Produced by Dagny and John Bickers
THE STEPMOTHER
A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS
BY
HONORE DE BALZAC
Presented for the First Time in Paris
At the Theatre-Historique
May 25, 1848
PERSONS OF THE PLAY
Comte de Grandchamp, a Napoleonic General
Eugene Ramel, a State's Attorney
Ferdinand Marcandal
Doctor Vernon
Godard
An Investigating Magistrate
Felix, servant to General de Grandchamp
Champagne, a foreman
Baudrillon, a druggist
Napoleon, son to General de Grandchamp by his second wife
Gertrude, second wife to General de Grandchamp
Pauline, daughter to General de Grandchamp by his first wife
Marguerite, maid to Pauline
Gendarmes, Sheriff's Officer, the Clergy
SCENE: Chateau of the General de Grandchamp, near Louviers, Normandy
TIME: 1829
THE STEPMOTHER
ACT I
SCENE FIRST
(A richly decorated drawing-room; on the walls are portraits of
Napoleon I. and his son. The entry is by a large double glass door,
which opens on a roofed veranda and leads by a short stairway to a
park. The door of Pauline's apartments are on the right; those of the
General and his wife are on the left. On the left side of the central
doorway is a table, and on the right is a cabinet. A vase full of
flowers stands by the entrance to Pauline's room. A richly carved
marble mantel, with a bronze clock and candelabras, faces these
apartments. In the front of the stage are two sofas, one on the left,
the other on the right. Gertrude enters, carrying the flowers which
she has just plucked, and puts them in the vase.)
Gertrude and the General.
Gertrude
I assure you, my dear, that it would be unwise to defer any longer
giving your daughter in marriage. She is now twenty-two. Pauline has
been very slow in making her choice; and, in such a case, it is the
duty of parents to see that their children are settled. Moreover, I am
very much interested in her.
The General
In what way?
Gertrude
The position of stepmother is always open to suspicion; and for some
time it has been rumored in Louviers that I am the person who throws
obstacles in the way of Pauline's marriage.
The General
That is merely the idle gossip of little towns. I should like to cut
out some of those silly tongues. And to think that they should attack
you of all people, Gertrude, who have been a real mother to
Pauline--whom you have educated most excellently!
Gertrude
It is the way of the world! They will never forgive us for living so
close to the town, yet never entering it. The society of the place
revenges itself upon us for slighting it. Do you think that our
happiness can escape envy? Even our doctor--
The General
Do you mean Vernon?
Gertrude
Yes, Vernon is very envious of you; he is vexed to think that he has
never been able to inspire any woman with such affection as I have for
you. Moreover, he pretends that I am merely playing a part,--as if I
could do it for twelve years! Rather unlikely, I should think.
The General
No woman could keep up the pretence for twelve years without being
found out. The idea is absurd! And Vernon also is--
Gertrude
Oh, he is only joking! And so, as I told you before, you had better
see Godard. I am astonished that he has not yet arrived. He is so rich
that it would be folly to refuse him. He is in love with Pauline, and
although he has his faults, and is somewhat provincial, he is quite
able to make her happy.
The General
I have left Pauline quite free to choose a husband for herself.
Gertrude
There is no cause for anxiety. A girl so gentle, so well brought up,
so well behaved, is sure to do right.
The General
Gentle, did you say? She is headstrong, like her father.
Gertrude
She, headstrong? And you, come now, do you not always act as I wish?
The General
You are no angel, and always wish what pleases me! By the bye, Vernon
takes dinner with us after his autopsy.
Gertrude
Was it necessary to tell me that?
The General
I only told you, in order that he might have his favorite wines.
Felix (enters, announcing)
Monsieur de Rimonville!
The General
Ask him in.
Gertrude (making a sign to Felix to arrange the vase of flowers)
I will go to Pauline's room, while you are talking business. I should
like to superintend the arrangement of her toilet. Young people do not
always understand what is most becoming to them.
The General
She has no expense spared her! During the last eighteen months her
dress has cost twice as much as it previously did; after all, poor
girl, it is the only amusement she has.
Gertrude
How can you say it is her only amusement while she has the privilege
of living with us! If it were not my happy lot to be your wife, I
should like to be your daughter. I will never leave you, not I! Did
you say for the last eighteen months? That is singular! Well, when I
come to think of it, she has begun to care more about laces, jewels,
and other pretty things.
