SCENE FIRST
(Same stage-setting. Morning.)
Gertrude; then Champagne.
Gertrude (brings a flower vase from the garden and puts it down on the
table)
What trouble I had to allay his suspicions! One or two more scenes
like that and I shall lose control of him. But I have gained a moment
of liberty now--provided Pauline does not come to trouble me! She must
be asleep--she went to bed so late!--would it be possible to lock her
in her room? (She goes to the door of Pauline's chamber, but cannot
find the key.) I am afraid not.
Champagne (coming in)
M. Ferdinand is coming, madame.
Gertrude
Thank you, Champagne. He went to bed very late, did he not?
Champagne
M. Ferdinand makes his rounds, as you know, every night, and he came
in at half-past one o'clock. I sleep over him, and I heard him.
Gertrude
Does he ever go to bed later than that?
Champagne
Sometimes he does, but that is according to the time he makes his
rounds.
Gertrude
Very good. Thank you, Champagne. (Exit Champagne.) As the reward for a
sacrifice which has lasted for twelve years, and whose agonies can
only be understood by women,--for what man can guess at such
tortures!--what have I asked? Very little! Merely to know that he is
here, near to me, without any satisfaction saving, from time to time,
a furtive glance at him. I wished only to feel sure that he would wait
for me. To feel sure of this is enough for us, us for whom a pure, a
heavenly love is something never to be realized. Men never believe
that they are loved by us, until they have brought us down into the
mire! And this is how he has rewarded me! He makes nocturnal
assignations with this stupid girl! Ah! He may as well pronounce my
sentence of death; and if he has the courage to do so, I shall have
the courage at once to bring about their eternal separation; I can do
it! But here he comes! I feel faint! My God! Why hast Thou made me
love with such desperate devotion him who no longer loves me!
SCENE SECOND
Ferdinand and Gertrude.
Gertrude
Yesterday you deceived me. You came here last night, through this
room, entering by means of a false key, to see Pauline, at the risk of
being killed by M. de Grandchamp! Oh! you needn't lie about it. I saw
you, and I came upon Pauline just as you concluded your nocturnal
promenade. You have made a choice upon which I cannot offer you my
congratulations. If only you had heard us discussing the matter, on
this very spot! If you had seen the boldness of this girl, the
effrontery with which she denied everything to me, you would have
trembled for your future, that future which belongs to me, and for
which I have sold myself, body and soul.
Ferdinand (aside)
What an avalanche of reproach! (Aloud) Let us try, Gertrude, both of
us, to behave wisely in this matter. Above all things, let us try to
avoid base accusations. I shall never forget what you have been to me;
I still entertain towards you a friendship which is sincere,
unalterable and absolute; but I no longer love you.
Gertrude
That is, since eighteen months ago.
Ferdinand
No. Since three years ago.
Gertrude
You must admit then that I have the right to detest and make war upon
your love for Pauline; for this love has rendered you a traitor and
criminal towards me.
Ferdinand
Madame!
Gertrude
Yes, you have deceived me. In standing as you did between us two, you
made me assume a character which is not mine. I am violent as you
know. Violence is frankness, and I am living a life of outrageous
duplicity. Tell me, do you know what it is to have to invent new lies,
on the spur of the moment, every day,--to live with a dagger at your
heart? Oh! This lying! But for us, it is the Nemesis of happiness. It
is disgraceful, when it succeeds; it is death, when it fails. And you,
other men envy you because you make women love you. You will be
applauded, while I shall be despised. And you do not wish me to defend
myself! You have nothing but bitter words for a woman who has hidden
from you everything--her remorse--her tears! I have suffered alone and
without you the wrath of heaven; alone and without you I have
descended into my soul's abyss, an abyss which has been opened by the
earthquake of sorrow; and, while repentance was gnawing at my heart, I
had for you nothing but looks of tenderness, and smiles of gaiety!
Come, Ferdinand, do not despise a slave who lies in such utter
subjection to your will!
Ferdinand (aside)
I must put an end to this. (Aloud) Listen to me, Gertrude. When first
we met it was youth alone united us in love. I then yielded, you may
say, to an impulse of that egotism which lies at the bottom of every
man's heart, though he knows it not, concealed under the flowers of
youthful passion. There is so much turbulence in our sentiments at
twenty-two! The infatuation which may seize us then, permits us not to
reflect either upon life as it really is, or upon the seriousness of
its issues--
Gertrude (aside)
How calmly he reasons upon it all! Ah! It is infamous!
Ferdinand
And at that time I loved you freely, with entire devotion; but
afterwards--afterwards, life changed its aspect for both of us. If you
ask why I remained under a roof which I should never have approached,
it is because I chose in Pauline the only women with whom it was
possible for me to end my days. Come, Gertrude, do not break yourself
to pieces against the barrier raised by heaven. Do not torture two
beings who ask you to yield to them happiness, and who will ever love
you dearly.
Gertrude
Ah, I see! You are the martyr--and I--I am the executioner! Would not
I have been your wife to-day, if I had not set your happiness above
the satisfaction of my love?
Ferdinand
Very well! Do the same thing to-day, by giving me my liberty.
Gertrude
You mean the liberty of loving some one else. That is not the way you
spoke twelve years ago. Now it will cost my life.
