ARG. (_aside_). Hm! hm! I see. (_To_ LOUISON) Well?
LOU. Then sister came.
ARG. Well?
LOU. She said to him, "Go away, go away, go. Good heavens! you will
drive me to despair."
ARG. Well?
LOU. But he would not go away.
ARG. What did he say to her?
LOU. Oh! ever so many things.
ARG. But what?
LOU. He told her this, and that, and the other; that he loved her
dearly; that she was the most beautiful person in the world.
ARG. And then, after?
LOU. Then he knelt down before her.
ARG. And then?
LOU. Then he kept on kissing her hands.
ARG. And then?
LOU. Then my mamma came to the door, and, he escaped.
ARG. Nothing else?
LOU. No, dear papa.
ARG. Here is my little finger, which says something though.
(_Putting his finger up to his ear_.) Wait. Stay, eh? ah! ah!
Yes? oh! oh! here is my little finger, which says that there is
something you saw, and which you do not tell me.
LOU. Ah! papa, your little finger is a story-teller.
ARG. Take care.
LOU. No, don't believe him; he tells a story, I assure you.
ARG. Oh! Well, well; we will see to that. Go away now, and pay great
attention to what you see. (_Alone_.) Ah! children are no longer
children nowadays! What trouble! I have not even enough leisure to
attend to my illness. I am quite done up. (_He falls down into his
chair._)
SCENE XII.
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