The General
She is quite rich enough to indulge her tastes.
Gertrude
And she is now of age. (Aside) Her fondness of dress is the smoke. Can
there be any fire? (Exit.)
SCENE SECOND
The General (alone)
What a pearl among women! Thus I am made happy after twenty-six
campaigns, a dozen wounds, and the death of an angel, whose place she
has taken in my heart; truly a kind Providence owed me some such
recompense as this, if it were only to console me for the death of the
Emperor.
SCENE THIRD
Godard and the General.
Godard (entering)
Well, General!
The General
Ah! good day, Godard! I hope you are come to spend the day with us?
Godard
I thought perhaps I might spend the week, General, if you should
regard favorably the request which I shall venture to make of you.
The General
Go in and win! I know what request you mean--My wife is on your side.
Ah, Godard, you have attacked the fortress at its weak point!
Godard
General, you are an old soldier, and have no taste for mere phrases.
In all your undertakings you go straight ahead, as you did when under
fire.
The General
Straight and facing the whole battery.
Godard
That suits me well, for I am rather timid.
The General
You! I owe you, my dear friend, an apology; I took you for a man who
was too well aware of his own worth.
Godard
You took me to be conceited! But General, as a matter of fact, I
intend to marry because I don't know how to pay any court to women.
The General (aside)
What a civilian! (Aloud) How is this? You talk like an old man, and
--that is not the way to win my daughter.
Godard
Do not misunderstand me. I have a warm heart; I wish only to feel sure
that I shall be accepted.
The General
That means that you don't mind attacking unwalled towns.
Godard
That is not it at all, General. You quite alarm me, with your banter.
The General
What do you mean then?
Godard
I understand nothing about the tricks of women. I know no more when
their yes means no, than when their no means yes; and when I am in
love, I wish to be loved in return.
The General (aside)
With such ideas as those he has precious little chance.
Godard
There are plenty of men like me, men who are supremely bored by this
little warfare of manners and whims.
The General
But there is something also delightful in it,--I mean in the feminine
show of resistance, which gives one the pleasure of overcoming it.
Godard
Thank you, nothing of that sort for me! When I am hungry, I do not
wish to coquette with my soup. I like to have things decided, and care
very little how the decision is arrived at, although I do come from
Normandy. In the world, I see coxcombs who creep into the favor of
women by saying to them, "Ah! madame, what a pretty frock you have on.
Your taste is perfect. You are the only person who could wear that,"
and starting from such speeches as that they go on and on--and gain
their end. They are wonderful fellows, upon my honor! I don't see how
they reach success by such idle talk. I should beat about the bush
through all eternity before I could tell a pretty woman the effect she
had made on me.
The General
The men of the Empire were not of that sort.
Godard
It is on account of that, that I put on a bold face! This boldness
when backed by an income of forty thousand francs is accepted without
protest, and wins its way to the front. That is why you took me for a
good match. So long as there are no mortgages on the rich pasture
lands of the Auge Valley, so long as one possesses a fine chateau,
well furnished--for my wife need bring with her nothing but her
trousseau, since she will find there even the cashmeres and laces of
my late mother--when a man has all that, General, he has got all the
courage he need have. Besides, I am now Monsieur de Rimonville.
The General
No, you're only Godard.
Godard
Godard de Rimonville.
The General
Godard for short.
Godard
General, you are trying my patience.
The General
As for me, it would try my patience to see a man, even if he were my
son-in-law, deny his father; and your father, a right honest man, used
himself to drive his beeves from Caen to Poissy, and all along the
road was known as Godard--Father Godard.
Godard
He was highly thought of.
The General
He was, in his own class. But I see what's the matter; as his cattle
provided you with an income of forty thousand francs, you are counting
upon other animals to give you the name of De Rimonville.
Godard
Now come, General, you had better consult Mlle. Pauline; she belongs
to her own epoch--that she does. We are now in the year 1829 and
Charles X. is king. She would sooner hear the valet call out, as she
left a ballroom, "the carriage of Madame de Rimonville," than, "the
carriage of Madame Godard."
The General
Well, if such silliness as this pleases my daughter, it makes no
difference to me. For, after all, you would be the one they'd poke fun
at, my dear Godard.
Godard
De Rimonville.