Ferdinand
It is only in romance that people die of love. In real life they seek
consolation.
Gertrude
Do not you men die for your outraged honor, for a word, for a gesture?
Well, there are women who die for their love, that is, when their love
is a treasure which has become their all, which is their very life!
And I am one of those women. Since you have been under this roof,
Ferdinand, I have feared a catastrophe every moment. Yes. And I always
carry about me something which will enable me to quit this life, the
very moment that misfortune falls on us. See! (She shows him a phial.)
Now you know that life that I have lived!
Ferdinand
Ah! you weep!
Gertrude
I swore that I would keep back these tears, but they are strangling
me! For you--While you speak to me with that cold politeness which
is your last insult,--your last insult to a love which you
repudiate!--you show not the least sympathy towards me! You would like
to see me dead, for then you would be unhampered by me. But, Ferdinand,
you do not know me! I am willing to confess everything to the General,
whom I would not deceive. This lying fills me with disgust! I shall take
my child, I shall come to your house, we will flee together. But no more
of Pauline!
Ferdinand
If you did this, I would kill myself.
Gertrude
And I, too, would kill myself! Then we should be united in death, and
you would never be hers!
Ferdinand (aside)
What an infernal creature!
Gertrude
And there is this consideration. What would you do if the barrier
which separates you from Pauline were never broken down?
Ferdinand
Pauline will be able to maintain her own independence.
Gertrude
But if her father should marry her to some one else?
Ferdinand
It would be my death.
Gertrude
People die of love in romance. In real life they console themselves
with some one else, and a man only does his duty by being true to her
with whom he has plighted troth.
The General (outside)
Gertrude! Gertrude!
Gertrude
I hear the general calling. (The General appears.) You will then
finish your business as quickly as you can, M. Ferdinand, and return
promptly; I shall wait for you here.
(Exit Ferdinand.)
SCENE THIRD
The General, Gertrude, then Pauline.
The General
This is rather early in the morning for you to be holding a conference
with Ferdinand! What were you discussing? The factory?
Gertrude
What were we discussing? I will tell you; for you are exactly like
your son; when once you begin to ask questions, you must have a direct
answer. I had an impression that Ferdinand had something to do with
Pauline's refusal to marry Godard.
The General
When I come to think of it, you were perhaps right.
Gertrude
I got M. Ferdinand to come here for the purpose of clearing up my
suspicions, and you interrupted us at the very moment when I seemed
likely to gain some information.
(Pauline pushes the door ajar unseen.)
The General
But if my daughter is in love with M. Ferdinand--
Pauline (aside)
I must listen.
The General
I do not see why, when I questioned her yesterday in a paternal manner
and with absolute kindness, she should have concealed it from me, for
I left her perfectly free, and her feeling for him would be absolutely
natural.
Gertrude
She probably misunderstood you or you questioned her before she had
made up her mind. The heart of a young girl, as you ought to know, is
full of contradictions.
The General
And why should there not be something between them? This young man
toils with the courage of a lion, he is the soul of honor, he is
probably of good family.
Pauline (aside)
I understand the situation now.
(Pauline withdraws.)
The General
He will give us information on this point. He is above all things
trustworthy; but you ought to know his family, for it was you who
discovered this treasure for us.
Gertrude
I proposed him to you on the recommendation of old Madame Morin.
The General
But she is dead!
Gertrude (aside)
It is very lucky that I quoted her then! (Aloud) She told me that his
mother was Madame de Charny to whom he is devoted; she lives in
Brittany and belongs to the Charnys, an old family of that country.
The General
The Charnys. Then if he is in love with Pauline, and Pauline with him,
I, for my part, would prefer him to Godard in spite of Godard's
fortune. Ferdinand understands the business of the factory, he could
buy the whole establishment with the dowry of Pauline. That would be
understood. All he has to do is to tell us where he comes from, who he
is, and who his father was. But we will see his mother.
Gertrude
Madame Charny?
The General
Yes, Madame Charny. Doesn't she live near Saint-Melo? That is by no
means at the other end of the world.
Gertrude
Just use a little tact, some of the manoeuvres of an old soldier, and
be very gentle, and you will soon learn whether this child--
The General
Why should I worry about it? Here comes Pauline herself.
SCENE FOURTH
The same persons, Marguerite, then Pauline.
The General
Ah! It is you, Marguerite. You came near causing the death of my
daughter last night by your carelessness. You forgot--
Marguerite
I, General, cause the death of my child!
The General
You forgot to take away the vase containing flowers of a strong scent,
and she was almost suffocated.
Marguerite
Impossible! I took away the vase before the arrival of M. Godard, and
Madame must have seen that it was not there while we were dressing
Mademoiselle--
Gertrude
You are mistaken. It was there.
Marguerite (aside)
She's a hard one. (Aloud) Does not Madame remember that she wished to
put some natural flowers in Mademoiselle's hair, and that she remarked
about the vase being gone?
Gertrude
You are inventing a story. But where did you carry it?
Marguerite
To the foot of the veranda.
Gertrude (to the General)
Did you find it there last night?
The General
No.
Gertrude
I took it from the chamber myself last night, and put it where it now
stands. (Points to the vase of flowers on the veranda.)
Marguerite
Sir, I swear to you by my eternal salvation--
Gertrude
Do not swear. (Calling.) Pauline!
