n anyone else!" Edith continued agitatedly. "You have lived with Andre day and night, don''t you know how kind he is in private? How can you believe such vilification that insults him?"
"It''s exactly his two-faced way that scares me even more!" Aunt Adele suddenly burst out, her voice trembling with tears. "Madame Toussaint, who lives opposite us, her son''s arrest warrant was signed by Quenet himself, and the day before, he was still warmly greeting Madame Toussaint! How could he just immediately walk over to our dining table with a smiling visage?"
"This only proves that he is impartial, and nothing else!" Edith retorted.
"Mother, sister, please don''t get agitated," Margot gently urged. "Edith, you know you are the centre of this family. I am not smart enough, nor do I have the same high energy as you, and mama does not understand politics at all; I just completely believe in you and Brother. As long as you and Philippe choose to trust Citizen Quenet, I will never have any doubts as well. And I''ll never allow anyone to brazenly tarnish the repute of Quenet."
Edith fell silent. Margot patted her mother''s arm to soothe her. The old lady finally calmed down after a bout of sobbing.