The General
Godard, you are a good fellow, you are young, you are rich, you say
that you won't pay your court to women, but that your wife shall be
the queen of your house. Well, if you gain her consent you can have
mine; for bear in mind, Pauline will only marry the man she loves,
rich or poor. There may be one exception, but that doesn't concern
you. I would prefer to attend her funeral rather than take her to the
registry office to marry a man who was a son, grandson, brother,
nephew, cousin or connection of one of the four or five wretches who
betrayed--you know what my religion is--
Godard
Betrayed the Emperor. Yes, everyone knows your creed, General.
The General
God, first of all; then France or the Emperor--It is all the same to
me. Lastly, my wife and children! Whoever meddles with my gods becomes
my enemy; I would kill him like a hare, remorselessly. My catechism is
short, but it is good. Do you know why, in the year 1816, after their
cursed disbanding of the army of the Loire, I took my little
motherless child and came here, I, colonel of the Young Guard, wounded
at Waterloo, and became a cloth manufacturer of Louviers?
Godard
I suppose you didn't wish to hold office under them.
The General
No, because I did not wish to die as a murderer on the scaffold.
Godard
What do you mean?
The General
If I had met one of those traitors, I should have finished his
business for him. Even to-day, after some fifteen years, my blood
boils if I read their names in the newspaper or anyone mentions them
in my presence. And indeed, if I should meet one of them, nothing
would prevent me from springing at his throat, tearing him to pieces,
strangling him--
Godard
You would do right. (Aside) I must humor him.
The General
Yes, sir, I would strangle him! And if my son-in-law were to ill-treat
my dear child, I would do the same to him.
Godard
Ah!
The General
I shouldn't wish him to be altogether under her thumb. A man ought to
be king in his own house, as I am here.
Godard (aside)
Poor man! How he deceives himself!
The General
Did you speak?
Godard
I said, General, that your threat had no terrors for me! When one has
nothing but a wife to love, he loves her well.
The General
Quite right, my dear Godard. And now with regard to the marriage
settlement?
Godard
Oh, yes!
The General
My daughter's portion consists of--
Godard
Consists of--
The General
It comprises her mother's fortune and the inheritance of her uncle
Boncoeur. It will be undivided, for I give up my rights to it. This
will amount to three hundred and fifty thousand francs and a year's
interest, for Pauline is twenty-two.
Godard
This will make up three hundred and sixty-seven thousand five hundred
francs.
The General
No.
Godard
Why not?
The General
It will be more!
Godard
More?
The General
Four hundred thousand francs. (Godard seems astonished.) I make up the
difference! But when I die there will be nothing more coming to her.
Do you understand?
Godard
I do not understand.
The General
I am very much attached to little Napoleon.
Godard
You mean the young Duke of Reichstadt?
The General
No, my son whom they would enter in the register only under the name
of Leon; but I had inscribed here (he places his hand upon his heart)
the name of Napoleon! Do you see I must provide for him and his
mother?
Godard (aside)
Especially for his mother; she'll take care of that!
The General
What are you saying? If you don't agree with me, out with it!
Godard (aside)
If I did so, we should find ourselves in the law courts. (Aloud) I
agree, and will back you in everything, General.
The General
Good for you! And I'll tell you why, my dear Godard.
Godard
De Rimonville.
The General
Godard, I prefer Godard. I'll tell you why. After having commanded the
grenadiers of the Young Guard, I, General Comte de Grandchamp, now
weave the cloth for their uniforms.
Godard
This is very commendable! You should keep on storing up, General, so
that your widow may not be left without a fortune.
The General
She is an angel, Godard!
Godard
De Rimonville.
The General
Godard, she is an angel, to whom you are indebted for the education of
your intended, whom she has moulded after her own image. Pauline is a
pearl, a jewel; she has never left this home; she is as pure and
innocent as she was in her cradle.
Godard
General, let me admit that Mlle. Pauline is beautiful!
The General
I am quite sure of that.
Godard
She is very beautiful; but there are numbers of beautiful girls in
Normandy, some of them very rich, much richer than she is. Well now,
you'll scarcely believe how the mothers and fathers of these heiresses
run after me! It is scarcely decent. But it amuses me immensely; I
visit their chateaus; they overwhelm me with attentions--
The General
I said he was conceited!
Godard
Oh, I am quite aware that it is not for my sake! I don't delude myself
as to that; it is for my unmortgaged pastures; for my savings, and for
my habit of living within my income. Do you know what it is that makes
me seek an alliance with you above all others?