The General
Pauline!
(Pauline appears.)
Gertrude
Was the vase of flowers in your room last night?
Pauline
Yes. Marguerite, my dear old friend, you must have forgotten it.
Marguerite
Why don't you say, Mademoiselle, that some one put it there on purpose
to make you ill!
Gertrude
Whom do you mean by some one?
The General
You old fool, if your memory failed you, it is unnecessary for you, at
any rate, to accuse anybody else.
Pauline (aside to Marguerite)
Keep silence! (Aloud) Marguerite, it was there! You forgot it.
Marguerite
It is true, sir, I was thinking of the day before yesterday.
The General (aside)
She has been in my service for twenty years. Strange that she should
be so persistent! (Takes Marguerite aside.) Come! What did you say
about the flowers for my daughter's hair?
Marguerite (while Pauline makes signs to her)
I said that, sir--I am so old that my memory is treacherous.
The General
But even then, why did you suppose that any one in the house had an
evil thought towards--
Pauline
Say no more, father! She has so much affection for me, dear
Marguerite, that she is sometimes distracted by it.
Marguerite (aside)
I am quite sure I took away the flowers.
The General (aside)
Why should my wife and my daughter deceive me? An old trooper like me
doesn't permit himself to be caught between two fires, and there is
something decidedly crooked--
Gertrude
Marguerite, we will take tea in this room when M. Godard comes down.
Tell Felix to bring in all the newspapers.
Marguerite
Very good, madame.
SCENE FIFTH
Gertrude, the General and Pauline.
The General (kissing his daughter)
You've not even said good-morning to me, you unnatural child.
Pauline (kissing him)
But, you began by scolding about nothing. I declare, father, I am
going to undertake your education. It is quite time for you, at your
age, to control yourself a little,--a young man would not be so quick
as you are! You have terrified Marguerite, and when women are in fear,
they tell little falsehoods, and you can get nothing out of them.
The General (aside)
I'm in for it now! (Aloud) Your conduct, young lady, does not do much
towards promoting my self-control. I wish you to marry, and I propose
a man who is young--
Pauline
Handsome and well educated!
The General
Please keep silence, when your father addresses you, mademoiselle. A
man who possesses a magnificent fortune, at least six times as much as
yours, and you refuse him. You are well able to do so, because I leave
you free in the matter; but if you do not care for Godard, tell me who
it is you choose, if I do not already know.
Pauline
Ah, father, you are much more clear-sighted than I am. Tell me who he
is?
The General
He is a man from thirty to thirty-five years old, who pleases me much
more than Godard does, although he is without fortune. He is already a
member of our family.
Pauline
I don't see any of our relations here.
The General
I wonder what you can have against this poor Ferdinand, that you
should be unwilling--
Pauline
Ah! Who has been telling you this story? I'll warrant that it is
Madame de Grandchamp.
The General
A story? I suppose, you will deny the truth of it! Have you never
thought of this fine young fellow?
Pauline
Never!
Gertrude (to the General)
She is lying! Just look at her.
Pauline
Madame de Grandchamp has doubtless her reasons for supposing that I
have an attachment for my father's clerk. Oh! I see how it is, she
wishes you to say: "If your heart, my daughter, has no preference for
any one, marry Godard." (In a low voice to Gertrude) This, madame, is
an atrocious move! To make me abjure my love in my father's presence!
But I will have my revenge.
Gertrude (aside to Pauline)
As you choose about that; but marry Godard you shall!
The General (aside)
Can it be possible that these two are at variance? I must question
Ferdinand. (Aloud) What were you saying to each other?
Gertrude
Your daughter, my dear, did not like my idea that she was taken with a
subordinate; she is deeply humiliated at the thought.
The General
Am I to understand, then, my daughter, that you are not in love with
him?
Pauline
Father, I--I do not ask you to marry me to any one! I am perfectly
happy! The only thing which God has given us women, as our very own,
is our heart. I do not understand why Madame de Grandchamp, who is not
my mother, should interfere with my feelings.
Gertrude
My child, I desire nothing but your happiness. I am merely your
stepmother, I know, but if you had been in love with Ferdinand, I
should have--
The General (kissing Gertrude's hand)
How good you are!
Pauline (aside)
I feel as if I were strangled! Ah! If I could only undo her!
Gertrude
Yes, I should have thrown myself at your father's feet, to win his
consent, if he had refused it.
The General
Here comes Ferdinand. (Aside) I shall question him at my discretion;
and then perhaps the mystery will be cleared up.
SCENE SIXTH
The same persons and Ferdinand.
The General (to Ferdinand)
Come here, my friend. You have been with us over three years now, and
I am indebted to you for the power of sleeping soundly amid all the
cares of an extensive business. You are almost as much as I am the
master of my factory. You have been satisfied with a salary, pretty
large it is true, but scarcely proportionate perhaps to the services
rendered by you. I think at last I understand the motive of your
disinterestedness.
Ferdinand
It is my duty, General.
The General
Granted; but does not the heart count for a good deal in this? Come
now, Ferdinand, you know my way of considering the different ranks of
society, and the distinctions pertaining to them. We are all the sons
of our own works. I have been a soldier. You may therefore have full
confidence in me. They have told me all; how you love a certain young
person, here present. If you desire it, she shall be yours. My wife
had pleaded your cause, and I must acknowledge that she has gained it
before the tribunal of my heart.
