human
You received my letter then, Monsieur l'Abbe. I am glad that you have come, for I have some good news to give you, and wished to leave you the pleasure of imparting it to your _protege_, that man Laveuve, whom you so warmly recommended to me. Every formality has now been fulfilled, and you can bring him to the asylum to-morrow.
gpt
Laveuve? Why, he is dead!
human
What, dead! But you never informed me of it! If I told you of all the trouble that has been taken, of all that had to be undone and done again, and the discussions and the papers and the writing! Are you quite sure that he is dead?
gpt
Oh! yes, he is dead. He has been dead a month.
human
Dead a month! Well, we could not know; you yourself gave us no sign of life. Ah! _mon Dieu_! what a worry that he should be dead. We shall now be obliged to undo everything again!
gpt
He is dead, madame. It is true that I ought to have informed you of it. But that doesn't alter the fact--he is dead.