The General
No.
Godard
There are certain rich would-be fathers-in-law who promise to obtain
from his Majesty a decree, by which I shall be created Comte de
Rimonville and Peer of France.
The General
You?
Godard
Yes, I.
The General
Have you won any battles? Have you saved your country? Have you added
to its glory? This is pitiful!
Godard
Pitiful? (Aside) What shall I say? (Aloud) We differ in our views on
this subject, but do you know why I prefer your adorable Pauline?
The General
I suppose it is because you love her.
Godard
That is a matter of course; but it is also on account of the harmony,
the tranquillity, the happiness which reign here! It is so delightful
to enter a family of high honor, of pure, sincere, patriarchal
manners! I am a man of observation.
The General
That is to say, you are inquisitive.
Godard
Curiosity, General, is the mother of observation. I know the seamy
side of the whole department.
The General
Really?
Godard
Yes, really! In all the families of which I have spoken to you, I have
seen some shabbiness or other. The public sees the decent exterior of
irreproachable mothers of family, of charming young persons, of good
fathers, of model uncles; they are admitted to the sacrament without
confession, they are entrusted with the investments of others. But
just learn their inner side, and it is enough to startle a police
magistrate.
The General
Ah! That is the way you look at the world, is it? For my part, I try
to keep up the illusions in which I have lived. To peer into the inner
life of people in that way is the business of priests and magistrates;
I have no love for the black robed gentlemen, and I hope to die
without ever having seen them! But the sentiment which you express
with regard to my house is more pleasing to me than all your fortune.
Stick to that point, and you will win my esteem, something which I
lightly bestow on no one.
Godard
Thank you, General. (Aside) I have won over the father-in-law at any
rate.
SCENE FOURTH
The same persons, Pauline and Gertrude.
The General (catching sight of Pauline)
Ah! Here you are, darling.
Gertrude
Doesn't she look beautiful?
Godard
Madame.
Gertrude
Forgive me, sir. I had no eyes excepting for my handiwork.
Godard
Mademoiselle is radiant!
Gertrude
We have some people to dinner to-day, and I am something more than a
stepmother to her; I love to deck her out, for she is to me like my
own daughter.
Godard (aside)
They were evidently expecting me!
Gertrude (aside to Godard)
I am going to leave you alone with her. Now is the time for your
declaration. (To the General) My dear, let us go out on the veranda
and see if our friend the doctor is coming.
The General
I am at your service, as usual. (To Pauline) Good-bye, my pet. (To
Godard) I shall see you later.
(Gertrude and the General go to the veranda, but Gertrude keeps her
eye on Godard and Pauline. Ferdinand shows his head at the door of
Pauline's chamber, but at a quick sign from her, he hurriedly
withdraws it unobserved.)
Godard (at the front of the stage)
Let me see, what fine and dainty speech can I make to her? Ah, I have
it! (To Pauline) It is a very fine day, mademoiselle.
Pauline
It certainly is, sir.
Godard
Mademoiselle--
Pauline
Sir?
Godard
It is in your power to make the day still finer for me.
Pauline
How can I do that?
Godard
Don't you understand me? Has not Madame de Grandchamp said anything to
you about the subject nearest my heart?
Pauline
While she was helping me to dress, an instant ago, she said a great
many complimentary things about you!
Godard
And did you agree with her, even in the slightest way?
Pauline
Oh, sir, I agreed with all she said!
Godard (seating himself on a chair, aside)
So far so good. (Aloud) Did she commit a pardonable breach of
confidence by telling you that I was so much in love with you that I
wished to see you the mistress of Rimonville?
Pauline
She gave me to understand by her hints that you were coming with the
intention of paying me a very great compliment.
Godard (falling on his knees)
I love you madly, mademoiselle; I prefer you to Mlle. de Blondville,
to Mlle. de Clairville, to Mlle. de Verville, to Mlle. de
Pont-de-Ville--to--
Pauline
Oh, that is sufficient, sir, you throw me into confusion by these
proofs of a love which is quite unexpected! Your victims make up
almost a hecatomb. (Godard rises.) Your father was contented with
taking the victims to market! But you immolate them.
Godard (aside)
I really believe she is making fun of me. But wait awhile! Wait
awhile!
Pauline
I think at least we ought to wait awhile; and I must confess--
Godard
You do not wish to marry yet. You are happy with your parents, and you
are unwilling to leave your father.