Ferdinand
General, can this be true? Madame de Grandchamp has pleaded my cause?
Ah, madame! (He falls on his knees before her.) I acknowledge in this
your greatness of heart! You are sublime, you are an angel! (Rising
and rushing forward to Pauline.) Pauline, my Pauline!
Gertrude (to the General)
I guessed aright; he is in love with Pauline.
Pauline
Sir, have I ever given you the right, by a single look, or by a single
word, to utter my name in this way? No one could be more astonished
than I am to find that I have inspired you with sentiments which might
flatter others, but which I can never reciprocate; I have a higher
ambition.
The General
Pauline, my child, you are more than severe. Come, tell me, is there
not some misunderstanding here? Ferdinand, come here, come close to
me.
Ferdinand
How is it, mademoiselle, when your stepmother, and your father agree?
Pauline (in a low voice to Ferdinand)
We are lost!
The General
Now I am going to act the tyrant. Tell me, Ferdinand, of course your
family is an honorable one?
Pauline (to Ferdinand)
You hear that!
The General
Your father must certainly have been a man of as honorable a
profession as mine was; my father was sergeant of the watch.
Gertrude (aside)
They are now separated forever.
Ferdinand
Ah! (To Gertrude) I understand your move. (To the General) General, I
do not deny that once in a dream, long ago, in a sweet dream, in which
it was delicious for a man poor and without family to indulge
in--dreams we are told are all the fortune that ever comes to the
unfortunate--I do not deny that I once regarded it as a piece of
overwhelming happiness to become a member of your family; but the
reception which mademoiselle accords to those natural hopes of mine,
and which you have been cruel enough to make me reveal, is such that
at the present moment they have left my heart, never again to return!
I have been rudely awakened from that dream, General. The poor man has
his pride, which it is as ungenerous in the rich man to wound, as it
would be for any one to insult--mark what I say--your attachment to
Napoleon. (In a low voice to Gertrude) You are playing a terrible
part!
Gertrude (aside to Ferdinand)
She shall marry Godard.
The General
Poor young man! (To Pauline) He is everything that is good! He
inspires me with affection. (He takes Ferdinand aside.) If I were in
your place, and at your age, I would have--No, no, what the devil am I
saying?--After all she is my daughter!
Ferdinand
General, I make an appeal to your honor; swear that you will keep, as
the most profound secret, what I am going to confide to you; and this
secrecy must extend so far even as to Madame de Grandchamp.
The General (aside)
What is this? He also, like my daughter, seems to distrust my wife.
But, by heaven, I will learn what it means! (Aloud) I consent; you
have the word of a man who has never once broken a promise given.
Ferdinand
After having forced me to reveal that which I had buried in the
recesses of my heart, and after I have been thunderstruck, for that is
the only word in which to express it, by the disdain of Mademoiselle
Pauline, it is impossible for me to remain here any longer. I shall
therefore put my accounts in order; this evening I shall quit this
place, and to-morrow will leave France for America, if I can find a
ship sailing from Havre.
The General (aside)
It is as well that he should leave, for he will be sure to return. (To
Ferdinand) May I tell this to my daughter?
Ferdinand
Yes, but to no one else.
The General (aside to Pauline)
Pauline! My daughter, you have so cruelly humiliated this poor youth,
that the factory is on the point of losing its manager; Ferdinand is
to leave this evening for America.
Pauline (to the General)
He is right, father. He is doing of his own accord, what you doubtless
would have advised him to do.
Gertrude (to Ferdinand)
She shall marry Godard.
Ferdinand (to Gertrude)
If I do not punish you for your atrocious conduct, God Himself will!
The General (to Pauline)
America is a long way off and the climate is deadly.
Pauline (to the General)
Many a fortune is made there.
The General (aside)
She does not love him. (To Ferdinand) Ferdinand, you must not leave
before I have put in your hands sufficient to start you on the road to
fortune.
Ferdinand
I thank you, General; but what is due me will be sufficient. Moreover,
I shall not be missed in your factory, for I have trained Champagne so
thoroughly as a foreman, that he is skillful enough to become my
successor; and if you will go with me to the factory, you will see--
The General
I will gladly accompany you. (Aside) Everything is in such a
muddle here, that I must go and look for Vernon. The advice and
clear-sightedness of my old friend, the doctor, will be of service in
ferreting out what it is that disturbs this household, for there is
something or other. Ferdinand, I will follow you. Ladies, we will be
soon be back again. (Aside) There is something or other!
(The General follows Ferdinand out.)
SCENE SEVENTH
Gertrude and Pauline.
Pauline (locking the door)
Madame, do you consider that a pure love, a love which comprises and
enhances all human happiness, which makes us understand that happiness
which is divine,--do you consider such a love to be dearer and more
precious to us than life?
Gertrude
You have been reading the _Nouvelle Heloise_, my dear. What you say is
rather stilted in diction, but it is nevertheless true.
Pauline
Well, madame, you have just caused me to commit suicide.
Gertrude
The very act you would have been happy to see me commit; and if you
had succeeded in forcing me to it, you would have felt in your heart
the joy which fills mine at present.
