:34:02
and to act as my second in the dueI.
:34:05
The first is not agreeabIe,
the second even Iess so.
:34:08
And what is your answer?
:34:11
You know l am at your service.
:34:15
But before l know more,
forgive a naive question.
:34:18
Does it have to be?
:34:20
We're both too old...
:34:23
you to take a pistol in the hand...
:34:26
and l to assist you in the deed.
:34:28
Don't misunderstand me.
:34:30
That doesn't mean l'm saying no.
:34:33
How could l refuse you anything?
:34:36
But tell me what it's all about?
:34:39
lt concerns a suitor of my wife...
:34:42
who was also a friend of mine, or almost.
:34:45
That's impossible!
:34:47
lt's not only possible, it's a fact.
:34:50
Read these!
:34:54
Addressed to your wife?
:34:55
l found them in her sewing table.
:34:58
-And who wrote them?
-Major Crampas.
:35:02
Then these things happened
when you were still in Kessin...
:35:06
-six or more years ago?
-Yes.
:35:11
It seems aImost, WuIIersdorf...
:35:14
as if those 6 or 7 years
make you think differentIy.
:35:19
There is a theory of Iimitations, of course...
:35:22
but I'm not sure this is a case
where that theory can be appIied.
:35:27
I don't know either.
:35:29
But everything wouId seem
to turn on that question.
:35:33
Are you serious?
:35:35
AbsoIuteIy serious.
:35:37
It's not a matter of jeu d'esprit...
:35:40
or for sophistry.
:35:43
What do you mean by that?
:35:46
Tell me frankly. How do you see the matter?
:35:51
You're in a terrible situation.
Your happiness is destroyed.
:35:55
But if you kill the lover...
:35:58
your happiness will be doubly destroyed.