Pauline
That is it, exactly.
Godard
In that case, there are some mothers who would agree that their
daughter was too young, but as your father admits that you are
twenty-two I thought that you might possibly have a desire to be
settled in life.
Pauline
Sir!
Godard
You are, I know, quite at liberty to decide both your own destiny and
mine; but in accordance with the wishes of your father and of your
second mother, who imagine that your heart is free, may I be permitted
still to have hope?
Pauline
Sir, however flattering to me may be your intention in thus seeking me
out, that does not give you any right to question me so closely.
Godard (aside)
Is it possible I have a rival? (Aloud) No one, mademoiselle, gives up
the prospect of happiness without a struggle.
Pauline
Do you still continue in this strain? I must leave you, sir.
Godard
Thank you, mademoiselle. (Aside) So much for your sarcasm.
Pauline
Come sir, you are rich, and nature has given you a fine person; you
are so well educated and so witty that you will have no difficulty in
finding some young person richer and prettier than I am.
Godard
How can that be when one is in love?
Pauline
Well sir, that is the very point.
Godard (aside)
She is in love with someone; I must find out who it is. (Aloud)
Mademoiselle, will you at least permit me to feel that I am not in
disgrace and that I may stay here a few days?
Pauline
My father will answer you on that score.
Gertrude (coming forward to Godard)
Well, how are things going?
Godard
A blunt refusal, without even a hope of her relenting; her heart is
evidently already occupied.
Gertrude (to Godard)
Her heart occupied? This child has been brought up by me, and I know
to the contrary; and besides that, no one ever comes here. (Aside)
This youth has roused in me suspicions which pierce my heart like a
dagger. (To Godard) Why don't you ask her if such is the case?
Godard
How could I ask her anything? At my first word of jealous suspicion,
she resented my curiosity.
Gertrude
Well, I shall have no hesitation in questioning her.
The General
Ah, here comes the doctor! We shall now learn the truth concerning the
death of Champagne's wife.
SCENE FIFTH
The same persons and Dr. Vernon.
The General
Well, how are you?
Vernon
I was quite sure of it. Ladies (he bows to them), as a general rule
when a man beats his wife, he takes care not to poison her; he would
lose too much by that. He doesn't want to be without a victim.
The General (to Godard)
He is a charming fellow!
Godard
Charming!
The General (to the doctor, presenting Godard to him)
M. Godard.
Godard
De Rimonville.
Vernon (looking at Godard)
If he kills her, it is by mistake from having hit her a little too
hard; and he is overwhelmed with grief; while Champagne is innocently
delighted to have been made a widower by natural causes. As a matter
of fact, his wife died of cholera. It was a very rare case, but he who
has once seen Asiatic cholera cannot forget it, and I am glad that I
had that opportunity; for, since the campaign in Egypt, I have never
met with a case. If I had been called in time I could have saved her.
Gertrude
How fortunate we are, for if a crime had been committed in this
establishment, which for twelve years has been so free from
disturbance, I should have been horrified.
The General
Here you see the effect of all this tittle-tattle. But are you quite
sure, Vernon?
Vernon
Am I certain? That's a fine question to put to a retired
surgeon-in-chief who has attended twelve French armies, from 1793 to
1815, and has practiced in Germany, in Spain, in Italy, in Russia, in
Poland, and in Egypt!
The General (poking him in the ribs)
Away, you charlatan! I reckon you have killed more people than I have
in those countries.
Godard
What is this talk that you are alluding to?
Gertrude
This poor Champagne, our foreman, was supposed to have poisoned his
wife.
Vernon
Unhappily, the night before she died, they had had an altercation
which ended in blows. Ah! they don't take example from their masters.
Godard
Such happiness as reigns here ought to be contagious, but the virtues
which are exemplified in the countess are very rare.
Gertrude
Is there any merit in loving an excellent husband and a daughter such
as these?
The General
Come, Gertrude, say no more! Such words ought not to be spoken in
public.
Vernon (aside)
Such things are always said in this way, when it is necessary to make
people believe them.
The General (to Vernon)
What are you muttering about?
Vernon
I was saying that I was sixty-seven years old, and that I was younger
than you are, and that I should wish to be loved like that. (Aside) If
only I could be sure that it was love.