Pauline
According to my father, war between civilized nations has its laws;
but the war which you wage against me, madame, is that of savages.
Gertrude
You may do as I do, if you can--but you can do nothing! You shall
marry Godard. He is a very good match for you; you will be very happy,
I assure you, for he has fine qualities.
Pauline
And you think that I will quietly let you marry Ferdinand?
Gertrude
After the few words which we have exchanged this evening, why should
we now indulge in the language of hypocrisy? I was in love with
Ferdinand, my dear Pauline, when you were but eight years old.
Pauline
But now you are more than thirty--and I am still young. Moreover, he
hates you, he abhors you! He has told me so, and he wishes to have
nothing to do with a woman capable of the black treachery with which
you have acted towards my father.
Gertrude
In the eyes of Ferdinand, my love will serve as my vindication.
Pauline
He shares the feelings which I have for you; he despises you, madame.
Gertrude
Do you really believe it? Well, if it is so, my dear, I have one more
reason for the position I take, for if he refuses to become my
husband, to gratify his love, Pauline, you will force me to marry him
for the sake of satisfying my revenge. When he came to this house, was
he not aware that I was here?
Pauline
You probably caught him by some such snare as you have just set for
us, and into which both of us have fallen.
Gertrude
Now, my child, a single word more will put an end to everything
between us. Have you not said a hundred times, a thousand times, in
moments when you were all feeling, all soul, that you would make the
greatest sacrifices for Ferdinand?
Pauline
Yes, madame.
Gertrude
You said you would leave your father, would flee from France; you
would give your life, your honor, your salvation for Ferdinand?
Pauline
Yes, and if there is anything else that I can offer besides
myself--this world and heaven!
Gertrude
Let me tell you, then, that all that you have wished to do, I have
done! It is enough therefore to assure you that nothing, not even
death itself, can arrest my course.
Pauline
In saying this, you give me the right to defend myself before my
father. (Aside) O Ferdinand! Our love, (Gertrude takes a seat on the
sofa during the soliloquy of Pauline) as she has said, is greater than
life. (To Gertrude) Madame, you must repair all the evil that you have
done to me; the sole difficulties which lie in the way of my marriage
with Ferdinand, you must overcome. Yes, you who have complete control
over my father, you must make him forego his hatred of the son of
General Marcandal.
Gertrude
And do you really mean that?
Pauline
Yes, madame.
Gertrude
And what means do you possess formidable enough to compel me to do so?
Pauline
Are we not carrying on a warfare of savages?
Gertrude
Say rather, of women, which is even more terrible! Savages torment
the body alone; while we direct our arrows against the heart, the
self-love, the pride, the soul of those whom we attack in the very midst
of their happiness.
Pauline
That is truly said. It is the whole woman-nature that I attack.
Therefore, my dear and truly honored stepmother, you must eliminate by
to-morrow, and not later, all the obstacles that stand between me and
Ferdinand; or you may be sure my father shall learn from me the whole
course of your conduct, both before and after your marriage.
Gertrude
Ah! That is the way you are going to do it! Poor child! He will never
believe you.
Pauline
Oh, I know the domination you exercise over my father; but I have
proofs.
Gertrude
Proofs! Proofs!
Pauline
I went to Ferdinand's house--I am very inquisitive--and I found there
your letters, madame; I took from among them those which would
convince even the blindness of my father, for they will prove to him--
Gertrude
What will they prove?
Pauline
Everything!
Gertrude
But this will be, unhappy child, both theft and murder! For think of
his age.
Pauline
And have not you accomplished the murder of my happiness? Have you not
forced me to deny, both to my father and to Ferdinand, my love, my
glory, my life?
Gertrude (aside)
This is a mere trick; she knows nothing. (Aloud) This is a clever
stratagem, but I never wrote a single line. What you say is not true.
It is impossible. Where are the letters?
Pauline
They are in my possession.
Gertrude
In your room?
Pauline
They are where you can never reach them.
Gertrude (aside)
Madness with its wildest dreams spins through my brain! My fingers
itch for murder. It is in such moments as this that men kill each
other! How gladly would I kill her! My God! Do not forsake me! Leave
me my reason! (Aloud) Wait a moment.
Pauline (aside)
My thanks to you, Ferdinand! I see how much you love me; I have been
able to pay back to her all the wrongs she did us a short time
ago--and--she shall save us from all we feared!
Gertrude (aside)
She must have them about her,--but how can I be sure of that? Ah!
(Aloud) Pauline! If you have had those letters for long, you must have
known that I was in love with Ferdinand. You can only lately have
received them.
Pauline
They came into my hands this morning.
Gertrude
You have not read them all?
Pauline
Enough to find out that they would ruin you.
Gertrude
Pauline, life is just beginning for you. (A knock is heard.) Ferdinand
is the first man, young, well educated and distinguished, for he is
distinguished, by whom you have been attracted; but there are many
others in the world such as he is. Ferdinand has been in a certain
sense under the same roof with you, and you have seen him every day;
the first impulses of your heart have therefore directed you to him. I
understand this, and it is quite natural. Had I been in your place I
should doubtless have experienced the same feelings. But, my dear, you
know not the ways either of the world or of society. And if, like so
many other women, you have been deceiving yourself--for we women, ah,
how often are we thus deceived!--you still can make another choice.
