A summons to Police Headquarters—­to-night, at once—­for Monsieur Maurice Gerard—­and for Mademoiselle Henrietta Mauclerc—­both here?

Maurice and Henriette.  Yes.

Maurice.  Is this an arrest?

Commissaire.  Not yet.  Only a summons.

Maurice.  And then?

Commissaire.  We don’t know yet.

(Maurice and Henriette go toward the door.)

Maurice.  Good-bye to all!

(Everybody shows emotion.  The Commissaire, Maurice, and Henriette go out.)

Emile. [Enters and goes up to Jeanne] Now I’ll take you home, sister.

Jeanne.  And what do you think of all this?

Emile.  The man is innocent.

Abbe.  But as I see it, it is, and must always be, something despicable to break one’s promise, and it becomes unpardonable when a woman and her child are involved.

Emile.  Well, I should rather feel that way, too, now when it concerns my own sister, but unfortunately I am prevented from throwing the first stone because I have done the same thing myself.

Abbe.  Although I am free from blame in that respect, I am not throwing any stones either, but the act condemns itself and is punished by its consequences.

Jeanne.  Pray for him!  For both of them!

Abbe.  No, I’ll do nothing of the kind, for it is an impertinence to want to change the counsels of the Lord.  And what has happened here is, indeed, not the work of man.