The General (to the doctor)
I see you are dubious! (to his wife) My dear child, there is no need
for me to bless the power of God on your behalf, but I think He must
have lent it me, in order that I might love you sufficiently.
Vernon
You forget that I am a doctor, my dear friend. What you are saying to
Madame is only good for the burden of a ballad.
Gertrude
The burdens of some ballads, doctor, are exceedingly true.
The General
Doctor, if you continue teasing my wife, we shall quarrel; to doubt on
such a subject as that is an insult.
Vernon
I have no doubt about it. (to the General) I would merely say, that
you have loved so many women with the powers of God, that I am in an
ecstasy as a doctor to see you still so good a Christian at seventy!
(Gertrude glides softly towards the sofa, where the doctor is seated.)
The General
Pshaw! The last passions, my friend, are always the strongest.
Vernon
You are right. In youth, we love with all our strength which grows
weaker with age, while in age we love with all our weakness which is
ever on the increase.
The General
Oh, vile philosophy!
Gertrude (to Vernon)
Doctor, how is it that you, who are so good, try to infuse doubts into
the heart of Grandchamp? You know that he is so jealous that he would
kill a man on suspicion. I have such respect for his feelings that I
have concluded upon seeing no one, but you, the mayor and the cure. Do
you want me also to forego your society which is so pleasant, so
agreeable to us? Ah! Here is Napoleon.
Vernon (aside)
I take this for a declaration of war. She has sent away everyone else,
she intends to dismiss me.
Godard (to Vernon)
Doctor, you are an intimate friend of the house, tell me, pray, what
do you think of Mlle. Pauline?
(The doctor rises from his seat, looks at the speaker, blows his nose,
and goes to the middle of the stage. The dinner bells sounds.)
SCENE SIXTH
The same persons, Napoleon and Felix.
Napoleon
Papa, papa, didn't you say I could ride Coco?
The General
Certainly.
Napoleon (to Felix)
Do you hear that?
Gertrude (wiping her son's forehead)
He is quite warm!
The General
But only on the condition that some one goes with you.
Felix
You see I was right, Master Napoleon. General, the little rascal
wished to go on his pony alone into the country.
Napoleon
He was frightened for me! Do you think I am afraid of anything?
(Exit Felix. Dinner bell rings.)
The General
Come and let me kiss you for that word. He is a little soldier and
belongs to the Young Guard.
Vernon (with a glance at Gertrude)
He takes after his father!
Gertrude (quickly)
As regards courage, he is his father's counterpart; but as to
physique, he resembles me.
Felix
Dinner is served.
Gertrude
Very well! But do you know where Ferdinand is? He is generally so
punctual. Here, Napoleon, go to the entrance of the factory and see if
he is coming. Tell him to hurry; the bell has rung.
The General
We need not wait for Ferdinand. Godard, give your arm to Pauline.
(Vernon offers his arm to Gertrude.) Excuse me, Vernon, you ought to
be aware that I never permit anybody but myself to take my wife's arm.
Vernon (aside)
Decidedly, he is incurable.
Napoleon (running back)
I saw Ferdinand down in the main avenue.
Vernon
Give me your hand, you little tyrant!
Napoleon
Tyrant yourself! I'll bet I could tire you out.
(Napoleon turns Vernon round and round. All leave, chatting gaily.)
SCENE SEVENTH
Ferdinand (cautiously stealing from Pauline's room)
The youngster saved me, but I do not know how he happened to see me in
the avenue! One more piece of carelessness like this may ruin us! I
must extricate myself from this situation at any price. Here is
Pauline refusing Godard's proposal. The General, and especially
Gertrude, will try to find out the motives of her refusal! But I must
hasten to reach the veranda, so that I may have the appearance of
having come from the main avenue, as Leon said. I hope no one will
catch sight of me from the dining-room. (He meets Ramel.) What, Eugene
Ramel!
SCENE EIGHTH
Ferdinand and Ramel.
Ramel
You here, Marcandal!
Ferdinand
Hush! Don't pronounce that name in this place! If the General heard
that my name was Marcandal, he would kill me at once as if I were a
mad dog.
Ramel
And why?
Ferdinand
Because I am the son of General Marcandal.
Ramel
A general to whom the Bourbons are in part indebted for their second
innings.
Ferdinand
In the eyes of General Grandchamp, to leave Napoleon for service under
the Bourbons was treason against France. Alas! this was also my
father's opinion, for he died of grief. You must therefore remember to
call me by the name of Ferdinand Charny, my mother's maiden name.