But for me the deed has been done, I have no other choice to make.
Ferdinand is all I have, for I have passed my thirtieth year, and I
have sacrificed to him what I should have kept unsullied--the honor of
an aged man. The field is clear for you, you may yet love some other
man more ardently than you can love to-day--this is my experience.
Pauline, child, give him up, and you will learn what a devoted slave
you will have in me! You will have more than a mother, more than a
friend, you will have the unstinted help of a soul that is lost! Oh!
listen to me! (She kneels, and raises her hands to Pauline's corsage.)
Behold me at your feet, acknowledging you my rival! Is this sufficient
humiliation for me? Oh, if you only knew what this costs a woman to
undergo! Relent! Relent, and save me. (A loud knocking is heard, she
takes advantage of Pauline's confusion to feel for the letters.) Give
back my life to me! (Aside) She has them!
Pauline
Oh, leave me, madame! Will you force me to call for some one?
(Pauline pushes Gertrude away, and proceeds to open the door.)
Gertrude (aside)
I was not deceived, she has them about her; but I must not leave them
with her one single hour.
SCENE EIGHTH
The same persons, the General and Vernon.
The General
You two, locked in together! Why did you call out, Pauline?
Vernon
How pale you are, my child! Let me feel your pulse.
The General (to Gertrude)
And you also seem to be very much excited.
Gertrude
There was a joke between us and we were indulging in a laugh; weren't
we, Pauline? You were laughing, my pet?
Pauline
Yes, papa. Dear mamma and I were in a gale of laughter.
Vernon (in a low voice to Pauline)
That's a pretty big lie!
The General
Didn't you hear us knocking?
Pauline
We heard quite plainly, papa; but we didn't know it was you.
The General (in a low voice to Vernon)
They seem to be leagued against me. (Aloud) But what was it all about?
Gertrude
Dear husband, you always want to know everything! We were speaking for
the moment about the tenants, about some acquaintance of ours. But let
me go and ring for tea.
The General
But tell me all about it?
Gertrude
Why this is sheer tyranny! To tell the truth, we locked ourselves in
so that no one would disturb us. Is that plain enough?
Vernon
I should think it quite plain.
Gertrude (whispering to the General)
I wished to worm her secrets out of your daughter, for it is evident
that she has some secrets! And you come interrupting us, while I am
working in your service--for Pauline is not my daughter; you arrive,
as if you were charging a hostile squadron, and interrupt us, at the
very moment I was going to learn something.
The General
Madame the Countess of Grandchamp, ever since the arrival of Godard--
Gertrude
Ah! yes, Godard. Well! he is still here.
The General
Do not ridicule my words! Ever since yesterday nothing has gone as
usual! By God! I'd like to know--
Gertrude
Sir, this oath is the first I have ever heard from you. Felix, bring
in the tea. (To the General) You are tired, it seems, of twelve years
of happiness?
The General
I am not, and never will be a tyrant. A little time ago I came
unexpectedly upon you and Ferdinand engaged in conversation, and I
felt I was in the way. Again, I come home and you are locked in with
my daughter, and my appearance seemed to put you out. And to cap all,
last night--
Vernon
Come, General, you can quarrel with Madame as much as you like, but
not before other people. (Godard is heard approaching.) I hear Godard.
(Whispers to the General) Is this keeping your promise to me? In
treating with women--I am bound as a doctor to admit it--you must
leave them to betray themselves; while at the same time you watch them
carefully; otherwise your violence draws forth their tears, and when
once the hydraulic machinery begins to play, they drown a man as if
they had the strength of a triple Hercules!
SCENE NINTH
The same persons and Godard.
Godard
Ladies, I came once before to present my compliments and respects to
you, but I found the door closed. General, I wish you good-day. (The
General takes up a newspaper and waves his hand in greeting.) Ah! Here
is my adversary of yesterday's game. Have you come to take your
revenge, doctor?
Vernon
No, I came to take some tea.
Godard
Ah! I see you keep up the custom of the English, Russians and Chinese.
Pauline
Would you prefer some coffee?
Godard
No, no; allow me to have some tea; I will, for once, deviate from my
every-day custom. Moreover, you have your luncheon at noon, I see, and
a cup of coffee with cream would take away my appetite for that meal.
And then the English, the Russians and the Chinese are not entirely
incorrect in taste.
Vernon
Tea, sir, is an excellent thing.
Godard
Yes, when it is good.
Pauline
This is caravan tea.
Gertrude
Doctor, have you seen the papers? (To Pauline) Go and talk to M. de
Rimonville, my daughter, I, myself, will make tea.
Godard
Perhaps Mlle. De Grandchamp likes my conversation no better than my
person?
Pauline
You are mistaken, sir.
The General
Godard--
Pauline
Should you do me the favor of no longer seeking me in marriage, you
would still possess in my eyes qualities of sufficient brilliancy to
captivate the young ladies Boudeville, Clinville, Derville, etc.
Godard
That is enough, mademoiselle. Ah! How you do ridicule an unfortunate
lover, in spite of his income of forty thousand francs! The longer I
stay here, the more I regret it. What a lucky fellow M. Ferdinand de
Charny is!
