Pamela Giraud | Page 5

have suddenly changed your tune.

Pamela Bit what are you looking for? What do you want?
The sheriff You seem to be well aware that we are looking for
somebody.
Giraud Sir, my daughter has no one with her but her future husband,
M.--
The sheriff Rousseau.
Pamela M. Adolph Durand.
Giraud Rousseau I don't know.--The gentleman I refer to is M. Adolph
Durand.
Mme. Giraud Son of a respectable merchant of Marseilles.
Joseph Ah! you have been deceiving me! Ah!--That is the secret of
your coldness, and he is--
The sheriff (to the officer of the police) This does not seem to be the
man?
The officer Oh, yes, I am sure of it! (to the gendarmes) Carry out my
orders.
Jules Monsieur, I am the victim of some mistake; my name is not Jules
Rousseau.
The officer Oh! but you know his first name, which none of us has as
yet mentioned.
Jules But I heard some one say it. Here are my papers, which are
perfectly correct.
The sheriff Let me see them, please.
Giraud Gentlemen, I assure you and declare to you--
The officer If you go on in this way, and wish to make us believe that
this gentleman is Adolph Durand, son of a merchant of--
Mme. Giraud Of Marseilles--
The officer You may all be arrested as his accomplices, locked up in
jail this evening, and implicated in an affair from which you will not
easily get off. Have you any regard for the safety of your neck?
Giraud A great deal!
The officer Very well! Hold your tongue, then.
Mme. Giraud Do hold your tongue, Giraud!
Pamela Merciful heaven! Why did I not believe him at once!
The sheriff (to his agents) Search the gentleman!
(The agent takes out Jules' pocket handkerchief.)
The officer It is marked with a J and an R. My dear sir, you are not very

clever!
Joseph What can he have done? Have you anything to do with it,
mademoiselle?
Pamela You are the sole cause of the trouble. Never speak to me again!
The officer Monsieur, here we have the check for your dinner--you
dined at the Palais Royal. While you were there you wrote a letter in
pencil. One of your friends brought the letter here. His name was M.
Adolph Durand, and he lent you his passport. We are certain of your
identity; you are M. Jules Rousseau.
Joseph The son of the rich M. Rousseau, whose house we are
furnishing?
The sheriff Hold your tongue!
The officer You must come with us.
Jules Certainly, monsieur. (To Giraud and his wife) Forgive the
annoyance I have caused you--and you, Pamela, do not forget me! If
you do not see me again, you may keep what I gave into your hands,
and may it bring you happiness!
Giraud O Lord!
Pamela Poor Adolph!
The sheriff (to his agents) Remain here. We are going to search this
attic, and question every one of these people.
Joseph (with a gesture of horror) Ah!--she prefers a criminal to me!
(Jules is put in charge of the agents.)
Curtain to the First Act.

ACT II
SCENE FIRST
(The setting is a drawing-room in the Rousseau mansion. Antoine is
looking through the newspapers.)
Antoine and Justine.
Justine Well, Antoine, have you read the papers?
Antoine I am reading them. Isn't it a pity that we servants cannot learn,
excepting through the papers, what is going on in the trial of M. Jules?
Justine And yet the master and mistress and Mme. du Brocard, their
sister, know nothing. M. Jules has been for three months--in--what do
they call it?--in close confinement.
Antoine The arrest of the young man has evidently attracted great

attention--
Justine It seems absurd to think that a young man who had nothing to
do but amuse himself, who would some day inherit his aunt's income of
twenty thousand francs, and his father's and mother's fortune, which is
quite double that amount, should be mixed up in a conspiracy!
Antoine I admire him for it, for they were plotting to bring back the
emperor! You may cause my throat to be cut if you like. We are alone
here--you don't belong to the police; long live the emperor! say I.
Justine For mercy's sake, hold your tongue, you old fool!--If any one
heard you, you would get us all arrested.
Antoine I am not afraid of that, thank God! The answers I made to the
magistrate were non-committal; I never compromised M. Jules, like the
traitors who informed against him.
Justine Mme. du Brocard with all her immense savings ought to be able
to buy him off.
Antoine Oh, nonsense! Since the escape of Lavalette such a thing is
impossible! They have become extremely particular at the gates of the