The reports of Count F.'s death prove false, however. At the conclusion of the war, the Count appears at the house of Colonel G. and asks to marry the Marquise. He is quite insistent that they should be married immediately, though he seems to understand that it is an unreasonable request, since they hardly know one another. The family suggests that the Count can stay at their house in order for him to get to know the Marquise. The Count cannot accept this offer, though, because he has a pressing military duty in another town. Therefore, the family agrees that the Count should leave to perform his military duty, and that the Marquise will entertain no other prospective husbands in his absence. While he is away, the Marquise finds herself pregnant. Although the symptoms of her pregnancy are clear, she and her mother are reluctant to believe it. They both accept the reality only after it is confirmed by a doctor and a midwife.