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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6861.txt b/6861.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7bf8ad --- /dev/null +++ b/6861.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5640 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vautrin, by Honore de Balzac + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Vautrin + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: October 28, 2005 [EBook #6861] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VAUTRIN *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny; and John Bickers + + + + + + VAUTRIN + A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS + + BY + + HONORE DE BALZAC + + + + Presented for the first time at the + Porte-Saint-Martin Theatre, Paris + March 14, 1840 + + + + AUTHOR'S PREFACE + +It is difficult for the playwright to put himself, five days after the +first presentation of his piece, in the situation in which he felt +himself on the morning after the event; but it is still more difficult +to write a preface to _Vautrin_, to which every one has written his +own. The single utterance of the author will infallibly prove inferior +to so vast a number of divergent expressions. The report of a cannon +is never so effective as a display of fireworks. + +Must the author explain his work? Its only possible commentator is M. +Frederick Lemaitre. + +Must he complain of the injunction which delayed the presentation of +his play? That would be to betray ignorance of his time and country. +Petty tyranny is the besetting sin of constitutional governments; it +is thus they are disloyal to themselves, and on the other hand, who +are so cruel as the weak? The present government is a spoilt child, +and does what it likes, excepting that it fails to secure the public +weal or the public vote. + +Must he proceed to prove that _Vautrin_ is as innocent a work as a +drama of Berquin's? To inquire into the morality or immorality of the +stage would imply servile submission to the stupid Prudhommes who +bring the matter in question. + +Shall he attack the newspapers? He could do no more than declare that +they have verified by their conduct all he ever said about them. + +Yet in the midst of the disaster which the energy of government has +caused, but which the slightest sagacity in the world might have +prevented, the author has found some compensation in the testimony of +public sympathy which has been given him. M. Victor Hugo, among +others, has shown himself as steadfast in friendship as he is +pre-eminent in poetry; and the present writer has the greater +happiness in publishing the good will of M. Hugo, inasmuch as the +enemies of that distinguished man have no hesitation in blackening his +character. + +Let me conclude by saying that _Vautrin_ is two months old, and in the +rush of Parisian life a novelty of two months has survived a couple of +centuries. The real preface to _Vautrin_ will be found in the play, +_Richard-Coeur-d'Eponge_,[*] which the administration permits to be +acted in order to save the prolific stage of Porte-Saint-Martin from +being overrun by children. + +[*] A play never enacted or printed. + +PARIS, May 1, 1840. + + + + PERSONS OF THE PLAY + +Jacques Collin, known as Vautrin +The Duc de Montsorel +The Marquis Albert de Montsorel, son to Montsorel +Raoul de Frascas +Charles Blondet, known as the Chevalier de Saint-Charles +Francois Cadet, known as the Philosopher +Fil-de-Soie +Buteux +Philippe Boulard, known as Lafouraille +A Police Officer +Joseph Bonnet, footman to the Duchesse de Montsorel +The Duchesse de Montsorel (Louise de Vaudrey) +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey, aunt to the Duchesse de Montsorel +The Duchesse de Christoval +Inez de Christoval, Princesse D'Arjos +Felicite, maid to the Duchesse de Montsorel +Servants, Gendarmes, Detectives, and others + +SCENE: Paris + +TIME: 1816, after the second return of the Bourbons. + + + + + + VAUTRIN + + + + ACT I. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(A room in the house of the Duc de Montsorel.) +The Duchesse de Montsorel and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey. + +The Duchess +Ah! So you have been waiting for me! How very good of you! + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +What is the matter, Louise? This is the first time in the twelve years +of our mutual mourning, that I have seen you cheerful. Knowing you as +I do, it makes me alarmed. + +The Duchess +I cannot help showing my unhappiness, and you, who have shared all my +sorrows, alone can understand my rapture at the faintest gleam of +hope. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Have you come upon any traces of your lost son? + +The Duchess +He is found! + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Impossible! When you find out your error it will add to your anguish. + +The Duchess +A child who is dead has but a tomb in the heart of his mother; but the +child who has been stolen, is still living in that heart, dear aunt. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Suppose you were overheard! + +The Duchess +I should not care. I am setting out on a new life, and I feel strong +enough to resist even the tyranny of De Montsorel. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +After twenty-two years of mourning, what possible occurrence can give +you ground for hope? + +The Duchess +I have much more than hope! After the king's reception, I went to the +Spanish ambassador's, where I was introduced to Madame de Christoval. +There I saw a young man who resembled me, and had my voice. Do you see +what I mean? If I came home late it was because I remained spellbound +in the room, and could not leave until he had gone. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Yet what slight warrant you had for your elation! + +The Duchess +Is not a revelation such as that more than sufficient warrant for the +rapture of a mother's heart? At the sight of that young stranger a +flame seemed to dart before my yes; his glance gave me new life; I +felt happy once more. If he were not my son, my feelings would be +quite unaccountable. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You must have betrayed yourself! + +The Duchess +Yes, perhaps I did! People doubtless noticed us; but I was carried +away by an uncontrollable impulse; I saw no one but him, I wished to +hear him talk, and he talked with me, and told me his age. He is +twenty-three, the same age as Fernand! + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +And was the duke present? + +The Duchess +Could I give a thought to my husband? I listened only to this young +man, who was talking with Inez. I believe they are in love with each +other. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Inez, who is engaged to your son, the marquis? And do you think the +warm reception given by her to his son's rival could escape the duke's +notice? + +The Duchess +Of course not, and I quite see the dangers to which Fernand is +exposed. But I must not detain you longer; I could talk to you about +him till morning. You shall see him. I have told him to come at the +hour the duke goes to the king's, and then we will question him about +his childhood. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +For goodness' sake, calm yourself; you will never be able to sleep +this night. And send Felicite to bed, she is not accustomed to these +late hours. (She rings the bell.) + +Felicite (entering the room) +His grace the duke has come in with his lordship the marquis. + +The Duchess +I have already told you, Felicite, never to inform me of his grace's +movements. (Exit Felicite.) + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +I should hate to rob you of an illusion which causes you such +happiness; but when I see the height of expectation to which you have +soared, I fear a terrible fall for you. The soul, like the body, is +bruised by a fall from an excessive height, and you must excuse my +saying that I tremble for you. + +The Duchess +While you fear the effect of despair for me, I fear that of +overwhelming joy. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (watching the duchess go out) +If she should be deceived, she might lose her senses. + +The Duchess (re-entering the room) +Fernand, dear aunt, calls himself Raoul de Frescas. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SECOND. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (alone) +She does not see that the recovery of her son would be a miracle. All +mothers believe in miracles. We must keep watch over her. A look, a +word might ruin her, for if she is right, if God restores her son to +her, she is on the brink of a catastrophe more frightful even than the +deception she had been practicing. Does she think she can dissemble +under the eyes of women? + + +SCENE THIRD. +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey and Felicite. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Already here? + +Felicite +Her grace the duchess dismissed me early. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Has my niece given you no orders for the morning? + +Felicite +None, madame. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +A young man, named Monsieur Raoul de Frescas, is coming to call upon +me towards noon; he may possibly ask for the duchess, but you must +instruct Joseph to bring him to my apartment. (Exit.) + + +SCENE FOURTH. + +Felicite (alone) +A young man for her? Not a bit of it. I always said that there was +some motive in my lady's retired way of living; she is rich, she is +handsome, yet the duke does not love her; and now the first time she +goes out, a young man comes next day to see her, and her aunt wishes +to receive him. They keep me in the dark; I am neither trusted nor +tipped. If this is the way chambermaids are to be treated under the +new government, I don't know what will become of us. (A side door +opens, two men are seen, and the door is immediately closed again.) At +any rate we shall have a look at the young man. (Exit.) + + +SCENE FIFTH. +Joseph and Vautrin. +(Vautrin wears a tan-colored overcoat, trimmed with fur, over the +black evening dress of a foreign diplomatic minister.) + +Joseph +That blasted girl! We would have been down in our luck if she had seen +us. + +Vautrin +You mean _you_ would have been down in your luck; you take pretty good +care not to be caught again, don't you? I suppose then that you enjoy +peace of mind in this house? + +Joseph +That I do, for honesty I find to be the best policy. + +Vautrin +And do you quite approve of honesty? + +Joseph +Oh, yes, so long as the place and the wages suit me. + +Vautrin +I see you are doing well, my boy. You take little and often, you save, +you even have the honesty to lend a trifle at interest. That's all +right, but you cannot imagine what pleasure it gives me to see one of +my old acquaintances filling an honorable position. You have succeeded +in doing so; your faults are but negative and therefore half virtues. +I myself once had vices; I regret them as things of the past; I have +nothing but dangers and struggles to interest me. Mine is the life of +an Indian hemmed in by my enemies, and I am fighting in defence of my +own scalp. + +Joseph +And what of mine? + +Vautrin +Yours? Ah! you are right to ask that. Well, whatever happens to me, +you have the word of Jacques Collin that he will never compromise you. +But you must obey me in everything! + +Joseph +In everything? But-- + +Vautrin +There are no buts with me. If there is any dark business to be done I +have my "trusties" and old allies. Have you been long in this place? + +Joseph +The duchess took me for her footman when she went with the court to +Ghent, last year and I am trusted by both the ladies of the house. + +Vautrin +That's the ticket! I need a few points with regard to these +Montsorels. What do you know about them? + +Joseph +Nothing. + +Vautrin (aside) +He is getting a little too honest. Does he think he knows nothing +about them? Well, you cannot talk for five minutes with a man without +drawing something out of him. (Aloud) Whose room is this? + +Joseph +The salon of her grace the duchess, and these are her apartments; +those of the duke are on the floor above. The suite of the marquis, +their only son, is below, and looks on the court. + +Vautrin +I asked you for impressions of all the keys of the duke's study. Where +are they? + +Joseph (hesitatingly) +Here they are. + +Vautrin +Every time I purpose coming here you will find a cross in chalk on the +garden gate; every night you must examine the place. Virtue reigns +here, and the hinges of that gate are very rusty; but a Louis XVIII +can never be a Louis XV! Good-bye--I'll come back to-morrow night. +(Aside) I must rejoin my people at the Christoval house. + +Joseph (aside) +Since this devil of a fellow has found me out, I have been on +tenter-hooks-- + +Vautrin (coming back from the door) +The duke then does not live with his wife? + +Joseph +They quarreled twenty years ago. + +Vautrin +What about? + +Joseph +Not even their own son can say. + +Vautrin +And why was your predecessor dismissed? + +Joseph +I cannot say. I was not acquainted with him. They did not set up an +establishment here until after the king's second return. + +Vautrin (aside) +Such are the advantages of the new social order; masters and servants +are bound together by no ties; they feel no mutual attachment, +exchange no secrets, and so give no ground for betrayal. (To Joseph) +Any spicy stories at meal-times? + +Joseph +Never before the servants. + +Vautrin +What is thought of them in the servants' hall? + +Joseph +The duchess is considered a saint. + +Vautrin +Poor woman! And the duke? + +Joseph +He is an egotist. + +Vautrin +Yes, a statesman. (Aside) The duke must have secrets, and we must +look into that. Every great aristocrat has some paltry passion by +which he can be led; and if I once get control of him, his son, +necessarily-- (To Joseph) What is said about the marriage of the +Marquis de Montsorel and Inez de Christoval? + +Joseph +I haven't heard a word. The duchess seems to take very little interest +in it. + +Vautrin +And she has only one son! That seems hardly natural. + +Joseph +Between ourselves, I believe she doesn't love her son. + +Vautrin +I am obliged to draw this word from your throat, as if it were the +cork in a bottle of Bordeaux. There is, I perceive, some mystery in +this house. Here is a mother, a Duchesse de Montsorel, who does not +love her son, her only son! Who is her confessor? + +Joseph +She keeps her religious observances a profound secret. + +Vautrin +Good--I shall soon know everything. Secrets are like young girls, +the more you conceal them, the sooner they are discovered. I will +send two of my rascals to the Church of St. Thomas Aquinas. They +won't work out their salvation in that way, but they'll work out +something else.-- Good-bye. + + +SCENE SIXTH. + +Joseph (alone) +He is an old friend--and that is the worst nuisance in the world. He +will make me lose my place. Ah, if I were not afraid of being poisoned +like a dog by Jacques Collin, who is quite capable of the act, I would +tell all to the duke; but in this vile world, every man for himself, +and I am not going to pay another man's debt. Let the duke settle with +Jacques; I am going to bed. What noise is that? The duchess is getting +up. What does she want? I must listen. (He goes out, leaving the door +slightly ajar.) + + +SCENE SEVENTH. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (alone) +Where can I hide the certificate of my son's birth? (She reads) +"Valencia. . . . July, 1793." An unlucky town for me! Fernand was +actually born seven months after my marriage, by one of those +fatalities that give ground for shameful accusations! I shall ask my +aunt to carry the certificate in her pocket, until I can deposit it in +some place of safety. The duke would ransack my rooms for it, and the +whole police are at his service. Government refuses nothing to a man +high in favor. If Joseph saw me going to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey's +apartments at this hour, the whole house would hear of it. Ah--I am +alone in the world, alone with all against me, a prisoner in my own +house! + + +SCENE EIGHTH. +The Duchesse de Montsorel and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey. + +The Duchess +I see that you find it is impossible to sleep as I do. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Louise, my child, I only rose to rid you of a dream, the awakening +from which will be deplorable. I consider it my duty to distract you +from your insane fancies. The more I think of what you told me the +more is my sympathy aroused. But I am compelled to tell you the truth, +cruel as it is; beyond doubt the duke has placed Fernand in some +compromising situation, so as to make it impossible for him to +retrieve his position in the world to which you belong. The young man +you saw cannot be your son. + +The Duchess +Ah, you never knew Fernand! But I knew him, and in whatever place he +is, his life has an influence on mine. I have seen him a thousand +times-- + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +In your dreams! + +The Duchess +Fernand has the blood of the Montsorels and the Vaudreys in his veins. +The place to which he was born he is able to take; everything gives +way before him wherever he appears. If he became a soldier, he is +to-day a colonel. My son is proud, he is handsome, people like him! I +am sure he is beloved. Do not contradict me, dear aunt; Fernand still +lives; if not, then the duke has broken faith, and I know he values +too highly the virtues of his race to disgrace them. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +But are not honor and a husband's vengeance dearer to him than his +faith as a gentleman? + +The Duchess +Ah! You make me shudder. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You know very well, Louise, that pride of race is hereditary with the +Montsorels, as it is with the Montemarts. + +The Duchess +I know it too well! The doubt cast upon his child's legitimacy has +almost crazed him. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You are wrong there. The duke has a warm heart, and a cool head; in +all matters that concern the sentiments on which they live, men of +that temper act promptly in carrying out their ideas. + +The Duchess +But, dear aunt, do you know at what price he has granted me the life +of Fernand? Haven't I paid dearly for the assurance that his days were +not to be shortened? If I had persisted in maintaining my innocence I +should have brought certain death upon him; I have sacrificed my good +name to save my son. Any mother would have done as much. You were +taking care of my property here; I was alone in a foreign land, and +was the prey of ill-health, fever, and with none to counsel me, and I +lost my head; for since that time it has constantly occurred to me +that the duke would never have carried out his threats. In making the +sacrifice I did, I knew that Fernand would be poor and destitute, +without a name, and dwelling in an unknown land; but I knew also that +his life would be safe, and that some day I should recover him, even +if I had to search the whole world over! I felt so cheerful as I came +in that I forgot to give you the certificate of Fernand's birth, which +the Spanish ambassador's wife has at last obtained for me; carry it +about with you until you can place it in the hands of your confessor. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +The duke must certainly have learnt the measures you have taken in +this matter, and woe be to your son! Since his return he has been very +busy, and is still busy about something. + +The Duchess +If I shake off the disgrace with which he has tried to cover me, if I +give up shedding tears in silence, be assured that nothing can bend me +from my purpose. I am no longer in Spain or England, at the mercy of a +diplomat crafty as a tiger, who during the whole time of our +emigration was reading the thoughts of my heart's inmost recesses, and +with invisible spies surrounding my life as by a network of steel; +turning my secrets into jailers, and keeping me prisoner in the most +horrible of prisons, an open house! I am in France, I have found you +once more, I hold my place at court, I can speak my mind there; I +shall learn what has become of the Vicomte de Langeac, I should prove +that since the Tenth of August[*] we have never met, I shall inform +the king of the crime committed by a father against a son who is the +heir of two noble houses. I am a woman, I am Duchesse de Montsorel, I +am a mother! We are rich, we have a virtuous priest for an adviser; +right is on our side, and if I have demanded the certificate of my +son's birth-- + +[*] A noteworthy date in French history, August 10, 1792; the day of + the storming of the Tuileries.--J. W. M. + + +SCENE NINTH. +The same persons, and the Duc de Montsorel (who enters as the duchess +pronounces the last sentence). + +The Duke +It is only for the purpose of handing it to me. + +The Duchess +Since when have you ventured to enter my apartment without previously +sending me word and asking my leave? + +The Duke +Since you broke the agreement we made. You swore to take no steps to +find this--your son. This was the sole condition on which I promised +to let him live. + +The Duchess +And is it not much more honorable to violate such an oath, than to +remain faithful to all others? + +The Duke +We are henceforth both of us released from our engagements. + +The Duchess +Have you, up to the present day, respected yours? + +The Duke +I have, madame. + +The Duchess +Listen to him, aunt, and bear witness to this declaration. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +But has it never occurred to you, my dear sir, that Louise is +innocent? + +The Duke +Of course you think so, Mademoiselle de Vaudrey. And what would not I +give to share your opinion! The duchess has had twenty years in which +to prove to me her innocence. + +The Duchess +For twenty years you have wrung my heart without pity and without +intermission. + +The Duke +Madame, unless you hand me this certificate, your Fernand will have +serious cause for alarm. As soon as you returned to France you secured +the document, and are trying to employ it as a weapon against me. You +desire to obtain for your son a fortune and a name which do not belong +to him; to secure his admission into a family, whose race has up to my +time been kept pure by wives of stainless reputation, a family which +has never formed a single mesalliance-- + +The Duchess +And which will be worthily represented by your son Albert. + +The Duke +Be careful what you say, for you waken in me terrible memories. And +your last word shows me that you will not shrink from causing a +scandal that will overwhelm all of us with shame. Shall we air in +public courts past occurrences which will show that I am not free from +reproach, while you are infamous? (He turns to Mademoiselle de +Vaudrey) She cannot have told you everything, dear aunt? She was in +love with Viscount Langeac; I knew it, and respected her love; I was +so young! The viscount came to me; being without hope of inheriting a +fortune, and the last representative of his house, he unselfishly +offered to give up Louise de Vaudrey. I trusted in their mutual +generosity, and accepted her as a pure woman from his hands. Ah! I +would have given my life for her, and I have proved it! The wretched +man performed prodigies of valor on the Tenth of August, and called +down upon himself the rage of the mob; I put him under the protection +of some of my people; he was, however, discovered and taken to the +Abbaye. As soon as I learned his predicament, I gave into the hands of +a certain Boulard all the money I had collected for our flight! I +induced Boulard to join the Septembrists in order to save the viscount +from death; I procured his escape! (To the duchess) He paid me back +well, did he not? I was young, madly in love, impetuous, yet I never +crushed the boy! You have to-day made me the same requital for my +pity, as your lover made for my trust in him. Well--things remain just +as they were twenty years ago excepting that the time for pity is +past. And I will repeat what I said to you then: Forget your son, and +he shall live. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +And shall her sufferings during those twenty years count for nothing? + +The Duke +A great crime calls for a great atonement. + +The Duchess +Ah--if you take my grief for a sign of remorse, I will again protest +to you, I am innocent! No! Langeac never betrayed your confidence; it +was not for his king alone he went to his death, and from the fatal +day on which he bade me farewell and surrendered me to you, I have +never seen him again. + +The Duke +You purchased the life of your son by making an exactly contrary +declaration. + +The Duchess +Can a compact dictated by terror be looked upon as an avowal of guilt? + +The Duke +Do you intend to give that certificate of birth? + +The Duchess +It is no longer in my possession. + +The Duke +I will no longer answer then for your son's safety. + +The Duchess +Have you weighed well the consequences of this threat? + +The Duke +You ought to know me by this time. + +The Duchess +The trouble is that you do not know me. You will no longer answer for +my son's safety? Indeed--but you had better look after your own son. +Albert is a guarantee for the life of Fernand. If you keep watch on my +proceedings, I shall set a watch on yours; if you rely upon the police +of the realm, I have resources of my own, and the assistance of God. +If you deal a blow at Fernand, beware of what may happen to Albert. A +blow for a blow!--That is final. + +The Duke +You are in our own house, madame. I forgot myself. Pray pardon me. I +was wrong. + +The Duchess +You are more a gentleman than your son; when he flies into a rage he +begs no one's pardon, not he! + +The Duke (aside) +Has her resignation up to this time been nothing but a pretence? Has +she been waiting for the present opportunity to speak? Women who are +guided by the advice of bigots travel underground, like volcanic +fires, and only reveal themselves when they break out. She knows my +secret, I have _lost sight of her son_, and my defeat is imminent. +(Exit.) + + +SCENE TENTH. +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey and the Duchess. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Louise, you love the child you have never seen, and hate him who is +before your eyes. Ah! you must tell the reason of your hatred for +Albert, if you would retain my esteem and my affection. + +The Duchess +Not a word on that subject. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +The calm way in which your husband remarks your aversion for your son +is astonishing. + +The Duchess +He is accustomed to it. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Yet you could never show yourself a bad mother, could you? + +The Duchess +A bad mother? No. (She reflects.) I cannot make up my mind to forfeit +your affection. (She draws her aunt to her side.) Albert is not my +son. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Can a stranger have usurped the place, the name, the title, the +property of the real child? + +The Duchess +No, not a stranger, but his son. After the fatal night on which +Fernand was carried off from me, an eternal separation between the +duke and myself took place. The wife in me was as cruelly outraged as +the mother. But still I purchased from him peace of mind. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +I do not understand your meaning. + +The Duchess +I allowed the duke to present this Albert, child of a Spanish +courtesan, as if he were mine. The duke desired an heir. Amid the +confusion wrought in Spain by the French Revolution the trick escaped +notice. Are you surprised that my blood boils at the sight of this +strange woman's child occupying the place of the lawful heir? + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Now I can deeply sympathize with your hopes; ah! how glad I should be +if you were right in your suspicions and this young man were indeed +your son. But what is the matter with you? + +The Duchess +He is, I fear, ruined; for I have brought him under the notice of his +father, who will-- But stay, something must be done! I must find out +where he lives, and warn him not to come here to-morrow morning. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Leave the house at this hour! Louise, you are mad! + +The Duchess +Come, we must save him at any price. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +What do you propose doing? + +The Duchess +Neither of us can leave the house to-morrow without being noticed. We +must forestall the duke by bribing my chambermaid. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Louise, would you resort to such means as this? + +The Duchess +If Raoul is the son disclaimed by his father, the child over whom I +have mourned for the last twenty years, I must show them what a wife, +a mother, who has been wrongly accused, can do! + + +Curtain to the First Act. + + + + ACT II. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(Scene the same as in preceding act.) +The Duc de Montsorel and Joseph. + +The Duke +Joseph, I am not at home excepting to one person. If he comes, you +will show him up. I refer to Monsieur de Saint-Charles. Find out +whether your mistress will see me. (Exit Joseph.) The awakening of a +maternal instinct, which I thought had been utterly extinguished in +her heart, amazes me beyond measure. The secret struggle in which she +is engaged must at once be put a stop to. So long as Louise was +resigned our life was not intolerable; but disputes like this would +render it extremely disagreeable. I was able to control my wife so +long as we were abroad, but in this country my only power over her +lies in skillful handling, and a display of authority. I shall tell +everything to the king. I shall submit myself to his dictation, and +Madame de Montsorel must be compelled to submit. I must however bide +my time. The detective, whom I am to employ, if he is clever, will +soon find out the cause of this revolt; I shall see whether the +duchess is merely deceived by a resemblance, or whether she has seen +her son. For myself I must confess to having lost sight of him since +my agents reported his disappearance twelve years ago. I was very much +excited last night. I must be more discreet. If I keep quiet she will +be put off her guard and reveal her secrets. + +Joseph (re-entering the room) +Her grace the duchess has not yet rung for her maid. + +The Duke +Very well. + + +SCENE SECOND. +The preceding and Felicite. +(To explain his presence in his wife's room, the duke looks over +articles lying on the table, and discovers a letter in a book.) + +The Duke (reading) +"To Mademoiselle Inez de Christoval." (aside) Why should my wife have +concealed a letter of such slight importance? She no doubt wrote it +after our quarrel. Is it concerning Raoul? This letter must not go to +the Christoval house. + +Felicite (looking for the letter in the book) +Now, where is that letter of madame's? Can she have forgotten it? + +The Duke +Aren't you looking for a letter? + +Felicite +Yes, your grace. + +The Duke +Isn't this it? + +Felicite +The very one, your grace. + +The Duke +It is astonishing that you should leave the very hour your mistress +must need your services; she is getting up. + +Felicite +Her grace the duchess has Therese; and besides I am going out by her +orders. + +The Duke +Very good. I did not wish to interfere with you. + + +SCENE THIRD. +The preceding, and Blondet, alias the Chevalier de Saint-Charles. +(Joseph and Saint-Charles walk together from the centre door, and eye +each other attentively.) + +Joseph (aside) +The look of that man is very distasteful to me. (To the duke) The +Chevalier de Saint-Charles. + +(The duke signs to Saint-Charles to approach, and examines his +appearance.) + +Saint-Charles (giving him a letter, aside) +Does he know my antecedents, or will he simply recognize me as +Saint-Charles? + +The Duke +My dear sir-- + +Saint-Charles +I am to be merely Saint-Charles. + +The Duke +You are recommended to me as a man whose ability, if it had fair +scope, would be called genius. + +Saint-Charles +If his grace the duke will give me an opportunity, I will prove myself +worthy of that flattering opinion. + +The Duke +You shall have one at once. + +Saint-Charles +What are your commands? + +The Duke +You see that maid. She is going to leave the house. I do not wish to +hinder her doing so; yet she must not cross the threshold, until she +receives a fresh order. (Calls her) Felicite! + +Felicite +What is it, your grace? + +(The Duke gives her the letter. Exit Felicite.) + +Saint-Charles (to Joseph) +I recognize you, I know all about you: See that this maid remains in +the house with the letter, and I will not recognize you, and will know +nothing of you, and will let you stay here so long as you behave +yourself. + +Joseph (aside) +This fellow on one side, and Jacques Collin on the other! Well; I must +try to serve them both honestly. + +(Exit Joseph in pursuit of Felicite.) + + +SCENE FOURTH. +The Duke and Saint-Charles. + +Saint-Charles +Your grace's commands are obeyed. Do you wish to know the contents of +the letter? + +The Duke +Why, my dear sir, the power you seem to exercise is something terrible +and wonderful. + +Saint-Charles +You gave me absolute authority in the matter, and I used it well. + +The Duke +And what if you had abused it? + +Saint-Charles +That would have been impossible, for such a course would ruin me. + +The Duke +How is it that men endowed with such faculties are found employing +them in so lowly a sphere? + +Saint-Charles +Everything is against our rising above it; we protect our protectors, +we learn too many honorable secrets, and are kept in ignorance of too +many shameful ones to be liked by people, and render such important +services to others that they can only shake off the obligation by +speaking ill of us. People think that things are only words with us; +refinement is thus mere silliness, honor a sham, and acts of treachery +mere diplomacy. We are the confidants of many who yet leave us much to +guess at. Our programme consists in thinking and acting, finding out +the past from the present, ordering and arranging the future in the +pettiest details, as I am about to--and, in short, in doing a hundred +things that might strike dismay to a man of no mean ability. When once +our end is gained, words become things once more, and people begin to +suspect that possibly we are infamous scoundrels. + +The Duke +There may be some justice in all this, but I do not suppose you expect +to change the opinion of the world, or even mine? + +Saint-Charles +I should be a great fool if I did. I don't care about changing another +man's opinion; what I do want to change is my own position. + +The Duke +According to you that would be very easy, wouldn't it? + +Saint-Charles +Why not, your grace? Let some one set me to play the spy over +cabinets, instead of raking up the secrets of private families. +Instead of dogging the footsteps of shady characters, let them put me +in charge of the craftiest diplomats. Instead of pandering to the +vilest passions, let me serve the government. I should be delighted to +play a modest part in a great movement. And what a devoted servant +your grace would have in me! + +The Duke +I am really sorry to employ such talents as yours in so petty an +affair, my friend, but it will give me an opportunity of testing, and +then we'll see. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Ah--We shall see? That means, all has already been seen. + +The Duke +I wish to see my son married-- + +Saint-Charles +To Mademoiselle Inez de Christoval, Princesse d'Arjos--a good match! +Her father made the mistake of entering Joseph Bonaparte's service, +and was banished by King Ferdinand. He probably took part in the +Mexican revolution. + +The Duke +Madame de Christoval and her daughter have made the acquaintance of a +certain adventurer, named-- + +Saint-Charles +Raoul de Frescas. + +The Duke +Is there nothing I can tell you that you do not know? + +Saint-Charles +If your grace desires it, I will know nothing. + +The Duke +On the contrary, I should like you to speak out, so that I may know +what secrets you will permit us to keep. + +Saint-Charles +Let us make one stipulation; whenever my frankness displeases your +grace, call me chevalier, and I will sink once more into my humble +role of paid detective. + +The Duke +Go on, my friend. (Aside) These people are very amusing. + +Saint-Charles +M. de Frescas will not be an adventurer so long as he lives in the +style of a man who has an income of a hundred thousand francs. + +The Duke +Whoever he is you must pierce through the mystery which surrounds him. + +Saint-Charles +Your grace requires a very difficult thing. We are obliged to use +circumspection in dealing with foreigners. They are our masters; they +have turned Paris upside down. + +The Duke +That's the trouble! + +Saint-Charles +Does your grace belong to the opposition? + +The Duke +I should like to have brought back the king without his following +--that is my position. + +Saint-Charles +The departure of the king resulted from the disorganization of the +magnificent Asiatic police created by Bonaparte. An effort is being +made nowadays to form a police of respectable people, a procedure +which disbands the old police. Hemmed in by the military police of the +invasion, we dare not arrest any one, for fear we might lay hands on +some prince on his way to keep an assignation, or some margrave who +had dined too well. But for your grace a man will attempt the +impossible. Has this young man any vices? Does he play? + +The Duke +Yes, in a social way. + +Saint-Charles +Does he cheat? + +The Duke +Chevalier! + +Saint-Charles +This young man must be very rich. + +The Duke +Inquire for yourself. + +Saint-Charles +I ask pardon of your grace; but people without passions cannot know +much. Would you have the goodness to tell me whether this young man is +sincerely attached to Mademoiselle de Christoval? + +The Duke +What! That princess! That heiress! You alarm me, my friend. + +Saint-Charles +Has not your grace told me that he is a young man? Now, pretended love +is more perfect than genuine love; that is the reason why so many +women are deceived! Undoubtedly he has thrown over many mistresses, +and heart-free, tongue-free, you know-- + +The Duke +Take care! Your mission is peculiar, and you had best not meddle with +the women; an indiscretion on your part may forfeit my good will, for +all that relates to Monsieur Frescas must go no further than you and +myself. I demand absolute secrecy, both from those you employ, and +those who employ you. In fact, you will be a ruined man, if Madame de +Montsorel has any suspicion of your designs. + +Saint-Charles +Is Madame de Montsorel then interested in this young man? I must keep +an eye on her, for this girl is her chambermaid. + +The Duke +Chevalier de Saint-Charles, to order you to do this would be unworthy +of me, and to ask for such an order is quite unworthy of you. + +Saint-Charles +Your grace and I perfectly understand each other. But what is to be +the main object of my investigations? + +The Duke +You must find out whether Raoul de Frescas is the real name of this +young man; find out where he was born, ransack his whole life, and +consider all you learn about him a secret of state. + +Saint-Charles +You must wait until to-morrow for this information, my lord. + +The Duke +That is a short time. + +Saint-Charles +But it involves a good deal of money. + +The Duke +Do not suppose that I wish to hear of evil things; it is the method of +you people to pander to depraved passions. Instead of showing them up, +you prefer to invent rather than to reveal occurrences. I should be +delighted to learn that this young man has a family-- + +(The marquis enters, sees his father engaged, and turns to go out; the +duke asks him to remain.) + + +SCENE FIFTH. +The preceding and the Marquis de Montsorel. + +The Duke (continuing) +If Monsieur de Frescas is a gentleman, and the Princesse d'Arjos +decidedly prefers him to my son, the marquis must withdraw his suit. + +The Marquis +But, father, I am in love with Inez. + +The Duke (to Saint-Charles) +You may go, sir. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +He takes no interest in the proposed marriage of his son. He is +incapable of feeling jealous of his wife. There is something very +serious in these circumstances; I am either a ruined man or my fortune +is made. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SIXTH. +The Duke and the Marquis. + +The Duke +To marry a woman who does not love you is a mistake which I shall +never allow you to commit, Albert. + +The Marquis +But there is nothing that indicates that Inez will reject me; and, in +any case once she is my wife, it will be my object to win her love, +and I believe, without vanity, that I shall succeed. + +The Duke +Allow me to tell you, my son, that your barrack-room ideas are quite +out of place here. + +The Marquis +On any other subject your words would be law to me; but every era has +a different art of love--I beg of you to hasten my marriage. Inez has +all the pliability of an only daughter, and the readiness with which +she accepts the advances of a mere adventurer ought to rouse your +anxiety. Really, the coldness with which you receive me this morning +amazes me. Putting aside my love for Inez, could I do better? I shall +be, like you, a Spanish grandee, and, more than that, a prince. Would +that annoy you, father? + +The Duke (aside) +The blood of his mother shows itself all the time! Oh! Louise has +known well my tender spot! (Aloud) Recollect, sir, that there is no +rank higher than the glorious title, Duc de Montsorel. + +The Marquis +How have I offended you? + +The Duke +Enough! You forget that I arranged this marriage after my residence in +Spain. You are moreover aware that Inez cannot be married without her +father's consent. Mexico has recently declared its independence, and +the occurrence of this revolution explains the delay of his answer. + +The Marquis +But, my dear father, your plans are in danger of being defeated. You +surely did not see what happened yesterday at the Spanish +ambassador's? My mother took particular notice there of this Raoul de +Frescas, and Inez was immensely pleased with him. Do you know that I +have long felt, and now at last admit to myself, that my mother hates +me? And that I myself feel, what I would only say to you father, whom +I love, that I have little love for her? + +The Duke (aside) +I am reaping all that I have sown; hate as well as love is +instinctively divined. (To the marquis) My son, you should not judge, +for you can never understand your mother. She has seen my blind +affection for you, and she wishes to correct it by severity. Do not +let me hear any more such remarks from you, and let us drop the +subject! You are on duty at the palace to-day; repair thither at once: +I will obtain leave for you this evening, when you can go to the ball +and rejoin the Princesse d'Arjos. + +The Marquis +Before leaving, I should like to see my mother, and beg for her kind +offices in my favor, with Inez, who calls upon her this morning. + +The Duke +Ask whether she is to be seen, for I am waiting for her myself. (Exit +the marquis.) Everything overwhelms me at the same time; yesterday the +ambassador inquired of me the place of my son's death; last night, my +son's mother thought she had found him again; this morning the son of +Juana Mendes harrows my feelings! The princess recognizes him +instinctively. No law can be broken without a nemesis; nature is as +pitiless as the world of men. Shall I be strong enough, even with the +backing of the king, to overcome this complication of circumstances? + + +SCENE SEVENTH. +The Duke, the Duchess and the Marquis. + +The Duchess +Excuses? Nonsense! Albert, I am only too happy to see you here; it is +a pleasant surprise; you are come to kiss your mother before going to +the palace--that is all. Ah! if ever a mother found it in her heart to +doubt her son, this eager affection, which I have not been accustomed +to, would dispel all such fear, and I thank you for it, Albert. At +last we understand each other. + +The Marquis +I am glad to hear you say that, mother; if I have seemed lacking in my +duty to you, it is not that I forget, but that I feared to annoy you. + +The Duchess (seeing the duke) +What! Your grace here also!--you really seem to share your son's +cordiality,--my rising this morning is actually a fete. + +The Duke +And you will find it so every day. + +The Duchess (to the duke) +Ah! I understand-- (To the marquis) Good-bye! The king is strict about +the punctuality of his red-coated guards, and I should be sorry to +cause you to be reprimanded. + +The Duke +Why do you send him off? Inez will soon be here. + +The Duchess +I do not think so, I have just written to her. + + +SCENE EIGHTH. +The same persons and Joseph. + +Joseph (announcing a visitor) +Their graces the Duchesse de Christoval and the Princess d'Arjos. + +The Duchess (aside) +How excessively awkward! + +The Duke (to his son) +Do not go; leave all to me. They are trifling with us. + + +SCENE NINTH. +The same persons, the Duchesse de Christoval and the Princesse +d'Arjos. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Ah! madame, it is extremely kind of you thus to anticipate my visit to +you. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +I come in this way that there may be no formality between us. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to Inez) +Have you read my letter? + +Inez +One of your maids has just handed it to me. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (aside) +It is evident that Raoul is also coming. + +The Duke (to the Duchesse de Christoval, whom he leads to a seat) +I hope we see in this informal visit the beginning of a family +intimacy? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Pray do not exaggerate the importance of a civility, which I look upon +as a pleasure. + +The Marquis +You are seriously afraid, madame, I perceive, of encouraging my hopes? +Did I not suffer sufficiently yesterday? The princess did not notice +me, even by a look. + +Inez +I didn't expect the pleasure of meeting you again so soon, sir. I +thought you were on duty; I am glad to have an opportunity of +explaining that I never saw you till the moment I left the ball-room, +and this lady (pointing to the Duchesse de Montsorel) must be the +excuse of my inattention. + +The Marquis +You have two excuses, mademoiselle, and I thank you for mentioning +only one--my mother. + +The Duke +His reproaches spring only from his modesty, mademoiselle. Albert is +under the impression that Monsieur de Frescas can give him ground for +anxiety! At his age passion is a fairy that makes trifles appear vast. +But neither yourself nor your mother, mademoiselle, can attach any +serious importance to the claims of a young man, whose title is +problematical and who is so studiously silent about his family. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +And are you also ignorant of the place where he was born? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +I am not intimate enough with him to ask for such information. + +The Duke +There are three of us here who would be well pleased to have it. You +alone, ladies, would be discreet, for discretion is a virtue the +possession of which profits only those who require it in others. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +As for me, I do not believe that curiosity is always blameless. + +The Marquis +Is mine then ill-timed? And may I not inquire of madame whether the +Frescas of Aragon are extinct or not? + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to the duke) +Both of us have known at Madrid the old commander, who was last of his +line. + +The Duke +He died, of course, without issue. + +Inez +But there exists a branch of the family at Naples. + +The Marquis +Surely you are aware, mademoiselle, that your cousins, the house of +Medina-Coeli, have succeeded to it? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +You are right; there are no De Frescas in existence. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Well! Well! If this young man has neither title nor family, he can be +no dangerous rival to Albert. I do not know why you should be +interested in him. + +The Duke +But there are a great many ladies interested in him. + +Inez +I begin to see your meaning-- + +The Marquis +Indeed! + +Inez +Yes, this young man is not, perhaps, all he wishes to appear; but he +is intelligent, well educated, his sentiments are noble, he shows us +the most chivalric respect, he speaks ill of no one; evidently, he is +acting the gentleman, and exaggerates his role. + +The Duke +I believe he also exaggerates the amount of his fortune; but it is +difficult at Paris to maintain that pretension for any length of time. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +I am told that you mean to give a series of brilliant entertainments? + +The Marquis +Does Monsieur de Frescas speak Spanish? + +Inez +Just as well as we do. + +The Duke +Say no more, Albert; did you not hear that Monsieur de Frescas is a +highly accomplished young man? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +He is really a very agreeable man, but if your doubts were well +founded, I confess, my dear duke, I should be very sorry to receive +any further visits from him. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +You look as fresh to-day as you did yesterday; I really admire the way +you stand the dissipations of society. + +The Duchesse de Christoval (aside to Inez) +My child, do not mention Monsieur de Frescas again. The subject annoys +Madame de Montsorel. + +Inez (also aside) +It did not annoy her yesterday. + + +SCENE TENTH. +The same persons, Joseph and Raoul de Frescas. + +Joseph (to the Duchesse de Montsorel) +As Mademoiselle de Vaudrey is not in, and Monsieur de Frescas is here, +will your grace see him? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Is Raoul here? + +The Duke +So he has already found her out! + +The Marquis (to his father) +My mother is deceiving us. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to Joseph) +I am not at home. + +The Duke +If you have asked Monsieur de Frescas to come why do you begin by +treating so great a personage with discourtesy? (To Joseph, despite a +gesture of protest from the Duchesse de Montsorel) Show him in! (To +the marquis) Try to be calm and sensible. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (aside) +In trying to help, I have hurt him, I fear. + +Joseph +M. Raoul de Frescas. + +Raoul (entering) +My eagerness to obey your commands will prove to you, Madame la +Duchesse, how proud I am of your notice, and how anxious to deserve +it. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +I thank you, sir, for your promptitude. (Aside) But it may prove fatal +to you. + +Raoul (bowing to the Duchesse de Christoval and her daughter, aside) +How is this? Inez here? + +(Raoul exchanges bows with the duke; but the marquis takes up a +newspaper from the table, and pretends not to see Raoul.) + +The Duke +I must confess, Monsieur de Frescas, I did not expect to meet you in +the apartment of Madame de Montsorel; but I am pleased at the interest +she takes in you, for it has procured me the pleasure of meeting a +young man whose entrance into Parisian society has been attended with +such success and brilliancy. You are one of the rivals whom one is +proud to conquer, but to whom one submits without displeasure. + +Raoul +This exaggerated eulogy, with which I cannot agree, would be ironical +unless it had been pronounced by you; but I am compelled to +acknowledge the courtesy with which you desire to set me at my ease, +(looking at the marquis, who turns his back on him), in a house where +I might well think myself unwelcome. + +The Duke +On the contrary, you have come just at the right moment, we were just +speaking of your family and of the aged Commander de Frescas whom +madame and myself were once well acquainted with. + +Raoul +I am highly honored by the interest you take in me; but such an honor +is generally enjoyed at the cost of some slight gossip. + +The Duke +People can only gossip about those whom they know well. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +And we would like to have the right of gossiping about you. + +Raoul +It is my interest to keep myself in your good graces. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +I know one way of doing so. + +Raoul +What is that? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Remain the same mysterious personage you are at present. + +The Marquis (rejoining them, newspaper in hand) +Here is a strange thing, ladies; one of those foreigners who claim to +be noblemen has been caught cheating at play at the field marshal's +house. + +Inez +Is that the great piece of news in which you have been absorbed? + +Raoul +In these times, everyone seems to be a foreigner. + +The Marquis +It is not altogether the piece of news that set me thinking, but I was +struck by the incredible readiness with which people receive at their +houses those about whose antecedents they know positively nothing. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (aside) +Is he to be insulted in my house? + +Raoul +If people distrust those whom they do not know, aren't they sometimes +likely, at very short notice, to know rather too much about them? + +The Duke +Albert, how can this news of yours interest us? Do we ever receive any +one without first learning what his family is? + +Raoul +His grace the duke knows my family. + +The Duke +It is sufficient for me that you are found at Madame de Montsorel's +house. We know what we owe to you too well to forget what you owe to +us. The name De Frescas commands respect, and you represent it +worthily. + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to Raoul) +Will you immediately announce who you are, if not for your own sake, +at least out of consideration for your friends? + +Raoul +I shall be extremely distressed if my presence here should occasion +the slightest discussion; but as certain hints are as galling as the +most direct charges, I suggest that we end this conversation, which is +as unworthy of you, as it is of me. Her grace the duchess did not, I +am sure, invite me here to be cross-examined. I recognize in no one +the right to ask a reason for the silence which I have decided to +maintain. + +The Marquis +And you leave us the right to interpret it? + +Raoul +If I claim liberty of action, it is not for the purpose of refusing +the same to you. + +The Duke (to Raoul) +You are a noble young man, you show the natural distinction which +marks the gentleman; do not be offended at the curiosity of the world; +it is our only safeguard. Your sword cannot impose silence upon all +idle talkers, and the world, while it treats becoming modesty with +generosity, has no pity for ungrounded pretensions-- + +Raoul +Sir! + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (whispering anxiously to Raoul) +Not a word about your childhood; leave Paris, and let me alone know +where you are--hidden! Your whole future depends on this. + +The Duke +I really wish to be your friend, in spite of the fact that you are the +rival of my son. Give your confidence to a man who has that of his +king. How can you be descended from the house of De Frescas, which is +extinct? + +Raoul (to the duke) +Your grace is too powerful to fail of proteges, and I am not so weak +as to need a protector. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Sir, I am sure you will understand a mother's feeling that it would be +unwise for her to receive many visits from you at the Christoval +house. + +Inez (to Raoul) +A word would save us, and you keep silence; I perceive that there is +something dearer to you than I am. + +Raoul +Inez, I could hear anything excepting these reproaches. (Aside) O +Vautrin! Why did you impose absolute silence upon me. (He bows +farewell to the ladies. To the Duchesse de Montsorel) I leave my +happiness in your charge. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Do what I order; I will answer for the rest. + +Raoul (to the marquis) +I am at your service, sir. + +The Marquis +Good-bye Monsieur Raoul. + +Raoul +De Frescas, if you please. + +The Marquis +De Frescas, then! + +(Exit Raoul.) + + +SCENE ELEVENTH. +The same persons, except Raoul. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +You were very severe. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +You may not be aware, madame, that for the last three months this +young man has danced attendance on my daughter wherever she went, and +that his admission into society was brought about a little +incautiously. + +The Duke (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +He might easily be taken for a prince in disguise. + +The Marquis +Is he not rather a nobody disguised as a prince? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Your father will tell you that such disguises are difficult to assume. + +Inez (to the marquis) +A nobody sir? We women can be attracted by one who is above us, never +by him who is our inferior. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +What are you talking about, Inez? + +Inez +It is of no consequence, mother! Either this young man is crazed or +these people are ungenerous. + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to the Duchesse de Montsorel) +I can plainly see, madame, that any explanation is impossible, +especially in the presence of the duke; but my honor is at stake, and +I shall expect you to explain. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +To-morrow, then. + +(Exit the duke with the Duchesse de Christoval and her daughter, +followed by the Duchesse de Montsorel.) + + +SCENE TWELFTH. +The Marquis and the Duke. + +The Marquis +The appearance of this adventurer, father, seems to throw both you and +my mother into a state of the most violent excitement; it would almost +seem as if not only was the marriage of your son jeopardized, but your +very existence menaced. The duchess and her daughter went off in high +dudgeon-- + +The Duke +What could have brought them here in the very midst of our discussion? + +The Marquis +And you also are interested in this fellow Raoul? + +The Duke +Are not you? Your fortune, your name, your future and your marriage, +all that is more to you than life, is now at stake! + +The Marquis +If all these things are dependent upon this young man, I will +immediately demand satisfaction from him. + +The Duke +What! A duel? If you had the wretched luck to kill him, the success of +your suite would be hopeless. + +The Marquis +What then is to be done? + +The Duke +Do like the politicians; wait! + +The Marquis +If you are in danger, father, do you think I can remain quiet? + +The Duke +Leave the burden to me; it would crush you. + +The Marquis +Ah! but you will speak, father, you will tell me-- + +The Duke +Nothing! For we should both of us have too much to blush for. + + +SCENE THIRTEENTH. +The same persons and Vautrin. +(Vautrin is dressed all in black; at the beginning of the scene he +puts on an air of compunction and humility.) + +Vautrin +Excuse me, your grace, for having forced my way in, but (whispering so +as not to be overheard) we have both of us been victimized by an abuse +of confidence--allow me to say a word or two to you alone. + +The Duke (with a sign to his son to leave them) +Say on, sir. + +Vautrin +In these days success is in the power of those alone who exert +themselves to obtain office, and this form of ambition pervades all +classes. Every man in France desires to be a colonel, and it is +difficult to see where the privates are to come from. As a matter of +fact society is threatened by disintegration, which will simply result +from this universal desire for high positions, accompanied with a +general disgust for the low places. Such is the fruit of revolutionary +equality. Religion is the sole remedy for this corruption. + +The Duke +What are you driving at? + +Vautrin +I beg pardon, but it is impossible to refrain from explaining to a +statesman, with whom I am going to work, the cause of a mistake which +annoys me. Has your grace confided any secrets to one of my people who +came to you this morning, with the foolish idea of supplanting me, and +in the hope of making himself known to you as one who could serve your +interests? + +The Duke +What do you mean? That you are the Chevalier de Saint-Charles? + +Vautrin +Let me tell your grace, that we are just what we desire to be. Neither +he nor I is simple enough to be his real self--it would cost us too +much. + +The Duke +Remember, that you must furnish proofs. + +Vautrin +If your grace has confided any important secret to him, I shall have +immediately to put him under surveillance. + +The Duke (aside) +This man seems more honest and reliable than the other. + +Vautrin +We put the secret police on such cases. + +The Duke +You ought not to have come here, sir, unless you were able to justify +your assertions. + +Vautrin +I have done my duty. I hope that the ambition of this man, who is +capable of selling himself to the highest bidder, may be of service to +you. + +The Duke (aside) +How can he have learned so promptly the secret of my morning +interview? + +Vautrin (aside) +He hesitates; Joseph is right, some important secret is at stake. + +The Duke +Sir! + +Vautrin +Your grace! + +The Duke +It is the interest of both of us to defeat this man. + +Vautrin +That would be dangerous, if he has your secret; for he is tricky. + +The Duke +Yes, the fellow has wit. + +Vautrin +Did you give him a commission? + +The Duke +Nothing of importance; I wish to find out all about a certain Monsieur +de Frescas. + +Vautrin (aside) +Merely that! (Aloud) I can tell your grace all about him. Raoul de +Frescas is a young nobleman whose family is mixed up in an affair of +high treason, and he does not like to assume his father's name. + +The Duke +He has a father, then? + +Vautrin +He has a father. + +The Duke +And where does he come from? What is his fortune? + +Vautrin +We are changing our roles, and your grace must excuse my not answering +until you tell me what special interest your grace has in Monsieur de +Frescas. + +The Duke +You are forgetting yourself, sir! + +Vautrin (with assumed humility) +Yes, I am forgetting the fact that there is an enormous difference +between spies and those who set them. + +The Duke +Joseph! + +Vautrin (aside) +The duke has set his spies upon us; I must hurry. + +(Vautrin disappears through the side door, by which he entered in the +first act.) + +The Duke (turning back) +You shall not leave the house. Heavens! Where is he? (He rings and +Joseph answers.) Let all the doors of the house be locked, a man has +got into the house. Quick! Let all look for him, and let him be +apprehended. (He goes to the room of the duchess.) + +Joseph (looking through the postern) +He is far away by this time. + + +Curtain to the Second Act. + + + + ACT III. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(A room in the house of Raoul de Frescas.) + +Lafouraille (alone) +Would my late excellent father, who advised me to frequent none but +the best society, have been satisfied with me yesterday? I spent all +night with ministers' valets, attendants of the embassy, princes', +dukes', peers' coachmen--none but these, all reliable men, in good +luck; they steal only from their masters. My master danced with a fine +chit of a girl whose hair was powdered with a million's worth of +diamonds, and he had no eyes for anything but the bouquet she carried +in her hand; simple young man, we sympathize with you. Old Jacques +Collin--Botheration! There I trip again, I cannot reconcile myself to +this common name--I mean Monsieur Vautrin, will arrange all that. In a +little time diamonds and dowry will take an airing, and they have need +of it; to think of them as always in the same strong boxes! 'Tis +against the laws of circulation. What a joker he is!--He sets you up +as a young man of means. He is so kind, he talks so finely, the +heiress comes in, the trick is done, and we all cry shares! The money +will have been well earned. You see we have been here six months. +Haven't we put on the look of idiots! Everybody in the neighborhood +takes us for good simple folk. And who would refuse to do anything for +Vautrin? He said to us: "Be virtuous," and virtuous we became. I fear +him as I fear the police, and yet I love him even more than money. + +Vautrin (calling from outside) +Lafouraille! + +Lafouraille +There he is! I haven't seen his face this morning--that means a storm; +I prefer it should fall upon some one else, and will get out. (He +starts to the door but encounters Vautrin.) + + +SCENE SECOND. +Vautrin and Lafouraille. +(Vautrin is dressed in long white duck trousers and a waistcoat of the +same material, slippers of red morocco,--the morning dress of a +business man.) + +Vautrin +Lafouraille. + +Lafouraille +Sir? + +Vautrin +Where are you going? + +Lafouraille +To get your letters. + +Vautrin +I have them. Have you anything else to do? + +Lafouraille +Yes, your chamber-- + +Vautrin +In so many words you want to avoid me. I have always found that +restless legs never go with a quiet conscience. Stay where you are. +I want to talk with you. + +Lafouraille +I am at your service. + +Vautrin +I hope you are. Come here. You told us, under the fair sky of +Provence, a certain story which was little to your credit. A steward +beat you at play; do you recollect? + +Lafouraille +A steward? Yes, that fellow Charles Blondet, the only man who ever +robbed me! Can a fellow forget that? + +Vautrin +Had you not on one occasion sold your master to him? That's common +enough. + +Lafouraille +On one occasion? I sold him three times over. + +Vautrin +That was better. And what business was the steward then engaged in? + +Lafouraille +I was going to tell you. I was footman at eighteen with the De +Langeacs-- + +Vautrin +I thought it was in the Duc de Montsorel's house. + +Lafouraille +No; the duke, fortunately, has only twice set eyes on me, and has, I +hope, forgotten me. + +Vautrin +Did you rob him? + +Lafouraille +Well, to some small extent. + +Vautrin +Why do you want him to forget you? + +Lafouraille +Because, after seeing him again, yesterday, at the embassy, I should +then feel safe. + +Vautrin +And it is the same man? + +Lafouraille +We are both older by twenty-five years, and that is the only +difference. + +Vautrin +Tell me all about him. I knew I had heard you mention his name. Go on. + +Lafouraille +The Vicomte de Langeac, one of my masters, and this Duc de Montsorel +were like peas in the same pod. When I was forced to choose between +the nobles and the people, I did not hesitate; from a mere footman, I +became a citizen, and citizen Philip Boulard was an earnest worker. I +had enthusiasm, and acquired influence in the faubourg. + +Vautrin +And so you have been a politician, have you? + +Lafouraille +Not for long. I did a pretty thing, and that ruined me. + +Vautrin +Aha! My boy, pretty things are like pretty women--better light shy of +them; they often bring trouble. What was this pretty thing? + +Lafouraille +I'll tell you. In the scrimmage of the Tenth of August, the duke +confided to my care the Vicomte de Langeac; I disguised and hid him, I +gave him food at the risk of my popularity and my life. The duke had +greatly encouraged me by such trifles as a thousand gold pieces, and +that Blondet had the infamy to offer me a bigger pile to give up our +young master. + +Vautrin +Did you give him up? + +Lafouraille +Immediately. He was jugged in the Abbaye, and I became the happy +possessor of sixty good thousands of francs in gold, in real gold. + +Vautrin +And what has this to do with the Duc de Montsorel? + +Lafouraille +Wait a little. When the days of September came, my conduct seemed to +me slightly reprehensible; and to quiet my conscience, I determined to +propose to the duke, who was leaving the country that I should rescue +his friend. + +Vautrin +Did your remorse prove a good investment? + +Lafouraille +That it did; for it was rare in those days! The duke promised me +twenty thousand francs if I delivered the viscount from the hands of +my comrades, and I succeeded in doing so. + +Vautrin +Twenty thousand francs for a viscount! + +Lafouraille +And he was all the more worth it, because he was the last. I found +that out too late. The steward had disposed of all the other Langeacs, +even to the poor grandmother whom he had sent to the Carmelites. + +Vautrin +That was good! + +Lafouraille +But then something else happened. That Blondet heard of my devotion, +he traced me out and found me in the neighborhood of Mortagne, where +my master was at the house of one of my uncles waiting for a chance to +reach the sea. The noodle offered me as much money as he had already +given me. I saw before me an honest life for the rest of my days; and +I was weak. My friend Blondet caused the viscount to be shot as a spy; +and my uncle and myself were imprisoned as his accomplices. We were +not released until I had disgorged all my gold. + +Vautrin +That is the way a knowledge of the human heart is acquired. You were +dealing with a stronger man than yourself. + +Lafouraille +That remains to be seen; for I am still alive. + +Vautrin +Enough of that! There is nothing of use to me in your tale. + +Lafouraille +Can I go now? + +Vautrin +Come, come. You seem to experience a keen longing to be where I am +not. But you went into society yesterday; did you do anything? + +Lafouraille +The servants said such funny things about their masters, that I could +not leave the antechamber. + +Vautrin +Yet I saw you nibbling at the sideboard; what did you take? + +Lafouraille +Nothing--but stay--I took a wineglass of Madeira. + +Vautrin +What did you do with the dozen of gold spoons that went with the glass +of Madeira? + +Lafouraille +Gold spoons! I've searched diligently, but find nothing of that kind +in my memory. + +Vautrin +Possibly; but you will find them in your mattress. And was Philosopher +also absent-minded? + +Lafouraille +Poor Philosopher! Since morning he has been a laughing-stock below +stairs. He induced a coachman who was very young to strip off his gold +lace for him. It was all false on the underside. In these days masters +are thieves. You cannot be sure of anything, more's the pity. + +Vautrin (whistles) +This is no joking matter. You will make me lose the house: this must +be put a stop to--Here, father Buteux, ahoy! Philosopher! Come here. +Fil-de-Soie! My dear friends, let us have a clearing up. You are a +pack of scoundrels. + + +SCENE THIRD. +The same persons, Buteux, Philosopher and Fil-de-Soie. + +Buteux +Present! Is the house on fire? + +Fil-de-Soie +Is it some one burning with curiosity? + +Buteux +A fire would be better, for it can be put out. + +Philosopher +But the other can be choked. + +Lafouraille +Bah! He has had enough of this trifling. + +Buteux +So we are to have more moralizing--thank you for that. + +Fil-de-Soie +He cannot want me for I have not been out. + +Vautrin (to Fil-de-Soie) +You? The evening when I bade you exchange your scullion's cap for a +footman's hat--poisoner-- + +Fil-de-Soie +We will drop the extra names. + +Vautrin +And you accompanied me as my footman to the field marshal's; while +helping me on with my cloak, you stole the watch of the Cossack +prince. + +Fil-de-Soie +One of the enemies of France. + +Vautrin +You, Buteux, you old malefactor, carried off the opera-glass of the +Princesse d'Arjos the evening she set down your young master at our +gate. + +Buteux +It dropped on the carriage step. + +Vautrin +You should have respectfully handed it back to her; but the gold and +the pearls appealed to your tigerish talons. + +Lafouraille +Now, now, surely people can have a little fun? Devil take it! Did not +you, Jacques-- + +Vautrin +What do you mean? + +Lafouraille +Did not you, Monsieur Vautrin, require thirty thousand francs that +this young man might live in princely style? We succeeded in +satisfying you in the fashion of foreign governments, by borrowing, +and getting credit. All those who come to ask for me leave some with +us. And you are not satisfied. + +Fil-de-Soie +And if, when I am sent to buy provisions without a sou, I may not be +allowed to bring back some cash with me,--I might as well send in my +resignation. + +Philosopher +And didn't I sell our custom to four different coach-builders--5,000 +francs each clip--and the man who got the order lost all? One evening +Monsieur de Frescas starts off from home with wretched screws, and we +bring him back, Lafouraille and I, with a span worth ten thousand +francs, which have cost him only twenty glasses of brandy. + +Lafouraille +No, it was Kirchenwasser. + +Philosopher +Yes, and yet you fly into a rage-- + +Fil-de-Soie +How are you going to keep house now? + +Vautrin +Do you expect to do things of this kind for long? What I have +permitted in order to set up our establishment, from this day forth I +forbid. You wish, I suppose, to descend from robbery to swindling? If +you do not understand what I say I will look out for better servants. + +Buteux +And where will you find them? + +Lafouraille +Let him hunt for them! + +Vautrin +You forget, I see, that I have pledged myself to save your necks! +Dear, dear, do you think I have sifted you, like seeds in a colander, +through three different places of residence, to let you hover round a +gibbet, like flies round a candle? I wish you to know that any +imprudence that brings you to such a position, is, to men of my stamp, +a crime. You ought to appear as supremely innocent as you, +Philosopher, appeared to him who let you rip off his lace. Never +forget the part you are playing; you are honest fellows, faithful +domestics, and adore Raoul de Frescas, your master. + +Buteux +Do you take this young man for a god? You have harnessed us to his +car; but we know him no better than he knows us. + +Philosopher +Tell me, is he one of our kind? + +Fil-de-Soie +What is he going to bring us to? + +Lafouraille +We obey on condition that the Society of the Ten Thousand be +reconstituted, so that never less than ten thousand francs at a time +be assigned to us; at present we have not any funds in common. + +Fil-de-Soie +When are we all to be capitalists? + +Buteux +If the gang knew that for the last six months I have been disguising +myself as an old porter, without any object, I should be disgraced. If +I am willing to risk my neck, it is that I may give bread to my Adele, +whom you have forbidden me to see, and who for six months must have +been as dry as a match. + +Lafouraille (to the other two) +She is in prison. Poor man! Let us spare his feelings. + +Vautrin +Have you finished? Come now, you have made merry here for six months, +eaten like diplomats, drunk like Poles, and have wanted nothing. + +Buteux +Yes, we are rusting out! + +Vautrin +Thanks to me, the police have forgotten you! You owe your good luck to +me alone! I have erased the brand from your foreheads. I am the head, +whose ideas you, the arms, carry out. + +Philosopher +We are satisfied. + +Vautrin +You must all obey me blindly. + +Lafouraille +Blindly. + +Vautrin +Without a murmur. + +Fil-de-Soie +Without a murmur. + +Vautrin +Or else let us break our compact, and be off with you! If I meet with +ingratitude from you, to whom can I venture hereafter to do a service? + +Philosopher +To no one, my emperor. + +Lafouraille +I should rather say, our great teacher! + +Buteux +I love you more than I love Adele. + +Fil-de-Soie +We worship you. + +Vautrin +If necessary, I shall even have to beat you. + +Philosopher +We'll take it without a murmur. + +Vautrin +To spit in your face; to bowl over your lives like a row of skittles. + +Buteux +But I bowl over with a knife. + +Vautrin +Very well--Kill me this instant. + +Buteux +It is no use being vexed with this man. Do you wish me to restore the +opera-glass? I intended it for Adele! + +All (surrounding Vautrin) +Would you abandon us, Vautrin? + +Lafouraille +Vautrin! Our friend. + +Philosopher +Mighty Vautrin! + +Fil-de-Soie +Our old companion, deal with us as you will. + +Vautrin +Yes, and I can deal with you as I will. When I think what trouble you +make, in your trinket-stealing, I feel inclined to send you back to +the place I took you from. You are either above or below the level of +society, dregs or foam; but I desire to make you enter into society. +People used to hoot you as you went by. I wish them to bow to you; you +were once the basest of mankind, I wish you to be more than honest +men. + +Philosopher +Is there such a class? + +Buteux +There are those who are nothing at all. + +Vautrin +There are those who decide upon the honesty of others. You will never +be honest burgesses, you must belong either to the wretched or the +rich; you must therefore master one-half of the world! Take a bath of +gold, and you will come forth from it virtuous! + +Fil-de-Soie +To think, that, when I have need of nothing, I shall be a good prince! + +Vautrin +Of course. And you, Lafouraille, you can become Count of Saint Helena; +and what would you like to be, Buteux? + +Buteux +I should like to be a philanthropist, for the philanthropist always +becomes a millionaire. + +Philosopher +And I, a banker. + +Fil-de-Soie +He wishes to be a licensed professional. + +Vautrin +Show yourselves then, according as occasion demands it, blind and +clear-sighted, adroit and clumsy, stupid and clever, like all those +who make their fortune. Never judge me, and try to understand my +meaning. You ask who Raoul de Frescas is? I will explain to you; he +will soon have an income of twelve hundred thousand francs. He will be +a prince. And I picked him up when he was begging on the high road, +and ready to become a drummer-boy; in his twelfth year he had neither +name nor family; he came from Sardinia, where he must have got into +some trouble, for he was a fugitive from justice. + +Buteux +Oh, now that we know his antecedents and his social position-- + +Vautrin +Be off to your lodge! + +Buteux +Little Nini, daughter of Giroflee is there-- + +Vautrin +She may let a spy pass in. + +Buteux +She! She is a little cat to whom it is not necessary to point out the +stool-pigeons. + +Vautrin +You may judge my power from what I am in process of doing for Raoul. +Ought he not to be preferred before all? Raoul de Frescas is a young +man who has remained pure as an angel in the midst of our mire-pit; he +is our conscience; moreover, he is my creation; I am at once his +father, his mother, and I desire to be his guiding providence. I, who +can never know happiness, still delight in making other people happy. +I breathe through his lips, I live in his life, his passions are my +own; and it is impossible for me to know noble and pure emotions +excepting in the heart of this being unsoiled by crime. You have your +fancies, here I show you mine. In exchange for the blight which +society has brought upon me, I give it a man of honor, and enter upon +a struggle with destiny; do you wish to be of my party? Obey me. + +All +In life, and death-- + +Vautrin (aside) +So my savage beasts are once more brought to submission. (Aloud) +Philosopher, try to put on the air, the face, the costume of an +_employe_ of the lost goods bureau, and take back to the embassy the +plate borrowed by Lafouraille. (To Fil-de-Soie) You, Fil-de-Soie, must +prepare a sumptuous dinner, as Monsieur de Frescas is to entertain a +few friends. You will afterwards dress yourself as a respectable man, +and assume the air of a lawyer. You will go to number six, Rue Oblin, +ring seven times at the fourth-story door, and ask for Pere Giroflee. +When they ask where you come from, you will answer from a seaport in +Bohemia. They will let you in. I want certain letters and papers of +the Duc de Christoval; here are the text and patterns. I want an +absolute fac-simile, with the briefest possible delay. Lafouraille, +you must go and insert a few lines in the newspapers, notifying the +arrival of . . . (He whispers into his ear.) This forms part of my +plan. Now leave me. + +Lafouraille +Well, are you satisfied? + +Vautrin +Yes. + +Philosopher +You want nothing more of us? + +Vautrin +Nothing. + +Fil-de-Soie +There will be no more rebellion; every one will be good. + +Buteux +Let your mind rest easy; we are going to be not only polite, but +honest. + +Vautrin +That is right, boys; a little integrity, a great deal of address, and +you will be respected. + +(Exeunt all except Vautrin.) + + +SCENE FOURTH. + +Vautrin (alone) +In order to lead them it is only necessary to let them think they have +an honorable future. They have no future, no prospects! Pshaw! If +generals took their soldiers seriously, not a cannon would be fired! +In a few days, following upon years of subterranean labors, I shall +have won for Raoul a commanding position; it must be made sure to him. +Lafouraille and Philosopher will be necessary to me in the country +where I am to give him a family. Ah, this love! It has put out of the +question the life I had destined him to. I wished to win for him a +solitary glory, to see him conquering for me and under my direction, +the world which I am forbidden to enter. Raoul is not only the child +of my intellect and of my malice, he is also my instrument of revenge. +These fellows of mine cannot understand these sentiments; they are +happy; they have never fallen, not they! They were born criminals. But +I have attempted to raise myself. Yet though a man can raise himself +in the eyes of God, he can never do so in the eyes of the world. +People tell you to repent, and then refuse to pardon. Men possess in +their dealings with each other the instincts of savage animals. Once +wounded, one is down-trodden by his fellows. Moreover, to ask the +protection of a world whose laws you have trampled under foot is like +returning to a house which you have burnt and whose roof would fall +and crush you. I have well polished and perfected the magnetic +instrument of my domination. Raoul was brave, he would have sacrificed +his life, like a fool; I had to make him cold and domineering, and to +dispel from his mind, one by one, his exalted ideas of life; to render +him suspicious and tricky as--an old bill-broker, while all the while +he knew not who I was. And at this moment love has broken down the +whole scaffolding. He should have been great; now, he can only be +happy. I shall therefore retire to live in a corner at the height of +his prosperity; his happiness will have been my work. For two days I +have been asking myself whether it would not be better that the +Princesse d'Arjos should die of some ailment--say brain fever. It's +singular how many plans a woman can upset! + + +SCENE FIFTH. +Vautrin and Lafouraille. + +Vautrin +What is the matter? Cannot I be alone one moment? Did I call? + +Lafouraille +We are likely to feel the claws of justice scratch our shoulders. + +Vautrin +What new blunder have you committed? + +Lafouraille +The fact is little Nini has admitted a well-dressed gentleman who asks +to see you. Buteux is whistling the air, _There's No Place Like Home_, +so it must be a sleuth. + +Vautrin +Nothing of the kind, I know who it is; tell him to wait. Everybody in +arms! Vautrin must then vanish; I will be the Baron de Vieux-Chene. +Speak in a German account, fool him well, until I can play the master +stroke. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SIXTH. +Lafouraille and Saint-Charles. + +Lafouraille (speaking with a German accent) +M. de Frescas is not at home, sir, and his steward, the Baron de +Vieux-Chene, is engaged with an architect, who is to build a grand +house for my master. + +Saint-Charles +I beg your pardon, my dear sir, you said-- + +Lafouraille +I said Baron de Vieux-Chene. + +Saint-Charles +Baron! + +Lafouraille +Yes! Yes! + +Saint-Charles +He is a baron? + +Lafouraille +Baron de Vieux-Chene. + +Saint-Charles +You are a German. + +Lafouraille +Not I! Not I! I am an Alsatian, a very different thing. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +This man has certainly an accent too decidedly German to be a +Parisian. + +Lafouraille (aside) +I know this man well. Here's a go! + +Saint-Charles +If the baron is busy, I will wait. + +Lafouraille (aside) +Ah! Blondet, my beauty, you can disguise your face, but not your +voice; if you get out of our clutches now, you will be a wonder. +(Aloud) What shall I tell the baron brings you here? (He makes as if +to go out.) + +Saint-Charles +Stay a moment, my friend; you speak German, I speak French, we may +misunderstand one another. (Puts a purse into his hand.) There can be +no mistake with this for an interpreter. + +Lafouraille +No, sir. + +Saint-Charles +That is merely on account. + +Lafouraille (aside) +Yes, on account of my eighty thousand francs. (Aloud) And do you wish +me to shadow my master? + +Saint-Charles +No, my friend, I merely ask for some information, which cannot +compromise you. + +Lafouraille +In good German we call that spying. + +Saint-Charles +But no--that is not it--it is-- + +Lafouraille +To shadow him. And what shall I say to his lordship the baron? + +Saint-Charles +Announce the Chevalier de Saint-Charles. + +Lafouraille +We understand each other. I will induce him to see you. But do not +offer money to the steward; he is more honest than the rest of us. (He +gives a sly wink.) + +Saint-Charles +That means he will cost more. + +Lafouraille +Yes, sir. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SEVENTH. + +Saint-Charles (alone) +A bad beginning! Ten louis thrown away. To shadow him indeed! It is +too stupid not to have a spice of wit in it, this habit of calling +things by their right name, at the outset. If the pretended steward, +for there is no steward here, if the baron is as clever as his +footman, I shall have nothing to base my information on, excepting +what they conceal from me. This room is very fine. There is neither +portrait of the king, nor emblem of royalty here. Well, it is plain +they do not frame their opinions. Is the furniture suggestive of +anything? No. It is too new to have been even paid for. But for the +air which the porter whistled, doubtless a signal, I should be +inclined to believe in the De Frescas people. + + +SCENE EIGHTH. +Saint-Charles, Vautrin and Lafouraille. +(Vautrin wears a bright maroon coat, of old-fashioned cut, with large +heavy buttons; his breeches are black silk, as are his stockings. His +shoes have gold buckles, his waistcoat is flowered, he wears two +watch-chains, his cravat belongs to the time of the Revolution; his +wig is white, his face old, keen, withered, dissipated looking. He +speaks low, and his voice is cracked.) + +Vautrin (to Lafouraille) +Very good; you may go. (Exit Lafouraille. Aside) Now for the tug of +war, Monsieur Blondet. (Aloud) I am at your service, sir. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +A worn out fox is still dangerous. (Aloud) Excuse me, baron, for +disturbing you, while yet unknown to you. + +Vautrin +I can guess what your business is. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Indeed? + +Vautrin +You are an architect, and have a proposal to make to me; but I have +already received most excellent offers. + +Saint-Charles +Excuse me, your Dutchman must have mispronounced my name. I am the +Chevalier de Saint-Charles. + +Vautrin (raising his spectacles) +Let me see--we are old acquaintances. You were at the Congress of +Vienna, and then bore the name of Count of Gorcum--a fine name! + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Go choke yourself, old man! (Aloud) So you were there also? + +Vautrin +I should think so! And I am glad to have come upon you again. You were +a deuced clever fellow, you know. How you fooled them all! + +Saint-Charles (aside) +We'll stick to Vienna, then. (Aloud) Ah, baron! I recall you perfectly +now; you also steered your bark pretty cleverly there. + +Vautrin +Of course I did, and what women we had there! Yes, indeed! And have +you still your fair Italian? + +Saint-Charles +Did you know her? She was a woman of such tact. + +Vautrin +My dear fellow, wasn't she, though? She actually wanted to find out +who I was. + +Saint-Charles +And did she find out? + +Vautrin +Well, my dear friend, I know you will be glad to hear it, she +discovered nothing. + +Saint-Charles +Come, baron, since we are speaking freely to each other to-day, I for +my part must confess that your admirable Pole-- + +Vautrin +You also had the pleasure? + +Saint-Charles +On my honor, yes! + +Vautrin (laughing) +Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! + +Saint Charles (laughing) +Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! + +Vautrin +We can safely laugh now, for I suppose you left her there? + +Saint-Charles +Immediately, as you did. I see that we are both come to throw away our +money in Paris, and we have done well; but it seems to me, baron, that +you have accepted a very secondary position, though one which attracts +notice. + +Vautrin +Ah! thank you, chevalier. I hope, however, we may still be friends for +many a day. + +Saint-Charles +Forever, I hope. + +Vautrin +You can be extremely useful to me, I can be of immense service to you, +we understand each other! Let me know what your present business is, +and I will tell you mine. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +I should like to know whether he is being set on me, or I on him. + +Vautrin (aside) +It is going to be a somewhat slow business. + +Saint-Charles +I will tell you. + +Vautrin +I am attention! + +Saint-Charles +Baron, between ourselves, I admire you immensely. + +Vautrin +What a compliment from a man like you! + +Saint-Charles +Not at all! To create a De Frescas in the face of all Paris shows an +inventive genius which transcends by a thousand points that of our +countesses at the Congress. You are angling for the dowry with rare +nerve. + +Vautrin +I angling for a dowry? + +Saint-Charles +But, my dear friend, you would be found out, unless I your friend had +been the man chosen to watch you, for I am appointed your shadower by +a very high authority. Permit me also to ask how can you dare to +interfere with the family of Montsorel in their pursuit of an heiress? + +Vautrin +To think that I innocently believed you came to propose we should work +in company, and speculate, both of us, with the money of Monsieur de +Frescas, of which I have entire control--and here you talk to me of +something entirely different! Frescas, my good friend, is one of the +legal titles of this young man, who has seven in all. Stringent +reasons prevent him from revealing the name of his family, which I +know, for the next twenty-four hours. Their property is vast, I have +seen their estate, from which I am just returned. I do not mind being +taken by you for a rogue, for there is no disgrace in the vast sums at +stake; but to be taken for an imbecile, capable of dancing attendance +on a sham nobleman, and so silly as to defy the Montsorels on behalf +of a counterfeit--Really, my friend, it would seem that you have never +been to Vienna! We are not in the same class! + +Saint-Charles +Do not grow angry, worthy steward! Let us leave off entangling +ourselves in a web of lies more or less agreeable; you cannot expect +to make me swallow any more of them. Our cash box is better furnished +than yours, therefore come over to us. Your young man is as much +Frescas as I am chevalier and you baron. You picked him up on the +frontier of Italy; he was then a vagabond, to-day he is an adventurer, +and that's the whole truth of it. + +Vautrin +You are right. We must leave off entangling ourselves in the web of +falsehoods more or less agreeable; we must speak the truth. + +Saint-Charles +I will pay you for it. + +Vautrin +I will give it you for nothing. You are an infamous cur, my friend. +Your name is Charles Blondet; you were steward in the household of De +Langeac; twice have you bought the betrayal of the viscount, and never +have you paid the money--it is shameful! You owe eighty thousand +francs to one of my footmen. You caused the viscount to be shot at +Mortagne in order that you might appropriate the property entrusted to +you by the family. If the Duc de Montsorel, who sent you here, knew +who you are, ha! ha! He would make you settle some old accounts! Take +off your moustache, your whiskers, your wig, your sham decorations and +your badges of foreign orders. (He tears off from him his wig, his +whiskers and decorations.) Good day, you rascal! How did you manage to +eat up a fortune so cleverly won? It was colossal; how did you lose +it? + +Saint-Charles +Through ill-luck. + +Vautrin +I understand. . . . What are you going to do now? + +Saint-Charles +Whoever you are, stop there; I surrender, I haven't a chance left! You +are either the devil or Jacques Collin! + +Vautrin +I am and wish to be nothing but the Baron de Vieux-Chene to you. +Listen to my ultimatum. I can cause you to be buried this instant in +one of my cellars, and no one will inquire for you. + +Saint-Charles +I know it. + +Vautrin +It would be prudent to do so. But are you willing to do for me in +Montsorel's house, what Montsorel sent you to do here? + +Saint-Charles +I accept the offer; but what are the profits? + +Vautrin +All you can take. + +Saint-Charles +From either party? + +Vautrin +Certainly! You will send me by the person who accompanies you back all +the deeds that relate to the De Langeac family; they must still be in +your possession. In case Monsieur de Frescas marries Mademoiselle de +Christoval, you cannot be their steward, but you shall receive a +hundred thousand francs. You are dealing with exacting masters. Walk +straight, and they will not betray you. + +Saint-Charles +It is a bargain! + +Vautrin +I will not ratify it until I have the documents in hand. Until then, +be careful! (He rings; all the household come in.) Attend Monsieur +le Chevalier home, with all the respect due his high rank. (To +Saint-Charles, pointing out to him Philosopher) This man will +accompany you. (To Philosopher) Do not leave him. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Once I get safe and sound out of their clutches, I will come down +heavy on this nest of thieves. + +Vautrin +Monsieur le Chevalier, I am yours to command! + + +SCENE NINTH. +Vautrin and Lafouraille. + +Lafouraille +M. Vautrin! + +Vautrin +Well? + +Lafouraille +Are you letting him go? + +Vautrin +Unless he considers himself at liberty, what can we hope to learn from +him? I have given my instructions; he will be taught not to put ropes +in the way of hangmen. When Philosopher brings for me the documents +which this fellow is to hand him, they will be given to me, wherever I +happen to be. + +Lafouraille +But afterwards, will you spare his life? + +Vautrin +You are always a little premature, my dear. Have you forgotten how +seriously the dead interfere with the peace of the living? Hush! I +hear Raoul--leave us to ourselves. + + +SCENE TENTH. +Vautrin and Raoul de Frescas. + +Raoul (soliloquizing) +After a glimpse of heaven, still to remain on earth--such is my fate! +I am a lost man; Vautrin, an infernal yet a kindly genius, a man who +knows everything, and seems able to do everything, a man as harsh to +others as he is good to me, a man who is inexplicable except by a +supposition of witchcraft, a maternal providence if I may so call him, +is not after all the providence divine. (Vautrin enters wearing a +plain black peruke, a blue coat, gray pantaloons, a black waistcoat, +the costume of a stock-broker.) Oh! I know what love is; but I did not +know what revenge was, until I felt I could not die before I had +wreaked my vengeance on these two Montsorels. + +Vautrin (aside) +He is in trouble. (Aloud) Raoul, my son, what ails you? + +Raoul +Nothing ails me. Pray leave me. + +Vautrin +Do you again repulse me? You abuse the right you have to ill-treat a +friend--What are you thinking about? + +Raoul +Nothing. + +Vautrin +Nothing? Come, sir, do you think that he who has taught you that +English coldness, under the veil of which men of worth would conceal +their feelings, was not aware of the transparency which belongs to +this cuirass of pride? Try concealment with others, but not with me. +Dissimulation is more than a blunder, for in friendship a blunder is a +crime. + +Raoul +To game no more, to come home tipsy no more, to shun the menagerie of +the opera, to become serious, to study, to desire a position in life, +this you call dissimulation. + +Vautrin +You are as yet but a poor diplomatist. You will be a great one, when +you can deceive me. Raoul, you have made the mistake which I have +taken most pains to save you from. My son, why did you not take women +for what they are, creatures of inconsequence, made to enslave without +being their slave, like a sentimental shepherd? But instead, my +Lovelace has been conquered by a Clarissa. Ah, young people will +strike against these idols a great many times, before they discover +them to be hollow! + +Raoul +Is this a sermon? + +Vautrin +What? Do you take me, who have trained your hand to the pistol, who +have shown you how to draw the sword, have taught you not to dread the +strongest laborer of the faubourg, who have done for your brains what +I have done for your body, have set you above all men, and anointed +you my king, do you take me for a dolt? Come, now, let us have a +little more frankness. + +Raoul +Do you wish me to tell you what I was thinking?--But no, that would be +to accuse my benefactor. + +Vautrin +Your benefactor! You insult me. Do you think I have devoted to you my +life, my blood, shown myself ready to kill, to assassinate your enemy, +in order that I may receive that exorbitant interest called gratitude? +Have I become an usurer of this kind? There are some men who would +hang the weight of a benefit around your heart like a cannon-ball +attached to the feet of----, but let that pass! Such men I would crush +as I would a worm, without thinking that I had committed homicide! No! +I have asked you to adopt me as your father, that my heart may be to +you what heaven is to the angels, a space where all is happiness and +confidence; that you may tell me all your thoughts, even those which +are evil. Speak, I shall understand everything, even an act of +cowardice. + +Raoul +God and Satan must have conspired to cast this man of bronze. + +Vautrin +It is quite possible. + +Raoul +I will tell you all. + +Vautrin +Very good, my son; let us sit down. + +Raoul +You have been the cause to me of opprobrium and despair. + +Vautrin +Where? When? Blood of a man! Who has wounded you? Who has proved false +to you? Tell me the place, name the people--the wrath of Vautrin shall +descend upon them! + +Raoul +You can do nothing. + +Vautrin +Child, there are two kinds of men who can do anything. + +Raoul +And who are they? + +Vautrin +Kings, who are, or who ought to be, above the law; and--this will give +you pain--criminals, who are below it. + +Raoul +But since you are not king-- + +Vautrin +Well! I reign in the region below. + +Raoul +What horrible mockery is this, Vautrin? + +Vautrin +Did you not say that God and the devil hobnobbed to cast me? + +Raoul +Heavens, sir, you make me shudder! + +Vautrin +Return to your seat! Calm yourself, my son. You must not be astonished +at anything, if you wish to escape being an ordinary man. + +Raoul +Am I in the hands of a demon, or of an angel? You have brought me up +without debauching the generous instincts I feel within me; you have +enlightened without dazzling me; you have given me the experience of +the old, without depriving me of the graces of youth; but it is not +with impunity that you have whetted the edge of my intellect, expanded +my view, roused my perspicacity. Tell me, what is the source of your +wealth, is it an honorable one? Why do you forbid me to confess to you +the sufferings of my childhood? Why have you given me the name of the +village where you found me? Why do you prevent me from searching out +my father and mother? Why do you bow me down under a load of +falsehoods? An orphan may rouse the interest of people; an imposter, +never. I live in a style which makes me a equal to the son of a duke +or a peer; you have educated me well, without expense to the state; +you have launched me into the empyrean of the world, and now they +fling into my face the declaration, that there are no longer such +people as De Frescas in existence. I have been asked who my family +are, and you have forbidden me to answer. I am at once a great +nobleman and a pariah. I must swallow insults which would drive me to +rend alive marquises and dukes; rage fills my heart; I should like to +fight twenty duels, and to die. Do you wish me to suffer any further +insults? No more secrets for me! Prometheus of hell, either finish +your work, or shatter it to pieces! + +Vautrin +Who could fail to respond with a glow of sympathy to this burst of +youthful generosity? What flashes of courage blaze forth! It is +inspiring to see sentiment at its full tide! You must be the son of a +noble race. But, Raoul, let us come down to what I call plain reason. + +Raoul +Ah! At last! + +Vautrin +You ask me for an account of my guardianship. Here it is. + +Raoul +But have I any right to ask this? Could I live without you? + +Vautrin +Silence, you had nothing, I made you rich. You knew nothing, I have +given you a good education. Oh! I have not yet done all for you. A +father--all fathers give their life to their children, and as for me, +happiness is a debt which I owe you. But is this really the cause of +your gloom? There are here--in this casket (he points to a casket) a +portrait, and certain letters. Often while reading the letters you +sign as if-- + +Raoul +Then you know all--? + +Vautrin +I know all.--Are you not touched to the heart? + +Raoul +To the heart. + +Vautrin +O fool! Love lives by treachery, friendship by confidence.--And you +--you must seek happiness in your own way. + +Raoul +But have I the power? I will become a soldier, and--wherever the +cannot oars, I will win a glorious name, or die. + +Vautrin +Indeed! Why should you? You talk nonsense. + +Raoul +You are too old to possess the power of understanding me, and it is no +use trying to explain. + +Vautrin +Well, I will explain to you. You are in love with Inez de Christoval, +Princesse d'Arjos in her own right, daughter of a duke banished by +King Ferdinand--an Andalusian who loves you and pleases me, not as a +woman, but as a ravishing money-box, whose eyes are the finest in the +world, whose dowry is captivating, and who is the most delightful +piece of cash, graceful and elegant as some black corvette with white +sails which convoys the long-expected galleons of America, and yields +all the joys of life, exactly like the Fortune which is painted over +the entrance of the lottery agencies. I approve of you here. You did +wrong to fall in love, love will involve you in a thousand follies +--but I understand. + +Raoul +Do not score me with such frightful sarcasms. + +Vautrin +See how quickly he feels his ardor damped, and his hat wreathed in +crepe! + +Raoul +Yes. For it is impossible for the child flung by accident into the +bosom of a fisher family at Alghero to become Prince of Arjos, while +to lose Inez is for me to die of grief. + +Vautrin +An income of twelve thousand francs, the title of prince, grandeur, +and amassed wealth are not things to be contemplated with melancholy. + +Raoul +If you love me, why do you mock me thus in the hour of my despair? + +Vautrin +And what is the cause of your despair? + +Raoul +The duke and the marquis have insulted me, in their own house, in her +presence, and I have seen then all my hopes extinguished. The door of +the Christoval mansion is closed upon me. I do not know why the +Duchesse de Montsorel made me come and see her. For the last few days +she has manifested an interest in me which I do not understand. + +Vautrin +And what brought you to the house of your rival? + +Raoul +It seems you know all about it. + +Vautrin +Yes, and many other things besides. Is it true you desire Inez de +Christoval? Then you can get over this present despondency. + +Raoul +You are trifling with me. + +Vautrin +Look here, Raoul! The Christovals have shut their doors upon you. +Well--to-morrow you shall be the accepted lover of the princess, and +the Montsorels shall be turned away, Montsorels though they be. + +Raoul +The sight of my distress has crazed you. + +Vautrin +What reason have you ever had for doubting my word? Did I not give you +an Arabian horse, to drive mad with envy the foreign and native +dandies of the Bois de Boulogne? Who paid your gambling debts? Who +made provision for your excesses? Who gave you boots, you who once +went barefoot? + +Raoul +You, my friend, my father, my family! + +Vautrin +Many, many thanks. In those words is a recompense for all my +sacrifices. But, alas! when once you become rich, a grandee of Spain, +a part of the great world, you will forget me; a change of atmosphere +brings a change of ideas; you will despise me, and--you will be right +in doing so. + +Raoul +Do I see before me a genie, a spirit materialized from the Arabian +Nights? I question my own existence. But, my friend, my protector, I +have no family. + +Vautrin +Well, we are making up a family for you at this very moment. The +Louvre could not contain the portraits of your ancestors, they would +overcrowd the quays. + +Raoul +You rekindle all my hopes. + +Vautrin +Do you wish to obtain Inez? + +Raoul +By any means possible. + +Vautrin +You will shrink from nothing? Magic and hell will not intimidate you? + +Raoul +Hell is nothing, if it yields me paradise. + +Vautrin +What is hell but the hulks and the convicts decorated by justice and +the police with brandings and manacles, and driven on their course by +that wretchedness from which they have no escape? Paradise is a fine +house, sumptuous carriages, delightful women, and the prestige of +rank. In this world there exist two worlds. I put you in the fairest +of them, I remain myself in the foulest, and if you remember me, it is +all I ask of you. + +Raoul +While you make me shudder with horror, you fill me with the frenzy of +delight. + +Vautrin (slapping him on the shoulder) +You are a child! (Aside) Have I not said too much to him? (He rings.) + +Raoul (aside) +There are moments when my inmost nature revolts from the acceptance +of his benefits. When he put his hand on my shoulder it was like a +red-hot iron; and yet he has never done anything but good to me! He +conceals from me the means, but the ends are all for me. + +Vautrin +What are you saying there? + +Raoul +I am resolved to accept nothing, unless my honor-- + +Vautrin +We will cake care of your honor! Is it not I who have fostered your +sense of honor? Have I ever compromised it? + +Raoul +You must explain to me-- + +Vautrin +I will explain nothing. + +Raoul +Nothing? + +Vautrin +Did you not say, "By any possible means"? When Inez is once yours, +does it matter what I have done, or who I am? You will take Inez away; +you will travel. The Christoval family will protect the Prince of +Arjos. (To Lafouraille) Put some bottles of champagne on ice; your +master is to be married, he bids farewell to bachelor life. His +friends are invited. Go and seek his mistresses, if there are any +left! All shall attend the wedding--a general turn-out in full dress. + +Raoul (aside) +His confidence terrifies me, but he is always right. + +Vautrin +Now for the dinner! + +All +Now for the dinner! + +Vautrin +Do not take your pleasure gloomily; laugh for the last time, while +liberty is still yours; I will order none but Spanish wines, for they +are in fashion to-day. + + +Curtain to the Third Act. + + + + ACT IV. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(Drawing-room of the Duchesse de Christoval.) +The Duchesse de Christoval and Inez. + +Inez +If Monsieur de Frescas is of obscure birth, mother, I will at once +give him up; but you, on your part, must be good enough not to insist +upon my marriage with the Marquis de Montsorel. + +The Duchess +If I oppose this unreasonable match, it is certainly not for the +purpose of making another with a designing family. + +Inez +Unreasonable? Who knows whether it be so or not? You believe him to be +an adventurer, I believe he is a gentleman, and we have nothing to +refute either view. + +The Duchess +We shall not have to wait long for proofs; the Montsorels are too +eager to unmask him. + +Inez +And he, I believe, loves me too much to delay proving himself worthy +of us. Was not his behavior yesterday noble in the extreme? + +The Duchess +Don't you see, silly child, that your happiness is identical with +mine? Let Raoul satisfy the world, and I shall be ready to fight for +you not only against the intrigues of the Montsorels, but in the court +of Spain, itself. + +Inez +Ah, mother, I perceive that you also love him. + +The Duchess +Is he not the man of your choice? + + +SCENE SECOND. +The same persons, a footman and Vautrin. + +(The footman brings the duchess a card, wrapped up and sealed.) + +The Duchess (to Inez) +General Crustamente, the secret envoy of his Majesty Don Augustine I, +Emperor of Mexico. What can he have to say to me? + +Inez +Of Mexico! He doubtless brings news of my father! + +The Duchess (to the footman) +Let him come in. + +(Vautrin enters dressed like a Mexican general, his height increased +four inches. His hat has white plumes; his coat blue, with the rich +lace of a Mexican general officer; his trousers white, his scarf +crimson, his hair long and frizzed like that of Murat; he wears a long +sabre, and his complexion is copper-hued. He stutters like the +Spaniards of Mexico, and his accent resembles Provencal, plus the +guttural intonation of the Moors.) + +Vautrin +Is it indeed her grace, the Duchesse de Christoval that I have the +honor to address? + +The Duchess +Yes, sir. + +Vautrin +And mademoiselle? + +The Duchess +My daughter, sir. + +Vautrin +Mademoiselle is then the Senorita Inez, in her own right Princesse +d'Arjos. When I see you, I understand perfectly Monsieur de +Christoval's idolatry of his daughter. But, ladies, before anything +further, let me impose upon you the utmost secrecy. My mission is +already a difficult one, but, if it is suspected that there is any +communication between you and me, we should all be seriously +compromised. + +The Duchess +I promise to keep secret both your name and your visit. + +Inez +General, if the matter concerns my father, you will allow me to remain +here? + +Vautrin +You are nobles, and Spaniards, and I rely upon your word. + +The Duchess +I shall instruct my servants to keep silence on the subject. + +Vautrin +Don't say a word to them; to demand silence is often to provoke +indiscreet talk. I can answer for my own people. I pledged myself to +bring you news of Monsieur de Christoval, as soon as I reached Paris, +and this is my first visit. + +The Duchess +Tell us at once about my husband, general; where is he now? + +Vautrin +Mexico has become what was sooner or later inevitable, a state +independent of Spain. At the moment I speak there are no more +Spaniards, only Mexicans, in Mexico. + +The Duchess +At this moment? + +Vautrin +Everything seems to happen in a moment where the causes are not +discerned. How could it be otherwise? Mexico felt the need of her +independence, she has chosen an emperor! Although nothing could be +more natural, it may still surprise us: while principles can wait to +be recognized men are always in a hurry. + +The Duchess +What has happened to Monsieur de Christoval? + +Vautrin +Do not be alarmed, madame; he is not emperor. His grace the duke has +been unsuccessful, in spite of a desperate struggle, in keeping the +kingdom loyal to Ferdinand VII. + +The Duchess +But, sir, my husband is not a soldier. + +Vautrin +Of course he is not; but he is a clever loyalist, and he acquitted +himself well. If he does eventually succeed, he will be received back +again into royal favor. Ferdinand cannot help appointing him viceroy. + +The Duchess +In what a strange century do we live! + +Vautrin +Revolutions succeed without resembling each other. France sets the +example to the world. But let me beg of you not to talk politics; it +is dangerous ground. + +Inez +Has my father received our letters, general? + +Vautrin +In the confusion of such a conflict letters may go astray, when even +crowns are lost. + +The Duchess +And what has become of Monsieur de Christoval? + +Vautrin +The aged Amoagos, who exercises enormous influence in those regions, +saved your husband's life at the moment I was going to have him shot-- + +The Duchess and Inez +Ah! + +Vautrin +It was thus that he and I became acquainted. + +The Duchess +You, general? + +Inez +And my father? + +Vautrin +Well, ladies, I should have been either hanged by him, as a rebel, or +hailed by others as the hero of an emancipated nation, and here I am. +The sudden arrival of Amoagos, at the head of his miners, decided the +question. The safety of his friend, the Duc de Christoval, was the +reward of his interference. Between ourselves, the Emperor Iturbide, +my master, is no more than a figurehead; the future of Mexico is +entirely in the hands of the aged Amoagos. + +The Duchess +And who, pray, is this Amoagos, the arbiter, as you say, of Mexico's +destiny? + +Vautrin +Is he not known here? Is it possible? I do not know what can possibly +be found to weld the old and new worlds together. I suppose it will be +steam. What is the use of exploiting gold mines, of being such a man +as Don Inigo Juan Varago Cardaval de los Amoagos, las Frescas y Peral +--and not be heard over here? But of course he uses only one of his +names, as we all do; thus, I call myself simply Crustamente. Although +you may be the future president of the Mexican republic, France will +ignore you. The aged Amoagos, ladies, received Monsieur de Christoval +just as the ancient gentleman of Aragon that he was would receive a +Spanish grandee who had been banished for yielding to the spell of +Napoleon's name. + +Inez +Did you not mention Frescas among other names? + +Vautrin +Yes, Frescas is the name of the second mine worked by Don Cardaval; +but you will learn all that monsieur the duke owes to his host from +the letters I have brought you. They are in my pocket-book. (Aside) +They are much taken by my aged Amoagos. (Aloud) Allow me to send for +one of my people. (He signs Inez to ring. To the duchess) Permit me to +say a few words to him. (To the footman) Tell my negro--but no, you +won't understand his frightful patois. Make signs to him to come here. + +The Duchess +My child, leave the room for a moment. + +(Enter Lafouraille, made up as a negro, and carrying a large +portmanteau.) + +Vautrin (to Lafouraille) +Jigi roro flouri. + +Lafouraille +Joro. + +Inez (to Vautrin) +The confidence my father has reposed in you ensures you a warm +welcome; but, general, you have won my gratitude by your promptness in +allaying our anxieties. + +Vautrin +Your gratitude! Ah, senorita, if we are to reckon accounts I should +consider myself in debt to your illustrious father, after having the +happiness to see you. + +Lafouraille +Jo. + +Vautrin +Caracas, y mouli joro, fistas, ip souri. + +Lafouraille +Souri, joro. + +Vautrin (to the ladies) +Ladies, here are your letters. (Aside to Lafouraille) Go round from +the antechamber to the court, close your lips, open your ears; hands +off, eye on the watch. + +Lafouraille +Ja, mein herr. + +Vautrin (angrily) +Souri joro, fistas. + +Lafouraille +Joro. (whispering) There are the de Langeac papers. + +Vautrin +I am not for the emancipation of the negroes! When there are no more +of them, we shall have to do with whites. + +Inez (to her mother) +Mother, allow me to go and read my father's letter. (To Vautrin) +General-- (She bows.) + +Vautrin +She is charming, may she be happy! + +(Exit Inez, accompanied to the door by her mother.) + + +SCENE THIRD. +The Duchess and Vautrin. + +Vautrin (aside) +If Mexico saw herself represented in this way, the government would be +capable of condemning me to embassades for life. (Aloud) Pray excuse +me, madame. I have so many things to think about. + +The Duchess +If absent-mindedness may be excused in any one, it is in a diplomat. + +Vautrin +Yes, to civil diplomats, but I mean to remain a frank soldier. The +success which I derive must be the result of candor. But now that we +are alone, let us talk, for I have more than one delicate mission to +discharge. + +The Duchess +Have you any news which my daughter should not hear? + +Vautrin +It may be so. Let me come to the point; the senorita is young and +beautiful, she is rich and noble born; she probably has four times as +many suitors as any other lady. Her hand is the object of rivalry. +Well, her father has charged me to find whether she has singled out +any one in particular. + +The Duchess +With a frank man, general, I will be frank. Your question is so +strange that I cannot answer it. + +Vautrin +Take care, for we diplomats, in our fear of being deceived, always put +the worst interpretation on silence. + +The Duchess +Sir, you forget that we are talking of Inez de Christoval! + +Vautrin +She is in love with no one. That is good; she will be able then to +carry out the wishes of her father. + +The Duchess +How has Monsieur de Christoval disposed of his daughter's hand? + +Vautrin +You see my meaning, and your anxiety tells me that she has made her +choice. I tremble to ask further, as much as you do to answer. Ah! if +only the young man whom your daughter loves were a foreigner, rich, +apparently without family, and bent on concealing the name of his +native land! + +The Duchess +The name, Frescas, which you lately uttered, is that of a young man +who seeks the hand of Inez. + +Vautrin +Does he call himself also Raoul? + +The Duchess +Yes, Raoul de Frescas. + +Vautrin +A young man of refinement, elegance and wit, and twenty-three years of +age? + +The Duchess +Gifted with manners which are never acquired, but innate. + +Vautrin +Romantic to the point of desiring to be loved for his own sake, in +spite of his immense fortune; he wishes that passion should prevail in +marriage--an absurdity! The young Amoagos, for it is he, madame. + +The Duchess +But the name of Raoul is not-- + +Vautrin +Mexican--you are right. It was given to him by his mother, a +Frenchwoman, an _emigree_, a De Granville, who came from St. Domingo. +Is the reckless fellow favored by her? + +The Duchess +Preferred to all the rest. + +Vautrin +Well, open this letter, and read it, madame; and you will see that I +have received full authority from Amoagos and Christoval to conclude +this marriage. + +The Duchess +Oh, let me call in Inez, sir. (Exit.) + + +SCENE FOURTH. + +Vautrin (alone) +The major-domo is on my side, the genuine deeds, if he comes upon +them, will be handed to me. Raoul is too proud to return to this +house; besides that, he has promised me to wait. I am thus master of +the situation; Raoul, when once he is a prince, will not lack +ancestors; Mexico and I will see to that. + + +SCENE FIFTH. +Vautrin, the Duchesse de Christoval and Inez. + +The Duchess (to her daughter) +My child, you have reason to thank the general very warmly. + +Inez +To thank you, sir? My father tells me, that among other missions you +have received is that of marrying me to a certain Signor Amoagos, +without any regard to my inclinations. + +Vautrin +You need not be alarmed, for his name here is Raoul de Frescas. + +Inez +What! He, Raoul de Frescas!--why then his persistent silence? + +Vautrin +Does it need an old soldier to interpret the heart of a young man? He +wished for love, not obedience; he wished-- + +Inez +Ah, general, I will punish him well for his modesty and distrust. +Yesterday, he showed himself readier to swallow an affront than to +reveal the name of his father. + +Vautrin +But, mademoiselle, I am still uncertain as to whether the name of his +father is that of a man convicted of high treason, or of a liberator +of America. + +Inez +Ah! mother, do you hear that? + +Vautrin (aside) +How she loves him! Poor girl, she does not deserve to be imposed upon. + +The Duchess +My husband's letter does in truth give you the full authority, +general. + +Vautrin +I have the authentic documents, and family deeds. + +A footman (as he enters) +Will her grace the duchess see Monsieur de Frescas? + +Vautrin (aside) +What! Raoul here? + +The Duchess (to the footman) +Let him come in. + +Vautrin (aside) +What a mess! The patient is liable to dose his doctor. + +The Duchess +Inez, you can see Monsieur de Frescas alone hereafter, since he has +been acknowledged by your father. + +(Inez kisses her mother's hand formally.) + + +SCENE SIXTH. +The same persons, and Raoul. + +(Raoul salutes the two ladies. Vautrin approaches him.) + +Vautrin (to Raoul) +Don Raoul de Cardaval. + +Raoul +Vautrin! + +Vautrin +No! General Crustamente. + +Raoul +Crustamente! + +Vautrin +Certainly; Mexican Envoy. Bear well in mind the name of your father, +--Amoagos, a gentleman of Aragon, friend of the Duc de Christoval. Your +mother is dead; I bring the acknowledged titles, and authentic family +papers. Inez is yours. + +Raoul +And do you think that I will consent to such villainies? Never! + +Vautrin (to the two ladies) +He is overcome by what I have told him, not anticipating so prompt an +explanation. + +Raoul +If the truth should kill, your falsehoods would dishonor me, and I +prefer to die. + +Vautrin +You wished to obtain Inez by any means possible, yet you shrink from +practicing a harmless stratagem. + +Raoul (in exasperation) +Ladies! + +Vautrin +He is beside himself with joy. (To Raoul) To speak out would be to +lose Inez and deliver me to justice: do as you choose, I am at your +disposal. + +Raoul +O Vautrin! In what an abyss you have plunged me! + +Vautrin +I have made you a prince; and don't forget that you are at the summit +of happiness. (Aside) He will give in. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SEVENTH. +Inez (standing at the door through which her mother has passed); Raoul +(at the other side of the stage). + +Raoul (aside) +Honor bids me to speak out, gratitude to keep silence; well, I accept +my role of happy man, until he is out of danger; but I will write this +evening, and Inez shall learn who I am. Vautrin, after such a +sacrifice, I may cry quits with you; all ties between us are severed. +I will seek, I care not where, a soldier's death. + +Inez (approaching, after gazing at him) +My father and yours are friends; they consent to our marriage; we make +love to each other as if they were opposed to it, and you seem lost in +thought, and almost sad! + +Raoul +You are right, and I have lost my reason. At the very moment you see +no obstacle in our way, it is possible that insurmountable +difficulties may arise. + +Inez +Raoul, what a damper you are throwing on our happiness! + +Raoul +Our happiness! (Aside) It is impossible to dissemble. (Aloud) In the +name of our common love I implore you to believe in my loyalty. + +Inez +Has not my confidence in you been boundless? And the general has quite +justified it, even during your silence before the Montsorels. I +forgive you all the little annoyances you were forced to cause me. + +Raoul (aside) +Ah! Vautrin! I trust myself to you! (Aloud) Inez, you do not know how +great is the impression your words make upon me; they give me power to +bear the overwhelming rapture your presence causes--Come then, let us +be happy! + + +SCENE EIGHTH +The same persons and the Marquis de Montsorel. + +The footman (announcing a visitor) +Monsieur le Marquis de Montsorel. + +Raoul (aside) +Ah! That name recalls me to myself. (To Inez) Whatever happens, Inez, +do not judge my conduct until I have myself given an account of it, +and believe at the present moment that I am carried along by an +invincible fatality. + +Inez +Raoul, I cannot understand you; but I shall trust you always. + +The Marquis (aside) +Again this little gentleman here! (He salutes Inez.) I thought you +were with your mother, mademoiselle, and I never dreamed my visit +would be so inopportune. Be good enough to excuse me-- + +Inez +I beg that you will not go; there is no one but ourselves here, for +Monsieur Raoul has been accepted by my family. + +The Marquis +Will Monsieur Raoul de Frescas, then, accept my congratulations? + +Raoul +Your congratulations? I accept them (they shake hands) in the same +spirit as that in which they are offered. + +Inez (to Raoul) +Manage that he go away, and do you remain. (To the Marquis) My mother +requires me for a few moments, and I will return with her. + + +SCENE NINTH. +The Marquis and Raoul; later, Vautrin. + +The Marquis +Will you agree to a meeting without seconds--a fight to the death? + +Raoul +Without seconds? + +The Marquis +Do you realize that both of us cannot exist in the same world? + +Raoul +Your family is a powerful one; your proposition exposes me, in case I +am victorious, to their vengeance. Allow me to say that I do not want +to exchange this house for a prison. (Vautrin appears.) I will fight +to the death--but not without seconds. + +The Marquis +Will those on your side stop the duel? + +Raoul +Our mutual hatred is sufficient guarantee against that. + +Vautrin (aside) +Well, now--we always commit some blunder in the moment of success! To +the death! This child would gamble away his life as if it belonged to +him. + +The Marquis +Very well, monsieur; to-morrow at eight o'clock, we meet at the +terrace of Saint-Germain, and drive from there to the forest. + +Vautrin (coming forward) +You will not go. (To Raoul) A duel? Are the principals of equal rank? +Is this gentleman, like you, the only son of a noble house? Would your +father Don Inigo Juan Varago de los Amoagos de Cardaval las Frescas y +Peral, allow you to do it, Raoul? + +The Marquis +I have consented to fight with an unknown man, but the greatness of +the house to which the gentleman belongs cannot nullify the agreement. + +Raoul (to the marquis) +Nevertheless, it seems to me, monsieur, that we can treat each other +with courtesy, and act like people who esteem each other too much to +take the trouble to hate and to kill. + +The Marquis (looking at Vautrin) +May I know the name of your friend? + +Vautrin +By whom have I to honor to be referred to? + +The Marquis +By the Marquis de Montsorel, sir. + +Vautrin (eyeing him from head to foot) +I have the right to refuse you, but I will tell you my name, once for +all, in a very short time, and you won't repeat it. I am to be one of +the seconds of Monsieur de Frescas. (Aside) And Buteux shall be the +other. + + +SCENE TENTH. +Raoul, Vautrin, the Marquis and the Duchesse de Montsorel; Later, the +Duchesse de Christoval and Inez. + +Footman (announcing a visitor) +Her grace the Duchesse de Montsorel. + +Vautrin (to Raoul) +Let me have no nonsense; be calm and firm! I stand face to face with +the enemy. + +The Marquis +Ah, mother dear, and are you come to witness my defeat? All is ended. +The De Christoval family has trifled with us. This gentleman (he +points to Vautrin) represents both families. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Then Raoul has a family? (The Duchesse de Christoval and her daughter +enter and salute the speaker. To the Duchesse de Christoval) Madame, +my son has told me what has occurred to frustrate all our hopes. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +The interest which yesterday you manifested in Monsieur de Frescas +has, I see, changed to indifference? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (scrutinizing Vautrin) +Is it through this gentleman that all your doubts have been satisfied? +Who is he? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +He represents the father of Monsieur de Frescas, don Amoagos, and the +father of Inez, Monsieur de Christoval. He has brought us the news we +expected, and brought letters from my husband. + +Vautrin (aside) +Am I to act this part long? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to Vautrin) +Doubtless you have known the family of Monsieur de Frescas for some +time? + +Vautrin +My acquaintance is limited to a father and an uncle--(to Raoul) You +have not even the mournful satisfaction of remembering your mother. +(To the Duchess) She died in Mexico, shortly after her marriage. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Monsieur de Frescas, then, was born in Mexico? + +Vautrin +Of course he was. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +My dear, we are being imposed upon. (To Raoul) Sir, you did not come +from Mexico. Your mother is not dead, is she? And have you not been +abandoned since your childhood? + +Raoul +Would that my mother were alive! + +Vautrin +Pardon me, madame, but I am here to satisfy your curiosity, if you +wish to learn the secret history which it is not necessary you should +seek from this gentleman. (To Raoul) Not a word! + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +It is he! And this man is making him the tool in some sinister +undertaking. (She approaches the marquis) My son-- + +The Marquis +You have put them out, mother, and I share your impression of this man +(he indicated Vautrin); but only a woman has the right to express her +thoughts in a way to expose this frightful imposture. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Frightful indeed! But pray leave us. + +The Marquis +Ladies, in spite of my ill-fortune, do not blame me if I still have +hopes. (To Vautrin) Often between the cup and the lip there is-- + +Vautrin +Death! + +(Exit the Marquis, after exchanging bows with Raoul.) + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +My dear duchess, I implore you to excuse Inez. We cannot make our +explanations before her. + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to her daughter, making signs to her to +leave the room) +I will rejoin you in a moment. + +Raoul (kissing his hand to Inez) +This is perhaps good-bye forever! + +(Exit Inez.) + + +SCENE ELEVENTH. +The Duchesse de Christoval, the Duchesse de Montsorel, Raoul and +Vautrin. + +Vautrin (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +Do you suspect the motive that brings madame here? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +After what happened yesterday I prefer not to say. + +Vautrin +I guessed her love for him immediately. + +Raoul (to Vautrin) +This atmosphere of falsehood stifles me. + +Vautrin (to Raoul) +One word more, and the affair will be ended. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Madame, I know well how strange my present conduct must appear to you, +and I won't attempt to justify it. There are solemn duties before +which the conventions and even the laws of society must give way. What +is the character and what the powers of this man? + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to whom Vautrin makes a signal) +I am forbidden to answer this question. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Well, I will tell you; this man is either the accomplice or the dupe +in an imposture of which we are the victims. In spite of the letters +and documents which he brings to you, I am convinced that all evidence +which gives name and family to Raoul is false. + +Raoul +To tell the truth, madame, I do not know what right you have to +interfere in personal matters of mine. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Madame, you were wise to send out of the room my daughter and the +marquis. + +Vautrin (to Raoul) +What right? (To the Duchesse de Montsorel) You need not avow it, for we +divine it. I can well understand, madame, the pain you feel at the +prospect of this marriage, and am not therefore offended at your +suspicions with regard to me, and the authentic documents which I have +brought to the Duchesse de Christoval. (Aside) Now for the final +stroke. (He takes her aside) Before becoming a Mexican I was a +Spaniard, and I know the cause of your hatred for Albert. And as to +the motive which brings you here, we will talk about that very soon at +the house of your confessor. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +You know? + +Vautrin +All. (Aside) She has some motive. (Aloud) Will you examine the +documents? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Well, my dear? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Be quick, and send for Inez. Examine the deeds carefully, I implore +you. This is the request of a despairing mother. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +A despairing mother! + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to herself, looking at Raoul and Vautrin) +How is it possible that this man should know my secret and have this +hold upon my son? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Will you come, madame? + +(Exeunt the two duchesses.) + + +SCENE TWELFTH. +Raoul, Vautrin and later Lafouraille. + +Vautrin +I thought our star was setting; but it is still in the ascendant. + +Raoul +Have I not been humbled sufficiently? I had nothing in the world but +my honor, and that I gave into your keeping. Your power is infernal, I +see that plainly. But from this very moment I withdraw from its +influence. You are no longer in danger. Farewell. + +Lafouraille (coming in while Raoul speaks) +No one caught,--'twas lucky,--we had time! Ah, sir, Philosopher is +below, all is lost! The house has been entered by the police. + +Vautrin +Disgusting! And no one has been taken? + +Lafouraille +We were too cute for that. + +Vautrin +Philosopher is below, as what? + +Lafouraille +As a footman. + +Vautrin +Good; let him get up behind my carriage. I want to give you my orders +about locking up the Prince d'Arjos, who thinks he is going to fight a +duel to-morrow. + +Raoul +I see that you are in danger. I will not leave you, and I desire to +know-- + +Vautrin +Nothing. Do not worry about your own security. I will look out for +you, in spite of you. + +Raoul +Oh! I know what my future will be. + +Vautrin +I too know. + +Lafouraille +Come, things are getting hot. + +Vautrin +Nay, the fat is in the fire. + +Lafouraille +No time for sentiment, or dilly-dallying, they are on our track and +are mounted. + +Vautrin +Let us be off then. (He takes Lafouraille aside) If the government +should do us the honor to billet its gendarmes on us, our duty is to +let them alone. All are at liberty to scatter; but let all be at +Mother Giroflee's at midnight. Get off post haste, for I do not wish +us to meet our Waterloo, and the Prussians are upon us. We must run +for it. + + +Curtain to the Fourth Act. + + + + ACT V. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(The scene is laid at the Montsorel house, in a room on the ground +floor.) + +Joseph (alone) +The cursed white mark appears this evening on the wicket side of the +garden. Things cannot go on long in this way; the devil only knows how +it will end. I prefer seeing him there, however, rather than in the +apartments; the garden is at least away from the house, and when the +warning comes, one can walk out to meet him. + + +SCENE SECOND. +Joseph, Lafouraille and Buteux; later, Vautrin. + +(The humming sound of a voice is heard for a moment.) + +Joseph +There it is, our national air, which I never hear without trembling. +(Enter Lafouraille) And who are you? (Lafouraille makes a sign) A new +one coming? + +Lafouraille +No, an old one. + +Joseph +Oh, he whose mark is in the garden. + +Lafouraille +Can he be waiting here? He intended to be here. (Buteux appears.) + +Joseph +Why, there will be three of you. + +Lafouraille (pointing to Joseph) +There will be four of us. + +Joseph +And what do you come to do at this hour? Do you want to snatch up +everything here? + +Lafouraille +He takes us for thieves! + +Buteux +We prove that we can be, when we are down in our luck; but we never +say so. + +Lafouraille +That is, we make money, like other people. + +Joseph +But his grace the duke is going-- + +Lafouraille +Your duke cannot return home before two o'clock, and that gives us +time enough: do not therefore interlard with anxious thought the +professional dish which we have to serve-- + +Buteux +And serve hot. + +(Vautrin wears a brown coat, blue trousers, and a black waistcoat. His +hair is short and he is got up as an imitation of Napoleon in undress. +As he enters he abruptly puts out the candle and draws the slide of +his dark lantern.) + +Vautrin +What! You have lights here! You think yourselves still members of +respectable society. I can understand that this fool should ignore the +first elements of sane conduct--but you others! (To Buteux, as he +points out Joseph to him) Put wool in this fellow's ears, and talk +with him over there. (To Lafouraille) And what of the youngster? + +Lafouraille +He is kept well out of sight. + +Vautrin +In what place? + +Lafouraille +In the other rookery of Giroflee's woman, near here, behind the +Invalides. + +Vautrin +And see that he does not escape like that slippery eel of a +Saint-Charles, that madman, who came for the purpose of breaking up +our establishment--for I--but I never threaten. + +Lafouraille +Upon the youngster's safety I will stake my head! Philosopher has put +buskins on his hands and frills on his feet, he cannot stir hand or +foot, and will be given up only to me. As for the other, who could +help it? Poor Giroflee cannot resist strong liquors, and Blondet knew +it. + +Vautrin +What did Raoul say? + +Lafouraille +He made a terrible uproar; and swore he was disgraced. Fortunately +Philosopher is insensible to metaphors. + +Vautrin +Do you think the boy wishes for a fight to the death? A young man is +fearful; he has the courage to conceal his terror and the folly to +allow himself to be killed. I hope they prevent him from writing to +any one. + +Lafouraille (aside) +We are in for it! (Aloud) I can conceal nothing from you, before he +was fastened up the prince sent little Nini with a letter to the +Christoval house. + +Vautrin +To Inez? + +Lafouraille +To Inez. + +Vautrin +He wrote a lot of rubbish, I'll warrant. + +Lafouraille +A pack of lies and absurdities. + +Vautrin (to Joseph) +Hello there! You--the honest man. + +Buteux (leading Joseph to Vautrin) +You had better explain things to the master, as he desires. + +Joseph +It seems to me that I am not unreasonable to ask what risk I am to +run, and what profit is to accrue to me. + +Vautrin +Time is short, speech long, let us employ the former and drop the +latter. There are two lives in peril, that of a man I am interested +in, and that of a musketeer which I consider useless: we are going to +crush him. + +Joseph +What! Do you mean monsieur the marquis? I will have nothing to do with +it. + +Lafouraille +You have no say in the matter of your consent. + +Buteux +We have captured him. Look you, my friend, when the wine is drawn-- + +Joseph +If it is bad, it must not be drunk. + +Vautrin +And you refuse to pledge me in a glass? He who thinks calculates, and +he who calculates betrays. + +Joseph +Your calculations lead to the scaffold. + +Vautrin +Enough! You tire me. Your master is to fight a duel to-morrow. In this +duel one of the combatants will never leave the ground alive; imagine +that the duel has taken place, and that your master has had no fair +chance. + +Buteux +That is just it. + +Lafouraille +The master is as deep as fate. + +Joseph +A fine condition to be in. + +Buteux +The devil to pay and no pitch hot! + +Vautrin (to Joseph, pointing out Lafouraille and Buteux) +You will conceal these two. + +Joseph +Where? + +Vautrin +I tell you, you must conceal them. When all are asleep in the house, +excepting us, you must send them up to the musketeer's room. (To +Buteux and Lafouraille) Try to go there without him; you must be +cautions and adroit; the window of his room overlooks the court. +(Whispers in their ears) Throw him down. It will be a case of despair +(turning to Joseph), and suicide will be a ground for averting +suspicion from all. + + +SCENE THIRD. + +Vautrin (alone) +All is saved! There is only one suspect among us, and I will change +that state of affairs. Blondet is the traitor, and in this case bad +debts will make good friends, for I will point him out to the duke in +a friendly manner as the murderer of Vicomte de Langeac. I must +finally discover the motive of the duchess's singular behavior. If +what I learn explains the suicide of the marquis, what a master stroke +it will be! + + +SCENE FOURTH. +Joseph and Vautrin. + +Joseph +Your men are well concealed, but you doubtless intend to leave the +house? + +Vautrin +No, I am going to do some reading in the study of the Duc de +Montsorel. + +Joseph +But if he comes home, won't you be afraid? + +Vautrin +If I feared anything, would I be master of you all? + +Joseph +But where are you going? + +Vautrin +You are very curious. + + +SCENE FIFTH. + +Joseph (alone) +There, he is disposed of for the moment, his two fellows likewise; I +hold them, and, as I don't want to have anything to do with the +affair, I am going-- + + +SCENE SIXTH +Joseph, a footman; and afterwards Saint-Charles. + +The footman +Monsieur Joseph, some one is asking for you. + +Joseph +At this hour? + +Saint-Charles +It is I. + +Joseph (to the footman) +You may go. + +Saint-Charles +His grace the duke cannot come home until after the king's retirement +for the night. The duchess is on her way home. I wish to speak to her +privately and wait for her here. + +Joseph +Here? + +Saint-Charles +Here. + +Joseph (aside) +O my God! And Jacques-- + +Saint-Charles +If it inconveniences you-- + +Joseph +Not in the least. + +Saint-Charles +Tell me the truth, you are expecting some one? + +Joseph +I am expecting the duchess. + +Saint-Charles +And not Jacques Collin? + +Joseph +Oh! don't talk to me about that man, you make me shudder. + +Saint-Charles +Collin is mixed up with some business that might bring him here. You +must have seen him lately. I have no time to pump you, and I have no +need to bribe, but you must choose between him and me, and pretty +quickly, too. + +Joseph +What do you require of me? + +Saint-Charles +To tell me everything that takes place here. + +Joseph +Well, the latest thing is the duel of the marquis; he fights to-morrow +with Monsieur de Frescas. + +Saint-Charles +What next? + +Joseph +I see her grace the duchess has just returned. + + +SCENE SEVENTH. + +Saint-Charles (alone) +What a timid beast he is! This duel is a capital excuse for speaking +with the duchess. The duke did not understand me, he saw in me nothing +but a tool, to be taken up and dropped at pleasure. Did he not, by +imposing silence upon me towards his wife, betray his suspicion that I +was dangerous to him? The patrimony of the strong is the faculty of +utilizing the faults of a neighbor. I have already devoured several +patrimonies, and my appetite is still good. + + +SCENE EIGHTH. +Saint-Charles, the Duchesse de Montsorel and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey. + +(Saint-Charles disappears till the two ladies have passed, and remains +at the back, while they come to the front of the stage.) + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You are quite worn out. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (sinking into an armchair) +Yes; I am dead! In despair-- + +Saint-Charles (coming forward) +Madame the duchess. + +The Duchess +Ah! I had forgotten! Sir, it is impossible at this moment to grant you +the interview you ask. To-morrow--or later in the day. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (to Saint-Charles) +My niece, sir, is not in a condition to listen to you. + +Saint-Charles +To-morrow, ladies, it will be too late! The life of your son, the +Marquis de Montsorel, who fights a duel to-morrow with Monsieur de +Frescas, is threatened. + +The Duchess +The duel is indeed a frightful thing. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (in a low tone to the duchess) +You have already forgotten that Raoul is a stranger to you. + +The Duchess (to Saint-Charles) +Sir, my son will know how to acquit himself. + +Saint-Charles +May I venture to inform you of facts which ordinarily would be kept +from a mother? Your son will be killed without any fighting. His +adversary's servants are bravoes, wretches of whom he is the +ringleader. + +The Duchess +And what proof have you of this? + +Saint-Charles +A former steward of Monsieur de Frescas has offered me a vast sum if I +would join in this foul conspiracy against the Christoval family. In +order to make time, I pretended to assent; but just as I was on my way +to warn the authorities, I was dashed to the ground by two men who +came by at full speed, and I lost consciousness; they administered to +me in this condition a powerful narcotic, thrust me into a cab, and +when I came to myself, I was in a den of criminals. Recovering my +self-possession, I escaped from my confinement, and set out to track +these dare-devils. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You sometimes come here to see Monsieur de Montsorel, according to +what Joseph tells us? + +Saint-Charles +Yes, madame. + +The Duchess +And who, pray, may you be, sir? + +Saint-Charles +I am a private detective, whom his grace the duke distrusts, and I am +hired for clearing up mysterious occurrences. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (to the duchess) +O Louise! + +The Duchess (fixing her eyes on Saint-Charles) +And who has had the impertinence to send you to address me? + +Saint-Charles +A sense of your danger brings me here. I am paid to be your enemy. You +can keep silence as well as I; prove that your protection is more +advantageous to me than the hollow promises of the duke, and I can +assure you the victory. But time presses, the duke will soon be here, +and if he finds us together, the success of our undertaking would be +endangered. + +The Duchess (to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey) +Ah! we may still hope! (To Saint-Charles) And what were you going to +do at the house of Monsieur de Frescas? + +Saint-Charles +That which, at present, I am doing at yours. + +The Duchess +Silence, sir. + +Saint-Charles +Your grace has given me no answer; the duke has my word, and he is +very powerful. + +The Duchess +And I, sir, am immensely rich; but do not expect to take advantage of +me. (She rises) I will never be the dupe of Monsieur de Montsorel, I +recognize his trickery in this secret interview, which you had asked +for. (With emphasis) Let me complete your information. Monsieur de +Frescas is not a wretch; his servants are not assassins; he belongs to +a family as rich as it is noble, and he is about to marry the +Princesse d'Arjos. + +Saint-Charles +Yes, madame, a Mexican envoy has produced letters from Monsieur de +Christoval, and documents remarkably authentic. You have sent for a +secretary of the Spanish legation, who has endorsed them: seals, +stamps, authentications--ah! all are flawless. + +The Duchess +Yes, sir, the documents are unassailable. + +Saint-Charles +You are very much interested, madame, in their being proved forgeries, +I presume? + +The Duchess (to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey) +Never has such torture as this wrung the heart of a mother! + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Whose side shall I take, husband's or wife's? + +The Duchess +Sir, any sum you may ask shall be yours, if you can prove to me that +Monsieur Raoul de Frescas-- + +Saint-Charles +Is a criminal? + +The Duchess +No, but a child-- + +Saint-Charles +You mean your child, don't you? + +The Duchess (forgetting herself) +Yes, yes! Be my deliverer, and I will be your eternal protector. (To +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey) Ah me! What have I said? (To Saint-Charles) +Where is Raoul? + +Saint-Charles +He has disappeared, and this steward of his, who procured the forged +deeds in Rue Oblin, and doubtless played the part of the Mexican +envoy, is one of the most astute of criminals. (The duchess starts.) +Oh, you need not be alarmed; he is too clever to shed blood; but he is +more formidable than those who shed it recklessly; and such a man is +the guardian of Raoul. + +The Duchess +My whole fortune for his life! + +Saint-Charles +I am for you, madame. (Aside) I know all, and can choose which side I +like. + + +SCENE NINTH. +The same persons, the Duc de Montsorel and a footman. + +The Duke +Ah, well you are getting your own way; there is talk of nothing else +but the fortune and coming marriage of Monsieur de Frescas; but of +course he can claim a family. (Whispers to the Duchesse de Montsorel) +He has a mother. (Perceiving Saint-Charles) What! You here, chevalier, +and with the duchess? + +Saint-Charles (taking the duke aside) +Your grace will approve of what I have done. (Aloud) You have been at +the palace and I thought it necessary to warn the duchess of the +danger which threatens her only son, the marquis; he is likely to be +murdered. + +The Duke +Murdered! + +Saint-Charles +But your grace will listen to my advice-- + +The Duke +Come into my study, my friend, and let us at once take steps to avert +this catastrophe. + +Saint-Charles (exchanging a look of intelligence with the duchess) +I have strange things to tell your grace. (Aside) I am certainly going +to take the duke's part. + + +SCENE TENTH. +The Duchess, Mademoiselle de Vaudrey and Vautrin. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +If Raoul is your son, how vile is the company he keeps. + +The Duchess +An angel would purify hell itself. + +(Vautrin half opens with caution a French casement that leads to the +garden, where he has been listening to the preceding conversation.) + +Vautrin (aside) +I know all. Two brothers cannot fight a duel. Ah, here is my duchess! +(Aloud) Ladies! + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +A man! Help! Help! + +The Duchess +It is he! + +Vautrin (to the duchess) +Silence! Women can do nothing but cry out. (To Mademoiselle de +Vaudrey) Mademoiselle de Vaudrey, run to the chamber of the marquis. +Two infamous murderers are there; be quick, before they cut out his +throat. But let the wretches be seized without making a disturbance. +(To the duchess) Stay where you are, madame. + +The Duchess +Go, dear aunt; have no fear for me. + +Vautrin (aside) +My rascals will be vastly surprised. What will they think? This is the +way I bring down judgment upon them. + +(A noise is heard.) + + +SCENE ELEVENTH. +The Duchess and Vautrin. + +The Duchess +The whole house is in commotion! What will be said, when it is known +that I am here? + +Vautrin +Let us hope that the foundling will be saved. + +The Duchess +But you are known here, and the duke is with-- + +Vautrin +The Chevalier de Saint-Charles. I am imperturbed; you will defend me. + +The Duchess +I? + +Vautrin +Yes, you. Or you will never again see your son, Fernand de Montsorel. + +The Duchess +Raoul is undoubtedly my son then? + +Vautrin +He is--I hold in my possession complete proofs of your innocence, and +--your son. + +The Duchess +You! You shall not leave me until-- + + +SCENE TWELFTH. +The same persons and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey on one side of the stage, +Saint-Charles on the other, and domestics. