We arranged that
she should go alone, while I awaited for her at our inn. After she
had gone, I grew uneasy. I went out soon after, and prowled about near
Madame Gerdy's house, making inquiries of the servants and others; I
soon discovered that she was the Count de Commarin's mistress. I felt
so annoyed that, if I had been master, my wife should have come away
without the little bastard. I am only a poor sailor, and I know that
a man sometimes forgets himself. One takes too much to drink, for
instance, or goes out on the loose with some friends; but that a man
with a wife and children should live with another woman and give her
what really belongs to his legitimate offspring, I think is bad--very
bad. Is it not so, sir?"
The investigating magistrate moved impatiently in his chair. "Will
this man never come to the point," he muttered. "Yes, you are perfectly
right," he added aloud; "but never mind your thoughts. Go on, go on!"
"Claudine, sir, was more obstinate than a mule. After three days of
violent discussion, she obtained from me a reluctant consent, between
two kisses. Then she told me that we were not going to return home by
the diligence.
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