Pauline
Lucky? Why is he lucky? Poor fellow! Does his good fortune consist in
the fact that he is my father's clerk?
Gertrude
M. de Rimonville--
The General
Godard--
Gertrude
M. de Rimonville--
The General
Godard, my wife is speaking to you.
Gertrude
Do you like much or little sugar?
Godard
A moderate quality.
Gertrude
Not much cream, I suppose?
Godard
On the contrary, plenty of cream, countess. (To Pauline) Ah, M.
Ferdinand is not then, after all the man who--whom you have
distinguished by your favor? I can at least assure you that he is very
much to the taste of your stepmother.
Pauline (aside)
How annoying these inquisitive provincials are!
Godard (aside)
It is fair that I should amuse myself a little at her expense before I
take leave. I must get something out of this visit.
Gertrude
M. de Rimonville, if you desire anything solid, there are sandwiches
here.
Godard
Thank you, madame.
Gertrude (whispering to Godard)
Your cause is not wholly lost.
Godard
O madame! I have thought a great deal over my rejection by Mlle. de
Grandchamp.
Gertrude
Ah! (To the doctor) Doctor, you will take yours as usual, I suppose?
Vernon
If you please, madame.
Godard (to Pauline)
Did you say, "poor fellow," mademoiselle? For M. Ferdinand is not so
poor as you think him. He is richer than I am!
Pauline
How do you know that?
Godard
I am certain of it, and I will tell you why. This M. Ferdinand, whom
you think you know, is an exceedingly crafty fellow--
Pauline (aside)
Can he possibly know his real name?
Gertrude (aside)
A few drops of opium in her tea will put her to sleep, and I shall be
saved.
Godard (to Pauline)
You cannot deny the authority of him who has put me on the track.
Pauline
Oh, sir! Kindly tell--
Godard
It was the prosecuting attorney. I remembered that at the house of the
Boudevilles it was said that your clerk--
Pauline (aside)
He is putting me on the rack.
Gertrude (offering a cup to Pauline)
Here, Pauline.
Vernon (aside)
Am I dreaming? I thought I saw her put something into Pauline's cup.
Pauline (to Godard)
And what did they say?
Godard
Ah! Ah! How attentive you are! I should have been exceedingly
flattered to think that you put on that air when any one was talking
about me, as I am now talking about M. Ferdinand de Charny.
Pauline
What a strange taste this tea has! You find yours good?
Godard
You talk about the tea in order to distract my attention from the
interest you take in what I am telling you. I see through it all!
Well, come now, I am going to astonish you. You must know that M.
Ferdinand is--
Pauline
Is--?
Godard
A millionaire.
Pauline
You are joking, M. Godard.
Godard
On my word of honor, mademoiselle, he possesses a treasure. (Aside)
She is madly in love with him.
Pauline (aside)
How this fool startled me.
(Pauline rises from her seat and Vernon takes the teacup from her
hand.)
Vernon
Let me take it, my child.
The General (to his wife)
What ails you, dearest? You seem--
Vernon (who has retained Pauline's cup and returned his own in its
place to Gertrude. Aside)
It is laudanum; fortunately the dose is light; but it is very certain
that something is about to happen. (To Godard) M. Godard, you are a
crafty fox. (Godard takes out his handkerchief as if to blow his
nose.) Ah!
Godard
Doctor, I bear no ill-will.
Vernon
Listen! Do you think that you could carry off the General to the
factory and keep him there for an hour.
Godard
I would like to have that youngster to help me.
Vernon
He is at school until dinner-time.
Godard
Why do you wish me to do this?
Vernon
Now I beg of you, for you are a good fellow, to do as I bid you; it is
necessary. Do you love Pauline?
Godard
I did love her yesterday, but this morning-- (Aside) I must find out
what he is concealing from me. (To Vernon) It shall be done! I will go
on to the veranda and come back again with a message that Ferdinand
sends for the General. You may rely upon me. Ah! Here is Ferdinand
himself, that is all right!
(Godard goes on the veranda.)
Pauline
'Tis peculiar, how drowsy I feel.
(Pauline lies down on the divan; Ferdinand appears and talks with
Godard.)
SCENE TENTH
The same persons and Ferdinand.
Ferdinand
General, it will be necessary for you to come to the office and the
factory in order to verify my accounts.
The General
That is only just to you.
Pauline (drowsily)
Ferdinand!
Godard
Ah, General, I'll take advantage of this occasion to visit your
establishment with you, for I have never seen it.
The General
Very good, come along, Godard.
Godard
De Rimonville.
Gertrude (aside)
If they go away, fortune will favor me indeed.
Vernon (who has overheard her, aside)
Fortune, in this case, is represented by me--
SCENE ELEVENTH
Gertrude, Vernon, Pauline, and later Marguerite.
Gertrude
Doctor, would you like another cup of tea?
Vernon
Thank you, but I am so deep in the election returns that I have not
yet finished my first cup.
Gertrude (pointing to Pauline)
Poor child, you see she is sleeping?
Vernon
How is this? She is sleeping?
Gertrude
It is no wonder. Imagine, doctor, she did not go to sleep until three
o'clock in this morning. We were greatly disturbed last night.
Vernon
Let me assist you to carry her to her room.
Gertrude
It is not necessary. Marguerite, help me put this poor child to bed.