Ramel
And what are you doing here?
Ferdinand
I am the manager, the cashier, the factotum of Grandchamp's factory.
Ramel
How is this? Do you do it from necessity?
Ferdinand
From dire necessity! My father spent everything, even the fortune of
my poor mother, who lived during her later years in Brittany on the
pension she received as widow of a lieutenant-general.
Ramel
How is it that your father, who had command of the Royal Guard, a most
brilliant position, died without leaving you anything, not even a
patron?
Ferdinand
Had he never betrayed his friends, and changed sides, without any
reason--
Ramel
Come, come, we won't talk any more about that.
Ferdinand
My father was a gambler--that was the reason why he was so indulgent
to me. But may I ask what has brought you here?
Ramel
A fortnight ago I was appointed king's attorney at Louviers.
Ferdinand
I heard something about it. But the appointment was published under
another name.
Ramel
De la Grandiere, I suppose.
Ferdinand
That is it.
Ramel
In order that I might marry Mlle. de Boudeville, I obtained permission
to assume my mother's name--as you have done. The Boudeville family
have given me their protection, and in a year's time I shall doubtless
be attorney-general at Rouen--a stepping-stone towards a position at
Paris.
Ferdinand
And what brings you to our quiet factory?
Ramel
I came to investigate a criminal case, a poisoning affair,--a fine
introduction into my office.
(Felix enters.)
Felix
Monsieur, Madame is worrying about you--
Ferdinand
Please ask her to excuse me for a few moments. (Exit Felix.) My dear
Eugene, in case the General--who like all retired troopers is very
inquisitive--should inquire how we happen to meet here, don't forget
to say that we came up the main avenue. It is important for me that
you should say so. But go on with your story. It is on account of the
wife of Champagne, our foreman, that you have come here; but he is
innocent as a new-born babe!
Ramel
You believe so, do you? Well, the officers of justice are paid for
being incredulous. I see that you still remain, as I left you, the
noblest, the most enthusiastic fellow in the world; in short, a poet!
A poet who puts the poetry into his life instead of writing it, and
believes in the good and the beautiful! And that reminds me--that
angel of your dreams, that Gertrude of yours, whatever has become of
her?
Ferdinand
Hush! Not only has the minister of justice sent you here, but some
celestial influence has sent to me at Louviers the friend whose help I
need in my terrible perplexity. Eugene, come here and listen to me a
while. I am going to appeal to you as my college friend, as the
confidant of my youth; you won't put on the airs of the prosecuting
attorney to me, will you? You will see from the nature of my
admissions that I impose upon you the secrecy of the confessional.
Ramel
Is it anything criminal?
Ferdinand
Oh, nonsense! My faults are such as the judges themselves would be
willing to commit.
Ramel
Perhaps I had better not listen to you; or, if I do listen to you--
Ferdinand
Well!
Ramel
I could demand a change of position.
Ferdinand
You are always my best and kindest friend. Listen then! For over three
years I have been in love with Mlle. Pauline de Grandchamp, and she--
Ramel
You needn't go on; I understand. You have been reviving _Romeo and
Juliet_--in the heart of Normandy.
Ferdinand
With this difference, that the hereditary hatred which stood between
the two lovers of the play was a mere trifle in comparison with the
loathing with which the Comte de Grandchamp contemplates the son of
the traitor Marcandal!
Ramel
Let me see! Mlle. Pauline de Grandchamp will be free in three years;
she is rich in her own right--I know this from the Boudevilles. You
can easily take her to Switzerland and keep her there until the
General's wrath has had time to cool; and then you can make him the
respectful apologies required under the circumstances.
Ferdinand
Do you think I would have asked your advice if the only difficulty lay
in the attainment of this trite and easy solution of the problem?
Ramel
Ah! I see, my dear friend. You have already married your
Gertrude--your angel--who has become to you like all other angels,
after their metamorphoses into a lawful wives.
Ferdinand
'Tis a hundred times worse than that! Gertrude, my dear sir, is now
Madame de Grandchamp.
Ramel
Oh, dear! How is it you've thrust yourself into such a hornets' nest?
Ferdinand
In the same way that people always thrust themselves into hornets'
nests; that is, with the hope of finding honey there.
