Chapter: SCENE VIII

  ELMIRE, ORGON


  ELMIRE
  What sort of speech is this? What can it mean?

  ORGON
  My faith, I'm dazed. This is no laughing matter.

  ELMIRE
  What?

  ORGON
  From his words I see my great mistake;
  The deed of gift is one thing troubles me.

  ELMIRE
  The deed of gift ...

  ORGON
  Yes, that is past recall.
  But I've another thing to make me anxious.

  ELMIRE
  What's that?

  ORGON
  You shall know all. Let's see at once
  Whether a certain box is still upstairs.

 Elmire is confused by this last remark; she asks Orgon what Tartuffe meant. Orgon, dolt that he is, has signed a "deed of gift," a document that transfers ownership of something to another party. In this case, that something, seems to be, well, everything. To top it all off, he fears that Tartuffe may have made off with something else very, very valuable that Orgon kept locked away.