She will be more comfortable there.
(Marguerite comes forward and assists Gertrude to carry Pauline away.)
SCENE TWELFTH
Vernon, Felix (who enters at this juncture) and Marguerite later.
Vernon
Felix!
Felix
Is there anything I can do for you, sir?
Vernon
Is there a closet anywhere here in which I can lock up something?
Felix (pointing to the closet)
Here is a place, sir.
Vernon
Good! Felix, don't say a word of this to a single soul. (Aside) He
will be sure to remember it. (Aloud) I am playing a trick on the
General, and the trick will fail if you say anything.
Felix
I will be as dumb as a fish.
(The doctor takes from him the key of the closet.)
Vernon
And now leave me alone with your mistress, who is coming back here,
and be on the watch that no one interrupts us for a moment.
Felix (going out)
Marguerite was right; there is something in the wind, that's certain.
Marguerite (returning)
There is nothing the matter. Mademoiselle is sleeping quietly.
(Exit Marguerite.)
SCENE THIRTEENTH
Vernon (alone)
What can have set by the ears two women who have hitherto lived in
peace? All doctors, little though they be philosophers, can tell. The
poor General, who all his life has had no other idea excepting that of
escaping the common lot! Yet I see no one here likely to cause him
jealousy, but myself and Ferdinand. It is not probable that I am the
man; but Ferdinand--Yet I have so far noticed nothing--I hear her
coming! Now for the tug-of-war!
SCENE FOURTEENTH
Vernon and Gertrude.
Gertrude (aside)
I have them!--I am going to burn them in my chamber. (She meets
Vernon.) Ah!
Vernon
Madame, I have sent everybody away.
Gertrude
May I ask you why?
Vernon
In order that we may have our explanation without witnesses.
Gertrude
Explanation! By what right do you--you, the parasite of the house,
pretend to have an explanation with the Comtesse de Grandchamp?
Vernon
I, a parasite? Madame! I have an income of ten thousand francs,
besides my pension; I have the rank of general, and my fortune will be
bequeathed to the children of my old friend! A parasite indeed! You
forget that I am not only here as a friend but as a doctor, and--you
poured certain drops of laudanum into Pauline's tea.
Gertrude
I?
Vernon
I saw you do it, and I have the cup.
Gertrude
You have the cup? Why, I washed it myself!
Vernon
Yes, you washed mine, which I gave you in exchange for that of
Pauline! I was not reading the newspaper, I was watching you.
Gertrude
Oh! sir, how unworthy of you!
Vernon
You must confess that what I did then is of great service to you, for
if you had by the effect of that draught brought Pauline to the brink
of the grave, you would have been very glad of my services.
Gertrude
The brink of the grave--why, doctor, I put in only a very few drops.
Vernon
You admit, then, that you put opium in her tea?
Gertrude
Doctor--this is outrageous!
Vernon
That I have obtained a confession from you? Every woman under the same
circumstances would have said the same thing. I know it by experience.
But that is not all. You have several others things to confide in me.
Gertrude (aside)
He is a spy! The only thing I can do is to make him my accomplice.
(Aloud) Doctor, you are too useful to me to admit of our quarreling.
In a moment, if you will wait here, I will return and speak frankly to
you.
(Gertrude goes into her chamber and locks the door.)
Vernon
She has turned the key! I am caught, tricked! I cannot after all
resort to violence. What is she doing? She is going to hide her flask
of opium. A man is always wrong when he undertakes to discharge for a
friend the offices which my old friend, this poor General, expects of
me. She is going to entangle me--Ah! Here she comes.
Gertrude (aside)
I have burnt them! There is not a trace left--I am saved! (Aloud)
Doctor!
Vernon
Madame?
Gertrude
My stepdaughter Pauline, whom you believed to be an innocent girl, an
angel, had carried off furtively and criminally something whose
discovery would have compromised the honor and the life of four
persons.
Vernon
Four! (Aside) That is herself, the General--Ah! her son, perhaps--and
the unknown.
Gertrude
This secret, concerning which she is forced to keep silence, even
though it imperilled her life to do so--
Vernon
I don't quite catch your meaning.
Gertrude
In short, the proofs of this secret are now destroyed! And you,
doctor, who love us all, you would be as base, as infamous as she
is--even more so, because you are a man, and have not the insensate
passions of a woman!--You would be a monster if you were to take
another step along the path on which you have now started--
Vernon
You mean that for intimidation? Madame, since civilized society first
sprang into being, the seed which you are sowing has produced a crop
whose name is crime.
Gertrude
But there are four lives at stake; remember that. (Aside) He is giving
way. (Aloud) In spite of this danger I demand that you will assist me
in maintaining peace here, and that you will immediately go and get
something by which Pauline may be roused from her slumber. And you
will explain, if necessary, her drowsiness to the General. Further,
you will give me back the cup, for I am sure you intend to do so, and
each step that we take together in this affair shall be fully
explained to you.
Vernon
Madame!
Gertrude
We must separate now, for the General will soon be back.
Vernon (aside)
I shall still look after you! I have now a weapon that I can use and--
(Exit Vernon.)
SCENE FIFTEENTH
Gertrude (alone, leaning against the closet in which the cup is locked
up)
Where can he have hidden that cup?
Curtain to the Third Act.