Ramel
Oh, oh! This is a very serious matter! Now, really, you must conceal
nothing from me.
Ferdinand
Mlle. Gertrude de Meilhac, educated at St. Denis, without doubt loved
me first of all through ambition; she was glad to know that I was
rich, and did all she could to gain my attachment with a view to
marriage.
Ramel
Such is the game of all these intriguing orphan girls.
Ferdinand
But how came it about that Gertrude has ended by loving me so
sincerely? For her passion may be judged by its effects. I call it a
passion, but with her it is first love, sole and undivided love, which
dominates her whole life, and seems to consume her. When she found
that I was a ruined man, towards the close of the year 1816, and
knowing that I was like you, a poet, fond of luxury and art, of a soft
and happy life, in short, a mere spoilt child, she formed a plan at
once base and sublime, such a plan as disappointed passion suggests to
women who, for the sake of their love, do all that despots do for the
sake of their power; for them, the supreme law is that of their love--
Ramel
The facts, my dear fellow, give me the facts! You are making your
defence, recollect, and I am prosecuting attorney.
Ferdinand
While I was settling my mother in Brittany, Gertrude met General de
Grandchamp, who was seeking a governess for his daughter. She saw
nothing in this battered warrior, then fifty-eight years old, but a
money-box. She expected that she would soon be left a widow, wealthy
and in circumstances to claim her lover and her slave. She said to
herself that her marriage would be merely a bad dream, followed
quickly by a happy awakening. You see the dream has lasted twelve
years! But you know how women reason.
Ramel
They have a special jurisprudence of their own.
Ferdinand
Gertrude is a woman of the fiercest jealousy. She wishes for fidelity
in her lover to recompense her for her infidelity to her husband, and
as she has suffered martyrdom, she says, she wishes--
Ramel
To have you in the same house with her, that she may keep watch over
you herself.
Ferdinand
She has been successful in getting me here. For the last three years I
have been living in a small house near the factory. I should have left
the first week after my arrival, but that two days' acquaintance with
Pauline convinced me that I could not live without her.
Ramel
Your love for Pauline, it seems to me as a magistrate, makes your
position here somewhat less distasteful.
Ferdinand
My position? I assure you, it is intolerable, among the three
characters with whom I am cast. Pauline is daring, like all young
persons who are innocent, to whom love is a wholly ideal thing, and
who see no evil in anything, so long as it concerns a man whom they
intend to marry. The penetration of Gertrude is very acute, but we
manage to elude it through Pauline's terror lest my name should be
divulged; the sense of this danger gives her strength to dissemble!
But now Pauline has just refused Godard, and I do not know what may be
the consequences.
Ramel
I know Godard; under a somewhat dull exterior he conceals great
sagacity, and he is the most inquisitive man in the department. Is he
here now?
Ferdinand
He dines here to-day.
Ramel
Do not trust him.
Ferdinand
If two women, between whom there is no love lost, make the discovery
that they are rivals, one of them, I can't say which, is capable of
killing the other, for one is strong in innocence and lawful love; the
other, furious to see the fruit of so much dissimulation, so many
sacrifices, even crimes lost to her forever.
(Enter Napoleon.)
Ramel
You alarm me--me, the prosecuting attorney! Upon my word and honor,
women often cost more than they are worth.
Napoleon
Dear friend! Papa and mamma are impatient about you; they send word
that you must leave your business, and Vernon says that your stomach
requires it.
Ferdinand
You little rogue! You are come eavesdropping!
Napoleon
Mamma whispered in my ear: "Go and see what your friend is doing."
Ferdinand
Run away, you little scamp! Be off! I am coming. (To Ramel) You see
she makes this innocent child a spy over me.
(Exit Napoleon.)
Ramel
Is this the General's child?
Ferdinand
Yes.
Ramel
He is twelve years old?
Ferdinand
About.
Ramel
Have you anything more to tell me?
Ferdinand
Really, I think I have told you enough.
Ramel
Very well! Go and get your dinner. Say nothing of my arrival, nor of
my purpose here. Let them finish their dinner in peace. Now go at
once.
(Exit Ferdinand.)
SCENE NINTH
Ramel (alone)
Poor fellow! If all young people had studied the annals of the court,
as I have done in seven years of a magistrate's work, they would come
to the conclusion that marriage must be accepted as the sole romance
which is possible in life. But if passion could control itself it
would be virtue.
Curtain to First Act.