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Here he is! (To Vautrin) Begone! At once! + +The Duchess (to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey) +You are ruining everything. + +Saint-Charles (to the servants) +Behold their ringleader and accomplice! Whatever he may say, seize +him! + +The Duchess (to the company) +I command you to leave me alone with this man. + +Vautrin +What is it, chevalier? + +Saint-Charles +You are a puzzle to me, baron. + +Vautrin (whispering to the duchess) +You behold in this man the murderer of the viscount whom you loved so +well. + +The Duchess +He the murderer? + +Vautrin (to the duchess) +Let him be closely watched, or he will slip through your fingers like +money. + +The Duchess +Joseph! + +Vautrin (to Joseph) +What happened upstairs? + +Joseph +His lordship the marquis drew his sword, and being attacked from the +rear, defended himself, and was twice slightly wounded. His grace the +duke is with him now. + +The Duchess (to her aunt) +Return to Albert's room, I implore you. (To Joseph, pointing out +Saint-Charles) I shall hold you responsible for this man's detention. + +Vautrin (to Joseph) +So shall I. + +Saint-Charles (to Vautrin) +I see the situation, you have got ahead of me. + +Vautrin +I bear no malice towards you, my dear fellow. + +Saint-Charles (to Joseph) +Take me before the duke. + +(Exeunt.) + + +SCENE THIRTEENTH. +Vautrin and the Duchess. + +Vautrin (aside) +He has a father, an ancestral family, a mother. What a climax! In whom +shall I henceforth find an interest? Whom shall I be able to love? +After ten years of paternity, the loss is irreparable. + +The Duchess (approaching Vautrin) +What is it? + +Vautrin +What is it? It is, that I can never give back to you your son, madame; +it is, that I do not feel brave enough to survive his separation from +me, nor his contempt for me. The loss of such as Raoul is +irretrievable! My life has been bound up in his. + +The Duchess +But could he feel affection for you, you a criminal whom one could at +any moment give up-- + +Vautrin +To justice do you mean? I thought you would have been more tender. But +you do not, I perceive, see the abyss in which I am dragging you, your +son and the duke, and which all descend in company. + +The Duchess +Oh! What have you made of my poor child? + +Vautrin +A man of honor. + +The Duchess +And he loves you? + +Vautrin +He loves me still. + +The Duchess +But has that wretch spoken the truth in revealing what you are and +whence you come? + +Vautrin +Yes, madame. + +The Duchess +And have you taken care of my son? + +Vautrin +Your son, our son--yes--have you not perceived that he is as pure as +an angel? + +The Duchess +Ah, may you receive a blessing for what you have done! May the world +pardon you! Oh God! (she kneels) The voice of a mother must reach +Thee, forgive, forgive this man. (She looks at Vautrin.) My tears +shall bathe his hands! Oh! grant that he may repent! (Turning to +Vautrin) You belong to me; I will change you! But people are deceived, +you are no criminal, and, whatever you are, all mothers will give you +their absolution! + +Vautrin +Come, it is time to restore her son to her. + +The Duchess +Did you still harbor the horrible thought of refusing him to his +mother? But I have waited for him for two and twenty years. + +Vautrin +And I, have I not been for ten years his father? Raoul is my very +soul! Let me endure anguish, let men heap shame upon me; if he is +happy and crowned with honor, I shall see it and my life will once +more be bright. + +The Duchess +I am overwhelmed. He loves like a mother. + +Vautrin +The only tie that binds me to the world, to life, is this bright link, +purer than gold. + +The Duchess +And--without stain? + +Vautrin +Ah! People know themselves only in their virtues, and are austere for +others alone. But in myself I see but infamy--in him the heart of +honor. And yet was he found by me on the highroad from Toulon to +Marseilles, the route of the convict. He was twelve years old, without +bread, and in rags. + +The Duchess +Bare-foot, it may be? + +Vautrin +Yes. But beautiful, with curly hair-- + +The Duchess +It was thus you saw him? + +Vautrin +Poor angel, he was crying. I took him with me. + +The Duchess +And you brought him up? + +Vautrin +I stole the means to do so. + +The Duchess +I should, perhaps, myself have done the like. + +Vautrin +I did more! + +The Duchess +He must have suffered much. + +Vautrin +Never! I concealed from him the means I took to make his life happy +and easy. I would not let him even suspect them--it would have +blighted him. You may ennoble him by parchments, I have made him noble +in heart. + +The Duchess +And he was my son! + +Vautrin +Yes, a son full of nobility, of winning grace, of high instincts; he +needed but to have the way made clear to him. + +The Duchess (wringing the hand of Vautrin) +You must needs be great indeed, who have so well performed a mother's +task! + +Vautrin +And better than you mothers do! Often you love your babes amiss--Ah, +you will spoil him for me even now!--He was of reckless courage; he +wished to be a soldier, and the Emperor would have accepted him. I +showed him the world and mankind under their true light--Yet now he is +about to renounce me-- + +The Duchess +My son ungrateful? + +Vautrin +NO, 'tis mine I speak of. + +The Duchess +Oh! give him back to me this very instant! + +Vautrin +I and those two men upstairs--are we not all liable to prosecution? +And ought not the duke to give us assurance of silence and release? + +The Duchess +Those two men then are your agents? And you came-- + +Vautrin +But for me, of the two, natural and lawful son, there would not, in a +few hours, have survived but one child. And they might perchance both +have fallen--each by the other's hand. + +The Duchess +Ah! you are a providence of horror! + +Vautrin +What would you have had me do? + + +SCENE FOURTEENTH. +The same persons, the Duke, Lafouraille, Buteux, Saint-Charles, and +all the domestics. + +The Duke (pointing to Vautrin) +Seize him! (Pointing to Saint-Charles) And obey no one but this +gentleman. + +The Duchess +But you owe to him the life of your Albert! It was he who gave the +alarm. + +The Duke +He! + +Buteux (to Vautrin) +Ah! you have betrayed us! Why did you bring us here? + +Saint-Charles (to the duke) +Does your grace hear them? + +Lafouraille (to Buteux) +Cannot you keep silence? Have we any right to judge him? + +Buteux +And yet he condemns us! + +Vautrin (to the duke) +I would inform your grace that these two men belong to me, and I claim +possession of them. + +Saint-Charles +Why, these are the domestics of Monsieur de Frescas! + +Vautrin (to Saint-Charles) +Steward of the Langeacs, hold your tongue! (He points to Lafouraille) +This is Philip Boulard. (Lafouraille bows.) Will your grace kindly +send every one out of the room? + +The Duke +What! Do you dare give your orders in my house? + +The Duchess +Ah! sir, he is master here. + +The Duke +What! This wretch? + +Vautrin +If his grace the duke wishes to have an audience present we will +proceed to talk of the son of Dona Mendes. + +The Duke +Silence! + +Vautrin +Whom you are passing off as the son of-- + +The Duke +Once more I say, silence! + +Vautrin +Your grace perceives, evidently, that there are too many people within +hearing. + +The Duke +All of you begone! + +Vautrin (to the duke) +Set a watch on every outlet from your house, and let no one leave it, +excepting these two men. (To Saint-Charles) Do you remain here. (He +draws a dagger and cuts the cords by which Lafouraille and Buteux are +bound.) Take yourselves off by the postern; here is the key, and go to +the house of mother Giroflee. (To Lafouraille) You must send Raoul to +me. + +Lafouraille (as he leaves the room) +Oh! our veritable emperor. + +Vautrin +You shall receive money and passports. + +Buteux (as he goes out) +After all, I shall have something for Adele! + +The Duke +But how did you learn all these facts? + +Vautrin (handing some documents to the duke) +These are what I took from your study. + +The Duke +These comprise my correspondence, and the letters of the duchess to +the Viscount de Langeac. + +Vautrin +Who was shot at Mortagne, October, 1792, through the kind efforts of +Charles Blondet, otherwise known as the Chevalier de Saint-Charles. + +Saint-Charles +But your grace very well knows-- + +Vautrin +It was he himself who gave me these papers, among which you will +notice the death certificate of the viscount, which proves that he and +her grace the duchess never met after the Tenth of August, for he had +then left the Abbaye for the Vendee, accompanied by Boulard, who +seized the moment to betray and murder him. + +The Duke +And so Fernand-- + +Vautrin +The child sent to Sardinia is undoubtedly your son. + +The Duke +And her grace the duchess-- + +Vautrin +Is innocent. + +The Duke +My God! (He sinks back into an armchair.) What have I done? + +The Duchess +What a horrible proof--his death! And the assassin stands before us. + +Vautrin +Monsieur le Duc de Montsorel, I have been a father to Fernand, and I +have just saved your two sons, each from the sword of the other; you +alone are the author of all this complication. + +The Duchess +Stop! I know him better than you do, and he suffers at this moment all +that I have suffered during twenty years. In the name of mercy, where +is my son? + +The Duke +What, Raoul de Frescas? + +Vautrin +Fernand de Montsorel is on his way here. (To Saint-Charles) And what +do you say about all this? + +Saint-Charles +You are a hero; let me be your servant. + +Vautrin +You are ambitious. Would you follow me? + +Saint-Charles +Anywhere. + +Vautrin +I can well believe it. + +Saint-Charles +Ah! what a master mind you obtain in me, and what a loss to the +government! + +Vautrin +Go; and wait for me at the bureau of passports. + +(Exit Saint-Charles.) + + +SCENE FIFTEENTH. +The same persons, the Duchesse de Christoval, Inez and Mademoiselle de +Vaudrey. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Here they are! + +The Duchesse de Christoval +My daughter, madame, has received a letter from Monsieur Raoul, in +which this noble young man declares that he would rather give up Inez, +than deceive us; he has related his whole life's history. He is to +fight a duel with your son to-morrow, and as Inez is the involuntary +cause of this duel we are come to prevent it; for it is now entirely +without ground or reason. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +There will be no duel, madame. + +Inez +He will live then! + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +And you shall marry the Marquis de Montsorel, my child. + + +SCENE SIXTEENTH. +The same persons, Raoul and Lafouraille. (The last named does not +tarry.) + +Raoul (to Vautrin) +What! Would you imprison me to prevent my fighting a duel? + +The Duke +With your brother? + +Raoul +My brother? + +The Duke +Yes. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +You are, then, really my child! (She embrace Raoul.) Ladies, this is +Fernand de Montsorel, my son, the-- + +The Duke (taking Raoul by the hand, and interrupting his wife) +The eldest son, who was carried off from us in childhood. Albert is +now no more than Comte de Montsorel. + +Raoul +For three days I have been in a dream! You, my mother! You, sir-- + +The Duke +Your father--yes! + +Raoul +Among the very people who asked me to name my family-- + +Vautrin +Your family has been found. + +Raoul +And--are you still to have a place in my life? + +Vautrin (to the Duchesse de Montsorel) +What shall I say to you? (to Raoul) Remember, my lord marquis, that I +have, in advance, absolved you from all charge of ingratitude. (To the +duchess) The child will forget me; will the mother also? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Never. + +The Duke +But what are the misfortunes that plunged you into so dark an abyss? + +Vautrin +Can any one explain misfortune? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Dear husband, is it not in your power to obtain his pardon? + +The Duke +The sentences under which he has served are irreversible. + +Vautrin +That word reconciles me to you, it is a statesman's word. Your grace +should explain that transportation is the last expedient to which you +can resort in overcoming us. + +Raoul +Monsieur-- + +Vautrin +You are wrong; I am not even monsieur at present. + +Inez +I think I understand that you are an outlaw, that my friend owes you a +vast debt, and cannot discharge it. Beyond the sea, I have extensive +lands, which require a man's energy for their right administration; +you shall go and exercise there your talents, and become-- + +Vautrin +Rich, under a new name? Child, can you not realize that in this world +there are pitiless necessities? Yes, I could acquire a fortune, but +who will give me the opportunity? (To the duke) The king could at your +grace's intercession grant me a pardon, but who then would take my +hand in his? + +Raoul +I would! + +Vautrin +Ah! It was this I waited for before taking leave. You now have a +mother. Farewell! + + +SCENE SEVENTEENTH. +The same persons, a police officer, guards and servants. + +(The window casements are flung open; and an officer enters; at the +back of the stage are gendarmes.) + +The officer (to the duke) +In the name of the king, of the law, I arrest Jacques Collin, +convicted of having broken-- + +(All persons present fling themselves between the armed force and +Jacques, in order to give him opportunity for escaping.) + +The Duke +Gentlemen, I take upon myself-- + +Vautrin +In your grace's house the justice of the king must have free course. +The matter lies between these gentlemen and me. (To the officer) I +will follow you. (To the duchess) It was Joseph who brought the +police; he is one of us; discharge him. + +Raoul +Are we separated forever? + +Vautrin +You will marry very shortly. Within a year, on a day of christening, +scan carefully the faces of the poor at the church door; one will be +there who wishes to be certain of your happiness. Till then, adieu. +(To the officer) It is time for us to be moving. + + +Final Curtain. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Vautrin, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VAUTRIN *** + +***** This file should be named 6861.txt or 6861.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/6/8/6/6861/ + +Produced by Dagny; and John Bickers + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Vautrin + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6861] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VAUTRIN *** + + + + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnypg@yahoo.com + and John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz + + + + +VAUTRIN +By Honore de Balzac + + + + VAUTRIN + A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS + + BY + + HONORE DE BALZAC + + + + Presented for the first time at the Porte-Saint-Martin Theatre, + Paris, March 14, 1840. + + + + AUTHOR'S PREFACE + +It is difficult for the playwright to put himself, five days after the +first presentation of his piece, in the situation in which he felt +himself on the morning after the event; but it is still more difficult +to write a preface to /Vautrin/, to which every one has written his +own. The single utterance of the author will infallibly prove inferior +to so vast a number of divergent expressions. The report of a cannon +is never so effective as a display of fireworks. + +Must the author explain his work? Its only possible commentator is M. +Frederick Lemaitre. + +Must he complain of the injunction which delayed the presentation of +his play? That would be to betray ignorance of his time and country. +Petty tyranny is the besetting sin of constitutional governments; it +is thus they are disloyal to themselves, and on the other hand, who +are so cruel as the weak? The present government is a spoilt child, +and does what it likes, excepting that it fails to secure the public +weal or the public vote. + +Must he proceed to prove that /Vautrin/ is as innocent a work as a +drama of Berquin's? To inquire into the morality or immorality of the +stage would imply servile submission to the stupid Prudhommes who +bring the matter in question. + +Shall he attack the newspapers? He could do no more than declare that +they have verified by their conduct all he ever said about them. + +Yet in the midst of the disaster which the energy of government has +caused, but which the slightest sagacity in the world might have +prevented, the author has found some compensation in the testimony of +public sympathy which has been given him. M. Victor Hugo, among +others, has shown himself as steadfast in friendship as he is +pre-eminent in poetry; and the present writer has the greater +happiness in publishing the good will of M. Hugo, inasmuch as the +enemies of that distinguished man have no hesitation in blackening his +character. + +Let me conclude by saying that /Vautrin/ is two months old, and in the +rush of Parisian life a novelty of two months has survived a couple of +centuries. The real preface to /Vautrin/ will be found in the play, +/Richard-Coeur-d'Eponge/,[*] which the administration permits to be +acted in order to save the prolific stage of Porte-Saint-Martin from +being overrun by children. + +[*] A play never enacted or printed. + +PARIS, May 1, 1840. + + + + PERSONS OF THE PLAY + +Jacques Collin, known as Vautrin +The Duc de Montsorel +The Marquis Albert de Montsorel, son to Montsorel +Raoul de Frascas +Charles Blondet, known as the Chevalier de Saint-Charles +Francois Cadet, known as the Philosopher +Fil-de-Soie +Buteux +Philippe Boulard, known as Lafouraille +A Police Officer +Joseph Bonnet, footman to the Duchesse de Montsorel +The Duchesse de Montsorel (Louise de Vaudrey) +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey, aunt to the Duchesse de Montsorel +The Duchesse de Christoval +Inez de Christoval, Princesse D'Arjos +Felicite, maid to the Duchesse de Montsorel +Servants, Gendarmes, Detectives, and others + +SCENE: Paris + +TIME: 1816, after the second return of the Bourbons. + + + + + + VAUTRIN + + + + ACT I. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(A room in the house of the Duc de Montsorel.) +The Duchesse de Montsorel and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey. + +The Duchess +Ah! So you have been waiting for me! How very good of you! + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +What is the matter, Louise? This is the first time in the twelve years +of our mutual mourning, that I have seen you cheerful. Knowing you as +I do, it makes me alarmed. + +The Duchess +I cannot help showing my unhappiness, and you, who have shared all my +sorrows, alone can understand my rapture at the faintest gleam of +hope. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Have you come upon any traces of your lost son? + +The Duchess +He is found! + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Impossible! When you find out your error it will add to your anguish. + +The Duchess +A child who is dead has but a tomb in the heart of his mother; but the +child who has been stolen, is still living in that heart, dear aunt. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Suppose you were overheard! + +The Duchess +I should not care. I am setting out on a new life, and I feel strong +enough to resist even the tyranny of De Montsorel. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +After twenty-two years of mourning, what possible occurrence can give +you ground for hope? + +The Duchess +I have much more than hope! After the king's reception, I went to the +Spanish ambassador's, where I was introduced to Madame de Christoval. +There I saw a young man who resembled me, and had my voice. Do you see +what I mean? If I came home late it was because I remained spellbound +in the room, and could not leave until he had gone. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Yet what slight warrant you had for your elation! + +The Duchess +Is not a revelation such as that more than sufficient warrant for the +rapture of a mother's heart? At the sight of that young stranger a +flame seemed to dart before my yes; his glance gave me new life; I +felt happy once more. If he were not my son, my feelings would be +quite unaccountable. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You must have betrayed yourself! + +The Duchess +Yes, perhaps I did! People doubtless noticed us; but I was carried +away by an uncontrollable impulse; I saw no one but him, I wished to +hear him talk, and he talked with me, and told me his age. He is +twenty-three, the same age as Fernand! + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +And was the duke present? + +The Duchess +Could I give a thought to my husband? I listened only to this young +man, who was talking with Inez. I believe they are in love with each +other. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Inez, who is engaged to your son, the marquis? And do you think the +warm reception given by her to his son's rival could escape the duke's +notice? + +The Duchess +Of course not, and I quite see the dangers to which Fernand is +exposed. But I must not detain you longer; I could talk to you about +him till morning. You shall see him. I have told him to come at the +hour the duke goes to the king's, and then we will question him about +his childhood. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +For goodness' sake, calm yourself; you will never be able to sleep +this night. And send Felicite to bed, she is not accustomed to these +late hours. (She rings the bell.) + +Felicite (entering the room) +His grace the duke has come in with his lordship the marquis. + +The Duchess +I have already told you, Felicite, never to inform me of his grace's +movements. (Exit Felicite.) + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +I should hate to rob you of an illusion which causes you such +happiness; but when I see the height of expectation to which you have +soared, I fear a terrible fall for you. The soul, like the body, is +bruised by a fall from an excessive height, and you must excuse my +saying that I tremble for you. + +The Duchess +While you fear the effect of despair for me, I fear that of +overwhelming joy. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (watching the duchess go out) +If she should be deceived, she might lose her senses. + +The Duchess (re-entering the room) +Fernand, dear aunt, calls himself Raoul de Frescas. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SECOND. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (alone) +She does not see that the recovery of her son would be a miracle. All +mothers believe in miracles. We must keep watch over her. A look, a +word might ruin her, for if she is right, if God restores her son to +her, she is on the brink of a catastrophe more frightful even than the +deception she had been practicing. Does she think she can dissemble +under the eyes of women? + + +SCENE THIRD. +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey and Felicite. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Already here? + +Felicite +Her grace the duchess dismissed me early. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Has my niece given you no orders for the morning? + +Felicite +None, madame. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +A young man, named Monsieur Raoul de Frescas, is coming to call upon +me towards noon; he may possibly ask for the duchess, but you must +instruct Joseph to bring him to my apartment. (Exit.) + + +SCENE FOURTH. + +Felicite (alone) +A young man for her? Not a bit of it. I always said that there was +some motive in my lady's retired way of living; she is rich, she is +handsome, yet the duke does not love her; and now the first time she +goes out, a young man comes next day to see her, and her aunt wishes +to receive him. They keep me in the dark; I am neither trusted nor +tipped. If this is the way chambermaids are to be treated under the +new government, I don't know what will become of us. (A side door +opens, two men are seen, and the door is immediately closed again.) At +any rate we shall have a look at the young man. (Exit.) + + +SCENE FIFTH. +Joseph and Vautrin. +(Vautrin wears a tan-colored overcoat, trimmed with fur, over the +black evening dress of a foreign diplomatic minister.) + +Joseph +That blasted girl! We would have been down in our luck if she had seen +us. + +Vautrin +You mean /you/ would have been down in your luck; you take pretty good +care not to be caught again, don't you? I suppose then that you enjoy +peace of mind in this house? + +Joseph +That I do, for honesty I find to be the best policy. + +Vautrin +And do you quite approve of honesty? + +Joseph +Oh, yes, so long as the place and the wages suit me. + +Vautrin +I see you are doing well, my boy. You take little and often, you save, +you even have the honesty to lend a trifle at interest. That's all +right, but you cannot imagine what pleasure it gives me to see one of +my old acquaintances filling an honorable position. You have succeeded +in doing so; your faults are but negative and therefore half virtues. +I myself once had vices; I regret them as things of the past; I have +nothing but dangers and struggles to interest me. Mine is the life of +an Indian hemmed in by my enemies, and I am fighting in defence of my +own scalp. + +Joseph +And what of mine? + +Vautrin +Yours? Ah! you are right to ask that. Well, whatever happens to me, +you have the word of Jacques Collin that he will never compromise you. +But you must obey me in everything! + +Joseph +In everything? But-- + +Vautrin +There are no buts with me. If there is any dark business to be done I +have my "trusties" and old allies. Have you been long in this place? + +Joseph +The duchess took me for her footman when she went with the court to +Ghent, last year and I am trusted by both the ladies of the house. + +Vautrin +That's the ticket! I need a few points with regard to these +Montsorels. What do you know about them? + +Joseph +Nothing. + +Vautrin (aside) +He is getting a little too honest. Does he think he knows nothing +about them? Well, you cannot talk for five minutes with a man without +drawing something out of him. (Aloud) Whose room is this? + +Joseph +The salon of her grace the duchess, and these are her apartments; +those of the duke are on the floor above. The suite of the marquis, +their only son, is below, and looks on the court. + +Vautrin +I asked you for impressions of all the keys of the duke's study. Where +are they? + +Joseph (hesitatingly) +Here they are. + +Vautrin +Every time I purpose coming here you will find a cross in chalk on the +garden gate; every night you must examine the place. Virtue reigns +here, and the hinges of that gate are very rusty; but a Louis XVIII +can never be a Louis XV! Good-bye--I'll come back to-morrow night. +(Aside) I must rejoin my people at the Christoval house. + +Joseph (aside) +Since this devil of a fellow has found me out, I have been on tenter- +hooks-- + +Vautrin (coming back from the door) +The duke then does not live with his wife? + +Joseph +They quarreled twenty years ago. + +Vautrin +What about? + +Joseph +Not even their own son can say. + +Vautrin +And why was your predecessor dismissed? + +Joseph +I cannot say. I was not acquainted with him. They did not set up an +establishment here until after the king's second return. + +Vautrin (aside) +Such are the advantages of the new social order; masters and servants +are bound together by no ties; they feel no mutual attachment, +exchange no secrets, and so give no ground for betrayal. (To Joseph) +Any spicy stories at meal-times? + +Joseph +Never before the servants. + +Vautrin +What is thought of them in the servants' hall? + +Joseph +The duchess is considered a saint. + +Vautrin +Poor woman! And the duke? + +Joseph +He is an egotist. + +Vautrin +Yes, a statesman. (Aside) The duke must have secrets, and we must look +into that. Every great aristocrat has some paltry passion by which he +can be led; and if I once get control of him, his son, necessarily-- +(To Joseph) What is said about the marriage of the Marquis de +Montsorel and Inez de Christoval? + +Joseph +I haven't heard a word. The duchess seems to take very little interest +in it. + +Vautrin +And she has only one son! That seems hardly natural. + +Joseph +Between ourselves, I believe she doesn't love her son. + +Vautrin +I am obliged to draw this word from your throat, as if it were the +cork in a bottle of Bordeaux. There is, I perceive, some mystery in +this house. Here is a mother, a Duchesse de Montsorel, who does not +love her son, her only son! Who is her confessor? + +Joseph +She keeps her religious observances a profound secret. + +Vautrin +Good--I shall soon know everything. Secrets are like young girls, the +more you conceal them, the sooner they are discovered. I will send two +of my rascals to the Church of St. Thomas Aquinas. They won't work out +their salvation in that way, but they'll work out something else.-- +Good-bye. + + +SCENE SIXTH. + +Joseph (alone) +He is an old friend--and that is the worst nuisance in the world. He +will make me lose my place. Ah, if I were not afraid of being poisoned +like a dog by Jacques Collin, who is quite capable of the act, I would +tell all to the duke; but in this vile world, every man for himself, +and I am not going to pay another man's debt. Let the duke settle with +Jacques; I am going to bed. What noise is that? The duchess is getting +up. What does she want? I must listen. (He goes out, leaving the door +slightly ajar.) + + +SCENE SEVENTH. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (alone) +Where can I hide the certificate of my son's birth? (She reads) +"Valencia. . . . July, 1793." An unlucky town for me! Fernand was +actually born seven months after my marriage, by one of those +fatalities that give ground for shameful accusations! I shall ask my +aunt to carry the certificate in her pocket, until I can deposit it in +some place of safety. The duke would ransack my rooms for it, and the +whole police are at his service. Government refuses nothing to a man +high in favor. If Joseph saw me going to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey's +apartments at this hour, the whole house would hear of it. Ah--I am +alone in the world, alone with all against me, a prisoner in my own +house! + + +SCENE EIGHTH. +The Duchesse de Montsorel and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey. + +The Duchess +I see that you find it is impossible to sleep as I do> + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Louise, my child, I only rose to rid you of a dream, the awakening +from which will be deplorable. I consider it my duty to distract you +from your insane fancies. The more I think of what you told me the +more is my sympathy aroused. But I am compelled to tell you the truth, +cruel as it is; beyond doubt the duke has placed Fernand in some +compromising situation, so as to make it impossible for him to +retrieve his position in the world to which you belong. The young man +you saw cannot be your son. + +The Duchess +Ah, you never knew Fernand! But I knew him, and in whatever place he +is, his life has an influence on mine. I have seen him a thousand +times-- + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +In your dreams! + +The Duchess +Fernand has the blood of the Montsorels and the Vaudreys in his veins. +The place to which he was born he is able to take; everything gives +way before him wherever he appears. If he became a soldier, he is +to-day a colonel. My son is proud, he is handsome, people like him! I +am sure he is beloved. Do not contradict me, dear aunt; Fernand still +lives; if not, then the duke has broken faith, and I know he values +too highly the virtues of his race to disgrace them. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +But are not honor and a husband's vengeance dearer to him than his +faith as a gentleman? + +The Duchess +Ah! You make me shudder. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You know very well, Louise, that pride of race is hereditary with the +Montsorels, as it is with the Montemarts. + +The Duchess +I know it too well! The doubt cast upon his child's legitimacy has +almost crazed him. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You are wrong there. The duke has a warm heart, and a cool head; in +all matters that concern the sentiments on which they live, men of +that temper act promptly in carrying out their ideas. + +The Duchess +But, dear aunt, do you know at what price he has granted me the life +of Fernand? Haven't I paid dearly for the assurance that his days were +not to be shortened? If I had persisted in maintaining my innocence I +should have brought certain death upon him; I have sacrificed my good +name to save my son. Any mother would have done as much. You were +taking care of my property here; I was alone in a foreign land, and +was the prey of ill-health, fever, and with none to counsel me, and I +lost my head; for since that time it has constantly occurred to me +that the duke would never have carried out his threats. In making the +sacrifice I did, I knew that Fernand would be poor and destitute, +without a name, and dwelling in an unknown land; but I knew also that +his life would be safe, and that some day I should recover him, even +if I had to search the whole world over! I felt so cheerful as I came +in that I forgot to give you the certificate of Fernand's birth, which +the Spanish ambassador's wife has at last obtained for me; carry it +about with you until you can place it in the hands of your confessor. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +The duke must certainly have learnt the measures you have taken in +this matter, and woe be to your son! Since his return he has been very +busy, and is still busy about something. + +The Duchess +If I shake off the disgrace with which he has tried to cover me, if I +give up shedding tears in silence, be assured that nothing can bend me +from my purpose. I am no longer in Spain or England, at the mercy of a +diplomat crafty as a tiger, who during the whole time of our +emigration was reading the thoughts of my heart's inmost recesses, and +with invisible spies surrounding my life as by a network of steel; +turning my secrets into jailers, and keeping me prisoner in the most +horrible of prisons, an open house! I am in France, I have found you +once more, I hold my place at court, I can speak my mind there; I +shall learn what has become of the Vicomte de Langeac, I should prove +that since the Tenth of August[*] we have never met, I shall inform +the king of the crime committed by a father against a son who is the +heir of two noble houses. I am a woman, I am Duchesse de Montsorel, I +am a mother! We are rich, we have a virtuous priest for an adviser; +right is on our side, and if I have demanded the certificate of my +son's birth-- + +[*] A noteworthy date in French history, August 10, 1792; the day of + the storming of the Tuileries.--J. W. M. + + +SCENE NINTH. +The same persons, and the Duc de Montsorel (who enters as the duchess +pronounces the last sentence). + +The Duke +It is only for the purpose of handing it to me. + +The Duchess +Since when have you ventured to enter my apartment without previously +sending me word and asking my leave? + +The Duke +Since you broke the agreement we made. You swore to take no steps to +find this--your son. This was the sole condition on which I promised +to let him live. + +The Duchess +And is it not much more honorable to violate such an oath, than to +remain faithful to all others? + +The Duke +We are henceforth both of us released from our engagements. + +The Duchess +Have you, up to the present day, respected yours? + +The Duke +I have, madame. + +The Duchess +Listen to him, aunt, and bear witness to this declaration. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +But has it never occurred to you, my dear sir, that Louise is +innocent? + +The Duke +Of course you think so, Mademoiselle de Vaudrey. And what would not I +give to share your opinion! The duchess has had twenty years in which +to prove to me her innocence. + +The Duchess +For twenty years you have wrung my heart without pity and without +intermission. + +The Duke +Madame, unless you hand me this certificate, your Fernand will have +serious cause for alarm. As soon as you returned to France you secured +the document, and are trying to employ it as a weapon against me. You +desire to obtain for your son a fortune and a name which do not belong +to him; to secure his admission into a family, whose race has up to my +time been kept pure by wives of stainless reputation, a family which +has never formed a single mesalliance-- + +The Duchess +And which will be worthily represented by your son Albert. + +The Duke +Be careful what you say, for you waken in me terrible memories. And +your last word shows me that you will not shrink from causing a +scandal that will overwhelm all of us with shame. Shall we air in +public courts past occurrences which will show that I am not free from +reproach, while you are infamous? (He turns to Mademoiselle de +Vaudrey) She cannot have told you everything, dear aunt? She was in +love with Viscount Langeac; I knew it, and respected her love; I was +so young! The viscount came to me; being without hope of inheriting a +fortune, and the last representative of his house, he unselfishly +offered to give up Louise de Vaudrey. I trusted in their mutual +generosity, and accepted her as a pure woman from his hands. Ah! I +would have given my life for her, and I have proved it! The wretched +man performed prodigies of valor on the Tenth of August, and called +down upon himself the rage of the mob; I put him under the protection +of some of my people; he was, however, discovered and taken to the +Abbaye. As soon as I learned his predicament, I gave into the hands of +a certain Boulard all the money I had collected for our flight! I +induced Boulard to join the Septembrists in order to save the viscount +from death; I procured his escape! (To the duchess) He paid me back +well, did he not? I was young, madly in love, impetuous, yet I never +crushed the boy! You have to-day made me the same requital for my +pity, as your lover made for my trust in him. Well--things remain just +as they were twenty years ago excepting that the time for pity is +past. And I will repeat what I said to you then: Forget your son, and +he shall live. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +And shall her sufferings during those twenty years count for nothing? + +The Duke +A great crime calls for a great atonement. + +The Duchess +Ah--if you take my grief for a sign of remorse, I will again protest +to you, I am innocent! No! Langeac never betrayed your confidence; it +was not for his king alone he went to his death, and from the fatal +day on which he bade me farewell and surrendered me to you, I have +never seen him again. + +The Duke +You purchased the life of your son by making an exactly contrary +declaration. + +The Duchess +Can a compact dictated by terror be looked upon as an avowal of guilt? + +The Duke +Do you intend to give that certificate of birth? + +The Duchess +It is no longer in my possession. + +The Duke +I will no longer answer then for your son's safety. + +The Duchess +Have you weighed well the consequences of this threat? + +The Duke +You ought to know me by this time. + +The Duchess +The trouble is that you do not know me. You will no longer answer for +my son's safety? Indeed--but you had better look after your own son. +Albert is a guarantee for the life of Fernand. If you keep watch on my +proceedings, I shall set a watch on yours; if you rely upon the police +of the realm, I have resources of my own, and the assistance of God. +If you deal a blow at Fernand, beware of what may happen to Albert. A +blow for a blow!--That is final. + +The Duke +You are in our own house, madame. I forgot myself. Pray pardon me. I +was wrong. + +The Duchess +You are more a gentleman than your son; when he flies into a rage he +begs no one's pardon, not he! + +The Duke (aside) +Has her resignation up to this time been nothing but a pretence? Has +she been waiting for the present opportunity to speak? Women who are +guided by the advice of bigots travel underground, like volcanic +fires, and only reveal themselves when they break out. She knows my +secret, I have /lost sight of her son/, and my defeat is imminent. +(Exit.) + + +SCENE TENTH. +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey and the Duchess. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Louise, you love the child you have never seen, and hate him who is +before your eyes. Ah! you must tell the reason of your hatred for +Albert, if you would retain my esteem and my affection. + +The Duchess +Not a word on that subject. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +The calm way in which your husband remarks your aversion for your son +is astonishing. + +The Duchess +He is accustomed to it. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Yet you could never show yourself a bad mother, could you? + +The Duchess +A bad mother? No. (She reflects.) I cannot make up my mind to forfeit +your affection. (She draws her aunt to her side.) Albert is not my +son. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Can a stranger have usurped the place, the name, the title, the +property of the real child? + +The Duchess +No, not a stranger, but his son. After the fatal night on which +Fernand was carried off from me, an eternal separation between the +duke and myself took place. The wife in me was as cruelly outraged as +the mother. But still I purchased from him peace of mind. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +I do not understand your meaning. + +The Duchess +I allowed the duke to present this Albert, child of a Spanish +courtesan, as if he were mine. The duke desired an heir. Amid the +confusion wrought in Spain by the French Revolution the trick escaped +notice. Are you surprised that my blood boils at the sight of this +strange woman's child occupying the place of the lawful heir? + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Now I can deeply sympathize with your hopes; ah! how glad I should be +if you were right in your suspicions and this young man were indeed +your son. But what is the matter with you? + +The Duchess +He is, I fear, ruined; for I have brought him under the notice of his +father, who will-- But stay, something must be done! I must find out +where he lives, and warn him not to come here to-morrow morning. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Leave the house at this hour! Louise, you are mad! + +The Duchess +Come, we must save him at any price. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +What do you propose doing? + +The Duchess +Neither of us can leave the house to-morrow without being noticed. We +must forestall the duke by bribing my chambermaid. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Louise, would you resort to such means as this? + +The Duchess +If Raoul is the son disclaimed by his father, the child over whom I +have mourned for the last twenty years, I must show them what a wife, +a mother, who has been wrongly accused, can do! + + +Curtain to the First Act. + + + + ACT II. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(Scene the same as in preceding act.) +The Duc de Montsorel and Joseph. + +The Duke +Joseph, I am not at home excepting to one person. If he comes, you +will show him up. I refer to Monsieur de Saint-Charles. Find out +whether your mistress will see me. (Exit Joseph.) The awakening of a +maternal instinct, which I thought had been utterly extinguished in +her heart, amazes me beyond measure. The secret struggle in which she +is engaged must at once be put a stop to. So long as Louise was +resigned our life was not intolerable; but disputes like this would +render it extremely disagreeable. I was able to control my wife so +long as we were abroad, but in this country my only power over her +lies in skillful handling, and a display of authority. I shall tell +everything to the king. I shall submit myself to his dictation, and +Madame de Montsorel must be compelled to submit. I must however bide +my time. The detective, whom I am to employ, if he is clever, will +soon find out the cause of this revolt; I shall see whether the +duchess is merely deceived by a resemblance, or whether she has seen +her son. For myself I must confess to having lost sight of him since +my agents reported his disappearance twelve years ago. I was very much +excited last night. I must be more discreet. If I keep quiet she will +be put off her guard and reveal her secrets. + +Joseph (re-entering the room) +Her grace the duchess has not yet rung for her maid. + +The Duke +Very well. + + +SCENE SECOND. +The preceding and Felicite. +(To explain his presence in his wife's room, the duke looks over +articles lying on the table, and discovers a letter in a book.) + +The Duke (reading) +"To Mademoiselle Inez de Christoval." (aside) Why should my wife have +concealed a letter of such slight importance? She no doubt wrote it +after our quarrel. Is it concerning Raoul? This letter must not go to +the Christoval house. + +Felicite (looking for the letter in the book) +Now, where is that letter of madame's? Can she have forgotten it? + +The Duke +Aren't you looking for a letter? + +Felicite +Yes, your grace. + +The Duke +Isn't this it? + +Felicite +The very one, your grace. + +The Duke +It is astonishing that you should leave the very hour your mistress +must need your services; she is getting up. + +Felicite +Her grace the duchess has Therese; and besides I am going out by her +orders. + +The Duke +Very good. I did not wish to interfere with you. + + +SCENE THIRD. +The preceding, and Blondet, alias the Chevalier de Saint-Charles. +(Joseph and Saint-Charles walk together from the centre door, and eye +each other attentively.) + +Joseph (aside) +The look of that man is very distasteful to me. (To the duke) The +Chevalier de Saint-Charles. + +(The duke signs to Saint-Charles to approach, and examines his +appearance.) + +Saint-Charles (giving him a letter, aside) +Does he know my antecedents, or will he simply recognize me as Saint- +Charles? + +The Duke +My dear sir-- + +Saint-Charles +I am to be merely Saint-Charles. + +The Duke +You are recommended to me as a man whose ability, if it had fair +scope, would be called genius. + +Saint-Charles +If his grace the duke will give me an opportunity, I will prove myself +worthy of that flattering opinion. + +The Duke +You shall have one at once. + +Saint-Charles +What are your commands? + +The Duke +You see that maid. She is going to leave the house. I do not wish to +hinder her doing so; yet she must not cross the threshold, until she +receives a fresh order. (Calls her) Felicite! + +Felicite +What is it, your grace? + +(The Duke gives her the letter. Exit Felicite.) + +Saint-Charles (to Joseph) +I recognize you, I know all about you: See that this maid remains in +the house with the letter, and I will not recognize you, and will know +nothing of you, and will let you stay here so long as you behave +yourself. + +Joseph (aside) +This fellow on one side, and Jacques Collin on the other! Well; I must +try to serve them both honestly. + +(Exit Joseph in pursuit of Felicite.) + + +SCENE FOURTH. +The Duke and Saint-Charles. + +Saint-Charles +Your grace's commands are obeyed. Do you wish to know the contents of +the letter? + +The Duke +Why, my dear sir, the power you seem to exercise is something terrible +and wonderful. + +Saint-Charles +You gave me absolute authority in the matter, and I used it well. + +The Duke +And what if you had abused it? + +Saint-Charles +That would have been impossible, for such a course would ruin me. + +The Duke +How is it that men endowed with such faculties are found employing +them in so lowly a sphere? + +Saint-Charles +Everything is against our rising above it; we protect our protectors, +we learn too many honorable secrets, and are kept in ignorance of too +many shameful ones to be liked by people, and render such important +services to others that they can only shake off the obligation by +speaking ill of us. People think that things are only words with us; +refinement is thus mere silliness, honor a sham, and acts of treachery +mere diplomacy. We are the confidants of many who yet leave us much to +guess at. Our programme consists in thinking and acting, finding out +the past from the present, ordering and arranging the future in the +pettiest details, as I am about to--and, in short, in doing a hundred +things that might strike dismay to a man of no mean ability. When once +our end is gained, words become things once more, and people begin to +suspect that possibly we are infamous scoundrels. + +The Duke +There may be some justice in all this, but I do not suppose you expect +to change the opinion of the world, or even mine? + +Saint-Charles +I should be a great fool if I did. I don't care about changing another +man's opinion; what I do want to change is my own position. + +The Duke +According to you that would be very easy, wouldn't it? + +Saint-Charles +Why not, your grace? Let some one set me to play the spy over +cabinets, instead of raking up the secrets of private families. +Instead of dogging the footsteps of shady characters, let them put me +in charge of the craftiest diplomats. Instead of pandering to the +vilest passions, let me serve the government. I should be delighted to +play a modest part in a great movement. And what a devoted servant +your grace would have in me! + +The Duke +I am really sorry to employ such talents as yours in so petty an +affair, my friend, but it will give me an opportunity of testing, and +then we'll see. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Ah--We shall see? That means, all has already been seen. + +The Duke +I wish to see my son married-- + +Saint-Charles +To Mademoiselle Inez de Christoval, Princesse d'Arjos--a good match! +Her father made the mistake of entering Joseph Bonaparte's service, +and was banished by King Ferdinand. He probably took part in the +Mexican revolution. + +The Duke +Madame de Christoval and her daughter have made the acquaintance of a +certain adventurer, named-- + +Saint-Charles +Raoul de Frescas. + +The Duke +Is there nothing I can tell you that you do not know? + +Saint-Charles +If your grace desires it, I will know nothing. + +The Duke +On the contrary, I should like you to speak out, so that I may know +what secrets you will permit us to keep. + +Saint-Charles +Let us make one stipulation; whenever my frankness displeases your +grace, call me chevalier, and I will sink once more into my humble +role of paid detective. + +The Duke +Go on, my friend. (Aside) These people are very amusing. + +Saint-Charles +M. de Frescas will not be an adventurer so long as he lives in the +style of a man who has an income of a hundred thousand francs. + +The Duke +Whoever he is you must pierce through the mystery which surrounds him. + +Saint-Charles +Your grace requires a very difficult thing. We are obliged to use +circumspection in dealing with foreigners. They are our masters; they +have turned Paris upside down. + +The Duke +That's the trouble! + +Saint-Charles +Does your grace belong to the opposition? + +The Duke +I should like to have brought back the king without his following-- +that is my position. + +Saint-Charles +The departure of the king resulted from the disorganization of the +magnificent Asiatic police created by Bonaparte. An effort is being +made nowadays to form a police of respectable people, a procedure +which disbands the old police. Hemmed in by the military police of the +invasion, we dare not arrest any one, for fear we might lay hands on +some prince on his way to keep an assignation, or some margrave who +had dined too well. But for your grace a man will attempt the +impossible. Has this young man any vices? Does he play? + +The Duke +Yes, in a social way. + +Saint-Charles +Does he cheat? + +The Duke +Chevalier! + +Saint-Charles +This young man must be very rich. + +The Duke +Inquire for yourself. + +Saint-Charles +I ask pardon of your grace; but people without passions cannot know +much. Would you have the goodness to tell me whether this young man is +sincerely attached to Mademoiselle de Christoval? + +The Duke +What! That princess! That heiress! You alarm me, my friend. + +Saint-Charles +Has not your grace told me that he is a young man? Now, pretended love +is more perfect than genuine love; that is the reason why so many +women are deceived! Undoubtedly he has thrown over many mistresses, +and heart-free, tongue-free, you know-- + +The Duke +Take care! Your mission is peculiar, and you had best not meddle with +the women; an indiscretion on your part may forfeit my good will, for +all that relates to Monsieur Frescas must go no further than you and +myself. I demand absolute secrecy, both from those you employ, and +those who employ you. In fact, you will be a ruined man, if Madame de +Montsorel has any suspicion of your designs. + +Saint-Charles +Is Madame de Montsorel then interested in this young man? I must keep +an eye on her, for this girl is her chambermaid. + +The Duke +Chevalier de Saint-Charles, to order you to do this would be unworthy +of me, and to ask for such an order is quite unworthy of you. + +Saint-Charles +Your grace and I perfectly understand each other. But what is to be +the main object of my investigations? + +The Duke +You must find out whether Raoul de Frescas is the real name of this +young man; find out where he was born, ransack his whole life, and +consider all you learn about him a secret of state. + +Saint-Charles +You must wait until to-morrow for this information, my lord. + +The Duke +That is a short time. + +Saint-Charles +But it involves a good deal of money. + +The Duke +Do not suppose that I wish to hear of evil things; it is the method of +you people to pander to depraved passions. Instead of showing them up, +you prefer to invent rather than to reveal occurrences. I should be +delighted to learn that this young man has a family-- + +(The marquis enters, sees his father engaged, and turns to go out; the +duke asks him to remain.) + + +SCENE FIFTH. +The preceding and the Marquis de Montsorel. + +The Duke (continuing) +If Monsieur de Frescas is a gentleman, and the Princesse d'Arjos +decidedly prefers him to my son, the marquis must withdraw his suit. + +The Marquis +But, father, I am in love with Inez. + +The Duke (to Saint-Charles) +You may go, sir. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +He takes no interest in the proposed marriage of his son. He is +incapable of feeling jealous of his wife. There is something very +serious in these circumstances; I am either a ruined man or my fortune +is made. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SIXTH. +The Duke and the Marquis. + +The Duke +To marry a woman who does not love you is a mistake which I shall +never allow you to commit, Albert. + +The Marquis +But there is nothing that indicates that Inez will reject me; and, in +any case once she is my wife, it will be my object to win her love, +and I believe, without vanity, that I shall succeed. + +The Duke +Allow me to tell you, my son, that your barrack-room ideas are quite +out of place here. + +The Marquis +On any other subject your words would be law to me; but every era has +a different art of love--I beg of you to hasten my marriage. Inez has +all the pliability of an only daughter, and the readiness with which +she accepts the advances of a mere adventurer ought to rouse your +anxiety. Really, the coldness with which you receive me this morning +amazes me. Putting aside my love for Inez, could I do better? I shall +be, like you, a Spanish grandee, and, more than that, a prince. Would +that annoy you, father? + +The Duke (aside) +The blood of his mother shows itself all the time! Oh! Louise has +known well my tender spot! (Aloud) Recollect, sir, that there is no +rank higher than the glorious title, Duc de Montsorel. + +The Marquis +How have I offended you? + +The Duke +Enough! You forget that I arranged this marriage after my residence in +Spain. You are moreover aware that Inez cannot be married without her +father's consent. Mexico has recently declared its independence, and +the occurrence of this revolution explains the delay of his answer. + +The Marquis +But, my dear father, your plans are in danger of being defeated. You +surely did not see what happened yesterday at the Spanish +ambassador's? My mother took particular notice there of this Raoul de +Frescas, and Inez was immensely pleased with him. Do you know that I +have long felt, and now at last admit to myself, that my mother hates +me? And that I myself feel, what I would only say to you father, whom +I love, that I have little love for her? + +The Duke (aside) +I am reaping all that I have sown; hate as well as love is +instinctively divined. (To the marquis) My son, you should not judge, +for you can never understand your mother. She has seen my blind +affection for you, and she wishes to correct it by severity. Do not +let me hear any more such remarks from you, and let us drop the +subject! You are on duty at the palace to-day; repair thither at once: +I will obtain leave for you this evening, when you can go to the ball +and rejoin the Princesse d'Arjos. + +The Marquis +Before leaving, I should like to see my mother, and beg for her kind +offices in my favor, with Inez, who calls upon her this morning. + +The Duke +Ask whether she is to be seen, for I am waiting for her myself. (Exit +the marquis.) Everything overwhelms me at the same time; yesterday the +ambassador inquired of me the place of my son's death; last night, my +son's mother thought she had found him again; this morning the son of +Juana Mendes harrows my feelings! The princess recognizes him +instinctively. No law can be broken without a nemesis; nature is as +pitiless as the world of men. Shall I be strong enough, even with the +backing of the king, to overcome this complication of circumstances? + + +SCENE SEVENTH. +The Duke, the Duchess and the Marquis. + +The Duchess +Excuses? Nonsense! Albert, I am only too happy to see you here; it is +a pleasant surprise; you are come to kiss your mother before going to +the palace--that is all. Ah! if ever a mother found it in her heart to +doubt her son, this eager affection, which I have not been accustomed +to, would dispel all such fear, and I thank you for it, Albert. At +last we understand each other. + +The Marquis +I am glad to hear you say that, mother; if I have seemed lacking in my +duty to you, it is not that I forget, but that I feared to annoy you. + +The Duchess (seeing the duke) +What! Your grace here also!--you really seem to share your son's +cordiality,--my rising this morning is actually a fete. + +The Duke +And you will find it so every day. + +The Duchess (to the duke) +Ah! I understand-- (To the marquis) Good-bye! The king is strict about +the punctuality of his red-coated guards, and I should be sorry to +cause you to be reprimanded. + +The Duke +Why do you send him off? Inez will soon be here. + +The Duchess +I do not think so, I have just written to her. + + +SCENE EIGHTH. +The same persons and Joseph. + +Joseph (announcing a visitor) +Their graces the Duchesse de Christoval and the Princess d'Arjos. + +The Duchess (aside) +How excessively awkward! + +The Duke (to his son) +Do not go; leave all to me. They are trifling with us. + + +SCENE NINTH. +The same persons, the Duchesse de Christoval and the Princesse +d'Arjos. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Ah! madame, it is extremely kind of you thus to anticipate my visit to +you. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +I come in this way that there may be no formality between us. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to Inez) +Have you read my letter? + +Inez +One of your maids has just handed it to me. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (aside) +It is evident that Raoul is also coming. + +The Duke (to the Duchesse de Christoval, whom he leads to a seat) +I hope we see in this informal visit the beginning of a family +intimacy? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Pray do not exaggerate the importance of a civility, which I look upon +as a pleasure. + +The Marquis +You are seriously afraid, madame, I perceive, of encouraging my hopes? +Did I not suffer sufficiently yesterday? The princess did not notice +me, even by a look. + +Inez +I didn't expect the pleasure of meeting you again so soon, sir. I +thought you were on duty; I am glad to have an opportunity of +explaining that I never saw you till the moment I left the ball-room, +and this lady (pointing to the Duchesse de Montsorel) must be the +excuse of my inattention. + +The Marquis +You have two excuses, mademoiselle, and I thank you for mentioning +only one--my mother. + +The Duke +His reproaches spring only from his modesty, mademoiselle. Albert is +under the impression that Monsieur de Frescas can give him ground for +anxiety! At his age passion is a fairy that makes trifles appear vast. +But neither yourself nor your mother, mademoiselle, can attach any +serious importance to the claims of a young man, whose title is +problematical and who is so studiously silent about his family. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +And are you also ignorant of the place where he was born? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +I am not intimate enough with him to ask for such information. + +The Duke +There are three of us here who would be well pleased to have it. You +alone, ladies, would be discreet, for discretion is a virtue the +possession of which profits only those who require it in others. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +As for me, I do not believe that curiosity is always blameless. + +The Marquis +Is mine then ill-timed? And may I not inquire of madame whether the +Frescas of Aragon are extinct or not? + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to the duke) +Both of us have known at Madrid the old commander, who was last of his +line. + +The Duke +He died, of course, without issue. + +Inez +But there exists a branch of the family at Naples. + +The Marquis +Surely you are aware, mademoiselle, that your cousins, the house of +Medina-Coeli, have succeeded to it? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +You are right; there are no De Frescas in existence. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Well! Well! If this young man has neither title nor family, he can be +no dangerous rival to Albert. I do not know why you should be +interested in him. + +The Duke +But there are a great many ladies interested in him. + +Inez +I begin to see your meaning-- + +The Marquis +Indeed! + +Inez +Yes, this young man is not, perhaps, all he wishes to appear; but he +is intelligent, well educated, his sentiments are noble, he shows us +the most chivalric respect, he speaks ill of no one; evidently, he is +acting the gentleman, and exaggerates his role. + +The Duke +I believe he also exaggerates the amount of his fortune; but it is +difficult at Paris to maintain that pretension for any length of time. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +I am told that you mean to give a series of brilliant entertainments? + +The Marquis +Does Monsieur de Frescas speak Spanish? + +Inez +Just as well as we do. + +The Duke +Say no more, Albert; did you not hear that Monsieur de Frescas is a +highly accomplished young man? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +He is really a very agreeable man, but if your doubts were well +founded, I confess, my dear duke, I should be very sorry to receive +any further visits from him. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +You look as fresh to-day as you did yesterday; I really admire the way +you stand the dissipations of society. + +The Duchesse de Christoval (aside to Inez) +My child, do not mention Monsieur de Frescas again. The subject annoys +Madame de Montsorel. + +Inez (also aside) +It did not annoy her yesterday. + + +SCENE TENTH. +The same persons, Joseph and Raoul de Frescas. + +Joseph (to the Duchesse de Montsorel) +As Mademoiselle de Vaudrey is not in, and Monsieur de Frescas is here, +will your grace see him? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Is Raoul here? + +The Duke +So he has already found her out! + +The Marquis (to his father) +My mother is deceiving us. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to Joseph) +I am not at home. + +The Duke +If you have asked Monsieur de Frescas to come why do you begin by +treating so great a personage with discourtesy? (To Joseph, despite a +gesture of protest from the Duchesse de Montsorel) Show him in! (To +the marquis) Try to be calm and sensible. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (aside) +In trying to help, I have hurt him, I fear. + +Joseph +M. Raoul de Frescas. + +Raoul (entering) +My eagerness to obey your commands will prove to you, Madame la +Duchesse, how proud I am of your notice, and how anxious to deserve +it. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +I thank you, sir, for your promptitude. (Aside) But it may prove fatal +to you. + +Raoul (bowing to the Duchesse de Christoval and her daughter, aside) +How is this? Inez here? + +(Raoul exchanges bows with the duke; but the marquis takes up a +newspaper from the table, and pretends not to see Raoul.) + +The Duke +I must confess, Monsieur de Frescas, I did not expect to meet you in +the apartment of Madame de Montsorel; but I am pleased at the interest +she takes in you, for it has procured me the pleasure of meeting a +young man whose entrance into Parisian society has been attended with +such success and brilliancy. You are one of the rivals whom one is +proud to conquer, but to whom one submits without displeasure. + +Raoul +This exaggerated eulogy, with which I cannot agree, would be ironical +unless it had been pronounced by you; but I am compelled to +acknowledge the courtesy with which you desire to set me at my ease, +(looking at the marquis, who turns his back on him), in a house where +I might well think myself unwelcome. + +The Duke +On the contrary, you have come just at the right moment, we were just +speaking of your family and of the aged Commander de Frescas whom +madame and myself were once well acquainted with. + +Raoul +I am highly honored by the interest you take in me; but such an honor +is generally enjoyed at the cost of some slight gossip. + +The Duke +People can only gossip about those whom they know well. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +And we would like to have the right of gossiping about you. + +Raoul +It is my interest to keep myself in your good graces. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +I know one way of doing so. + +Raoul +What is that? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Remain the same mysterious personage you are at present. + +The Marquis (rejoining them, newspaper in hand) +Here is a strange thing, ladies; one of those foreigners who claim to +be noblemen has been caught cheating at play at the field marshal's +house. + +Inez +Is that the great piece of news in which you have been absorbed? + +Raoul +In these times, everyone seems to be a foreigner. + +The Marquis +It is not altogether the piece of news that set me thinking, but I was +struck by the incredible readiness with which people receive at their +houses those about whose antecedents they know positively nothing. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (aside) +Is he to be insulted in my house? + +Raoul +If people distrust those whom they do not know, aren't they sometimes +likely, at very short notice, to know rather too much about them? + +The Duke +Albert, how can this news of yours interest us? Do we ever receive any +one without first learning what his family is? + +Raoul +His grace the duke knows my family. + +The Duke +It is sufficient for me that you are found at Madame de Montsorel's +house. We know what we owe to you too well to forget what you owe to +us. The name De Frescas commands respect, and you represent it +worthily. + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to Raoul) +Will you immediately announce who you are, if not for your own sake, +at least out of consideration for your friends? + +Raoul +I shall be extremely distressed if my presence here should occasion +the slightest discussion; but as certain hints are as galling as the +most direct charges, I suggest that we end this conversation, which is +as unworthy of you, as it is of me. Her grace the duchess did not, I +am sure, invite me here to be cross-examined. I recognize in no one +the right to ask a reason for the silence which I have decided to +maintain. + +The Marquis +And you leave us the right to interpret it? + +Raoul +If I claim liberty of action, it is not for the purpose of refusing +the same to you. + +The Duke (to Raoul) +You are a noble young man, you show the natural distinction which +marks the gentleman; do not be offended at the curiosity of the world; +it is our only safeguard. Your sword cannot impose silence upon all +idle talkers, and the world, while it treats becoming modesty with +generosity, has no pity for ungrounded pretensions-- + +Raoul +Sir! + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (whispering anxiously to Raoul) +Not a word about your childhood; leave Paris, and let me alone know +where you are--hidden! Your whole future depends on this. + +The Duke +I really wish to be your friend, in spite of the fact that you are the +rival of my son. Give your confidence to a man who has that of his +king. How can you be descended from the house of De Frescas, which is +extinct? + +Raoul (to the duke) +Your grace is too powerful to fail of proteges, and I am not so weak +as to need a protector. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Sir, I am sure you will understand a mother's feeling that it would be +unwise for her to receive many visits from you at the Christoval +house. + +Inez (to Raoul) +A word would save us, and you keep silence; I perceive that there is +something dearer to you than I am. + +Raoul +Inez, I could hear anything excepting these reproaches. (Aside) O +Vautrin! Why did you impose absolute silence upon me. (He bows +farewell to the ladies. To the Duchesse de Montsorel) I leave my +happiness in your charge. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Do what I order; I will answer for the rest. + +Raoul (to the marquis) +I am at your service, sir. + +The Marquis +Good-bye Monsieur Raoul. + +Raoul +De Frescas, if you please. + +The Marquis +De Frescas, then! + +(Exit Raoul.) + + +SCENE ELEVENTH. +The same persons, except Raoul. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +You were very severe. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +You may not be aware, madame, that for the last three months this +young man has danced attendance on my daughter wherever she went, and +that his admission into society was brought about a little +incautiously. + +The Duke (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +He might easily be taken for a prince in disguise. + +The Marquis +Is he not rather a nobody disguised as a prince? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Your father will tell you that such disguises are difficult to assume. + +Inez (to the marquis) +A nobody sir? We women can be attracted by one who is above us, never +by him who is our inferior. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +What are you talking about, Inez? + +Inez +It is of no consequence, mother! Either this young man is crazed or +these people are ungenerous. + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to the Duchesse de Montsorel) +I can plainly see, madame, that any explanation is impossible, +especially in the presence of the duke; but my honor is at stake, and +I shall expect you to explain. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +To-morrow, then. + +(Exit the duke with the Duchesse de Christoval and her daughter, +followed by the Duchesse de Montsorel.) + + +SCENE TWELFTH. +The Marquis and the Duke. + +The Marquis +The appearance of this adventurer, father, seems to throw both you and +my mother into a state of the most violent excitement; it would almost +seem as if not only was the marriage of your son jeopardized, but your +very existence menaced. The duchess and her daughter went off in high +dudgeon-- + +The Duke +What could have brought them here in the very midst of our discussion? + +The Marquis +And you also are interested in this fellow Raoul? + +The Duke +Are not you? Your fortune, your name, your future and your marriage, +all that is more to you than life, is now at stake! + +The Marquis +If all these things are dependent upon this young man, I will +immediately demand satisfaction from him. + +The Duke +What! A duel? If you had the wretched luck to kill him, the success of +your suite would be hopeless. + +The Marquis +What then is to be done? + +The Duke +Do like the politicians; wait! + +The Marquis +If you are in danger, father, do you think I can remain quiet? + +The Duke +Leave the burden to me; it would crush you. + +The Marquis +Ah! but you will speak, father, you will tell me-- + +The Duke +Nothing! For we should both of us have too much to blush for. + + +SCENE THIRTEENTH. +The same persons and Vautrin. +(Vautrin is dressed all in black; at the beginning of the scene he +puts on an air of compunction and humility.) + +Vautrin +Excuse me, your grace, for having forced my way in, but (whispering so +as not to be overheard) we have both of us been victimized by an abuse +of confidence--allow me to say a word or two to you alone. + +The Duke (with a sign to his son to leave them) +Say on, sir. + +Vautrin +In these days success is in the power of those alone who exert +themselves to obtain office, and this form of ambition pervades all +classes. Every man in France desires to be a colonel, and it is +difficult to see where the privates are to come from. As a matter of +fact society is threatened by disintegration, which will simply result +from this universal desire for high positions, accompanied with a +general disgust for the low places. Such is the fruit of revolutionary +equality. Religion is the sole remedy for this corruption. + +The Duke +What are you driving at? + +Vautrin +I beg pardon, but it is impossible to refrain from explaining to a +statesman, with whom I am going to work, the cause of a mistake which +annoys me. Has your grace confided any secrets to one of my people who +came to you this morning, with the foolish idea of supplanting me, and +in the hope of making himself known to you as one who could serve your +interests? + +The Duke +What do you mean? That you are the Chevalier de Saint-Charles? + +Vautrin +Let me tell your grace, that we are just what we desire to be. Neither +he nor I is simple enough to be his real self--it would cost us too +much. + +The Duke +Remember, that you must furnish proofs. + +Vautrin +If your grace has confided any important secret to him, I shall have +immediately to put him under surveillance. + +The Duke (aside) +This man seems more honest and reliable than the other. + +Vautrin +We put the secret police on such cases. + +The Duke +You ought not to have come here, sir, unless you were able to justify +your assertions. + +Vautrin +I have done my duty. I hope that the ambition of this man, who is +capable of selling himself to the highest bidder, may be of service to +you. + +The Duke (aside) +How can he have learned so promptly the secret of my morning +interview? + +Vautrin (aside) +He hesitates; Joseph is right, some important secret is at stake. + +The Duke +Sir! + +Vautrin +Your grace! + +The Duke +It is the interest of both of us to defeat this man. + +Vautrin +That would be dangerous, if he has your secret; for he is tricky. + +The Duke +Yes, the fellow has wit. + +Vautrin +Did you give him a commission? + +The Duke +Nothing of importance; I wish to find out all about a certain Monsieur +de Frescas. + +Vautrin (aside) +Merely that! (Aloud) I can tell your grace all about him. Raoul de +Frescas is a young nobleman whose family is mixed up in an affair of +high treason, and he does not like to assume his father's name. + +The Duke +He has a father, then? + +Vautrin +He has a father. + +The Duke +And where does he come from? What is his fortune? + +Vautrin +We are changing our roles, and your grace must excuse my not answering +until you tell me what special interest your grace has in Monsieur de +Frescas. + +The Duke +You are forgetting yourself, sir! + +Vautrin (with assumed humility) +Yes, I am forgetting the fact that there is an enormous difference +between spies and those who set them. + +The Duke +Joseph! + +Vautrin (aside) +The duke has set his spies upon us; I must hurry. + +(Vautrin disappears through the side door, by which he entered in the +first act.) + +The Duke (turning back) +You shall not leave the house. Heavens! Where is he? (He rings and +Joseph answers.) Let all the doors of the house be locked, a man has +got into the house. Quick! Let all look for him, and let him be +apprehended. (He goes to the room of the duchess.) + +Joseph (looking through the postern) +He is far away by this time. + + +Curtain to the Second Act. + + + + ACT III. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(A room in the house of Raoul de Frescas.) + +Lafouraille (alone) +Would my late excellent father, who advised me to frequent none but +the best society, have been satisfied with me yesterday? I spent all +night with ministers' valets, attendants of the embassy, princes', +dukes', peers' coachmen--none but these, all reliable men, in good +luck; they steal only from their masters. My master danced with a fine +chit of a girl whose hair was powdered with a million's worth of +diamonds, and he had no eyes for anything but the bouquet she carried +in her hand; simple young man, we sympathize with you. Old Jacques +Collin--Botheration! There I trip again, I cannot reconcile myself to +this common name--I mean Monsieur Vautrin, will arrange all that. In a +little time diamonds and dowry will take an airing, and they have need +of it; to think of them as always in the same strong boxes! 'Tis +against the laws of circulation. What a joker he is!--He sets you up +as a young man of means. He is so kind, he talks so finely, the +heiress comes in, the trick is done, and we all cry shares! The money +will have been well earned. You see we have been here six months. +Haven't we put on the look of idiots! Everybody in the neighborhood +takes us for good simple folk. And who would refuse to do anything for +Vautrin? He said to us: "Be virtuous," and virtuous we became. I fear +him as I fear the police, and yet I love him even more than money. + +Vautrin (calling from outside) +Lafouraille! + +Lafouraille +There he is! I haven't seen his face this morning--that means a storm; +I prefer it should fall upon some one else, and will get out. (He +starts to the door but encounters Vautrin.) + + +SCENE SECOND. +Vautrin and Lafouraille. +(Vautrin is dressed in long white duck trousers and a waistcoat of the +same material, slippers of red morocco,--the morning dress of a +business man.) + +Vautrin +Lafouraille. + +Lafouraille +Sir? + +Vautrin +Where are you going? + +Lafouraille +To get your letters. + +Vautrin +I have them. Have you anything else to do? + +Lafouraille +Yes, your chamber-- + +Vautrin +In so many words you want to avoid me. I have always found that +restless legs never go with a quiet conscience. Stay where you are. I +want to talk with you. + +Lafouraille +I am at your service. + +Vautrin +I hope you are. Come here. You told us, under the fair sky of +Provence, a certain story which was little to your credit. A steward +beat you at play; do you recollect? + +Lafouraille +A steward? Yes, that fellow Charles Blondet, the only man who ever +robbed me! Can a fellow forget that? + +Vautrin +Had you not on one occasion sold your master to him? That's common +enough. + +Lafouraille +On one occasion? I sold him three times over. + +Vautrin +That was better. And what business was the steward then engaged in? + +Lafouraille +I was going to tell you. I was footman at eighteen with the De +Langeacs-- + +Vautrin +I thought it was in the Duc de Montsorel's house. + +Lafouraille +No; the duke, fortunately, has only twice set eyes on me, and has, I +hope, forgotten me. + +Vautrin +Did you rob him? + +Lafouraille +Well, to some small extent. + +Vautrin +Why do you want him to forget you? + +Lafouraille +Because, after seeing him again, yesterday, at the embassy, I should +then feel safe. + +Vautrin +And it is the same man? + +Lafouraille +We are both older by twenty-five years, and that is the only +difference. + +Vautrin +Tell me all about him. I knew I had heard you mention his name. Go on. + +Lafouraille +The Vicomte de Langeac, one of my masters, and this Duc de Montsorel +were like peas in the same pod. When I was forced to choose between +the nobles and the people, I did not hesitate; from a mere footman, I +became a citizen, and citizen Philip Boulard was an earnest worker. I +had enthusiasm, and acquired influence in the faubourg. + +Vautrin +And so you have been a politician, have you? + +Lafouraille +Not for long. I did a pretty thing, and that ruined me. + +Vautrin +Aha! My boy, pretty things are like pretty women--better light shy of +them; they often bring trouble. What was this pretty thing? + +Lafouraille +I'll tell you. In the scrimmage of the Tenth of August, the duke +confided to my care the Vicomte de Langeac; I disguised and hid him, I +gave him food at the risk of my popularity and my life. The duke had +greatly encouraged me by such trifles as a thousand gold pieces, and +that Blondet had the infamy to offer me a bigger pile to give up our +young master. + +Vautrin +Did you give him up? + +Lafouraille +Immediately. He was jugged in the Abbaye, and I became the happy +possessor of sixty good thousands of francs in gold, in real gold. + +Vautrin +And what has this to do with the Duc de Montsorel? + +Lafouraille +Wait a little. When the days of September came, my conduct seemed to +me slightly reprehensible; and to quiet my conscience, I determined to +propose to the duke, who was leaving the country that I should rescue +his friend. + +Vautrin +Did your remorse prove a good investment? + +Lafouraille +That it did; for it was rare in those days! The duke promised me +twenty thousand francs if I delivered the viscount from the hands of +my comrades, and I succeeded in doing so. + +Vautrin +Twenty thousand francs for a viscount! + +Lafouraille +And he was all the more worth it, because he was the last. I found +that out too late. The steward had disposed of all the other Langeacs, +even to the poor grandmother whom he had sent to the Carmelites. + +Vautrin +That was good! + +Lafouraille +But then something else happened. That Blondet heard of my devotion, +he traced me out and found me in the neighborhood of Mortagne, where +my master was at the house of one of my uncles waiting for a chance to +reach the sea. The noodle offered me as much money as he had already +given me. I saw before me an honest life for the rest of my days; and +I was weak. My friend Blondet caused the viscount to be shot as a spy; +and my uncle and myself were imprisoned as his accomplices. We were +not released until I had disgorged all my gold. + +Vautrin +That is the way a knowledge of the human heart is acquired. You were +dealing with a stronger man than yourself. + +Lafouraille +That remains to be seen; for I am still alive. + +Vautrin +Enough of that! There is nothing of use to me in your tale. + +Lafouraille +Can I go now? + +Vautrin +Come, come. You seem to experience a keen longing to be where I am +not. But you went into society yesterday; did you do anything? + +Lafouraille +The servants said such funny things about their masters, that I could +not leave the antechamber. + +Vautrin +Yet I saw you nibbling at the sideboard; what did you take? + +Lafouraille +Nothing--but stay--I took a wineglass of Madeira. + +Vautrin +What did you do with the dozen of gold spoons that went with the glass +of Madeira? + +Lafouraille +Gold spoons! I've searched diligently, but find nothing of that kind +in my memory. + +Vautrin +Possibly; but you will find them in your mattress. And was Philosopher +also absent-minded? + +Lafouraille +Poor Philosopher! Since morning he has been a laughing-stock below +stairs. He induced a coachman who was very young to strip off his gold +lace for him. It was all false on the underside. In these days masters +are thieves. You cannot be sure of anything, more's the pity. + +Vautrin (whistles) +This is no joking matter. You will make me lose the house: this must +be put a stop to--Here, father Buteux, ahoy! Philosopher! Come here. +Fil-de-Soie! My dear friends, let us have a clearing up. You are a +pack of scoundrels. + + +SCENE THIRD. +The same persons, Buteux, Philosopher and Fil-de-Soie. + +Buteux +Present! Is the house on fire? + +Fil-de-Soie +Is it some one burning with curiosity? + +Buteux +A fire would be better, for it can be put out. + +Philosopher +But the other can be choked. + +Lafouraille +Bah! He has had enough of this trifling. + +Buteux +So we are to have more moralizing--thank you for that. + +Fil-de-Soie +He cannot want me for I have not been out. + +Vautrin (to Fil-de-Soie) +You? The evening when I bade you exchange your scullion's cap for a +footman's hat--poisoner-- + +Fil-de-Soie +We will drop the extra names. + +Vautrin +And you accompanied me as my footman to the field marshal's; while +helping me on with my cloak, you stole the watch of the Cossack +prince. + +Fil-de-Soie +One of the enemies of France. + +Vautrin +You, Buteux, you old malefactor, carried off the opera-glass of the +Princesse d'Arjos the evening she set down your young master at our +gate. + +Buteux +It dropped on the carriage step. + +Vautrin +You should have respectfully handed it back to her; but the gold and +the pearls appealed to your tigerish talons. + +Lafouraille +Now, now, surely people can have a little fun? Devil take it! Did not +you, Jacques-- + +Vautrin +What do you mean? + +Lafouraille +Did not you, Monsieur Vautrin, require thirty thousand francs that +this young man might live in princely style? We succeeded in +satisfying you in the fashion of foreign governments, by borrowing, +and getting credit. All those who come to ask for me leave some with +us. And you are not satisfied. + +Fil-de-Soie +And if, when I am sent to buy provisions without a sou, I may not be +allowed to bring back some cash with me,--I might as well send in my +resignation. + +Philosopher +And didn't I sell our custom to four different coach-builders--5,000 +francs each clip--and the man who got the order lost all? One evening +Monsieur de Frescas starts off from home with wretched screws, and we +bring him back, Lafouraille and I, with a span worth ten thousand +francs, which have cost him only twenty glasses of brandy. + +Lafouraille +No, it was Kirchenwasser. + +Philosopher +Yes, and yet you fly into a rage-- + +Fil-de-Soie +How are you going to keep house now? + +Vautrin +Do you expect to do things of this kind for long? What I have +permitted in order to set up our establishment, from this day forth I +forbid. You wish, I suppose, to descend from robbery to swindling? If +you do not understand what I say I will look out for better servants. + +Buteux +And where will you find them? + +Lafouraille +Let him hunt for them! + +Vautrin +You forget, I see, that I have pledged myself to save your necks! +Dear, dear, do you think I have sifted you, like seeds in a colander, +through three different places of residence, to let you hover round a +gibbet, like flies round a candle? I wish you to know that any +imprudence that brings you to such a position, is, to men of my stamp, +a crime. You ought to appear as supremely innocent as you, +Philosopher, appeared to him who let you rip off his lace. Never +forget the part you are playing; you are honest fellows, faithful +domestics, and adore Raoul de Frescas, your master. + +Buteux +Do you take this young man for a god? You have harnessed us to his +car; but we know him no better than he knows us. + +Philosopher +Tell me, is he one of our kind? + +Fil-de-Soie +What is he going to bring us to? + +Lafouraille +We obey on condition that the Society of the Ten Thousand be +reconstituted, so that never less than ten thousand francs at a time +be assigned to us; at present we have not any funds in common. + +Fil-de-Soie +When are we all to be capitalists? + +Buteux +If the gang knew that for the last six months I have been disguising +myself as an old porter, without any object, I should be disgraced. If +I am willing to risk my neck, it is that I may give bread to my Adele, +whom you have forbidden me to see, and who for six months must have +been as dry as a match. + +Lafouraille (to the other two) +She is in prison. Poor man! Let us spare his feelings. + +Vautrin +Have you finished? Come now, you have made merry here for six months, +eaten like diplomats, drunk like Poles, and have wanted nothing. + +Buteux +Yes, we are rusting out! + +Vautrin +Thanks to me, the police have forgotten you! You owe your good luck to +me alone! I have erased the brand from your foreheads. I am the head, +whose ideas you, the arms, carry out. + +Philosopher +We are satisfied. + +Vautrin +You must all obey me blindly. + +Lafouraille +Blindly. + +Vautrin +Without a murmur. + +Fil-de-Soie +Without a murmur. + +Vautrin +Or else let us break our compact, and be off with you! If I meet with +ingratitude from you, to whom can I venture hereafter to do a service? + +Philosopher +To no one, my emperor. + +Lafouraille +I should rather say, our great teacher! + +Buteux +I love you more than I love Adele. + +Fil-de-Soie +We worship you. + +Vautrin +If necessary, I shall even have to beat you. + +Philosopher +We'll take it without a murmur. + +Vautrin +To spit in your face; to bowl over your lives like a row of skittles. + +Buteux +But I bowl over with a knife. + +Vautrin +Very well--Kill me this instant. + +Buteux +It is no use being vexed with this man. Do you wish me to restore the +opera-glass? I intended it for Adele! + +All (surrounding Vautrin) +Would you abandon us, Vautrin? + +Lafouraille +Vautrin! Our friend. + +Philosopher +Mighty Vautrin! + +Fil-de-Soie +Our old companion, deal with us as you will. + +Vautrin +Yes, and I can deal with you as I will. When I think what trouble you +make, in your trinket-stealing, I feel inclined to send you back to +the place I took you from. You are either above or below the level of +society, dregs or foam; but I desire to make you enter into society. +People used to hoot you as you went by. I wish them to bow to you; you +were once the basest of mankind, I wish you to be more than honest +men. + +Philosopher +Is there such a class? + +Buteux +There are those who are nothing at all. + +Vautrin +There are those who decide upon the honesty of others. You will never +be honest burgesses, you must belong either to the wretched or the +rich; you must therefore master one-half of the world! Take a bath of +gold, and you will come forth from it virtuous! + +Fil-de-Soie +To think, that, when I have need of nothing, I shall be a good prince! + +Vautrin +Of course. And you, Lafouraille, you can become Count of Saint Helena; +and what would you like to be, Buteux? + +Buteux +I should like to be a philanthropist, for the philanthropist always +becomes a millionaire. + +Philosopher +And I, a banker. + +Fil-de-Soie +He wishes to be a licensed professional. + +Vautrin +Show yourselves then, according as occasion demands it, blind and +clear-sighted, adroit and clumsy, stupid and clever, like all those +who make their fortune. Never judge me, and try to understand my +meaning. You ask who Raoul de Frescas is? I will explain to you; he +will soon have an income of twelve hundred thousand francs. He will be +a prince. And I picked him up when he was begging on the high road, +and ready to become a drummer-boy; in his twelfth year he had neither +name nor family; he came from Sardinia, where he must have got into +some trouble, for he was a fugitive from justice. + +Buteux +Oh, now that we know his antecedents and his social position-- + +Vautrin +Be off to your lodge! + +Buteux +Little Nini, daughter of Giroflee is there-- + +Vautrin +She may let a spy pass in. + +Buteux +She! She is a little cat to whom it is not necessary to point out the +stool-pigeons. + +Vautrin +You may judge my power from what I am in process of doing for Raoul. +Ought he not to be preferred before all? Raoul de Frescas is a young +man who has remained pure as an angel in the midst of our mire-pit; he +is our conscience; moreover, he is my creation; I am at once his +father, his mother, and I desire to be his guiding providence. I, who +can never know happiness, still delight in making other people happy. +I breathe through his lips, I live in his life, his passions are my +own; and it is impossible for me to know noble and pure emotions +excepting in the heart of this being unsoiled by crime. You have your +fancies, here I show you mine. In exchange for the blight which +society has brought upon me, I give it a man of honor, and enter upon +a struggle with destiny; do you wish to be of my party? Obey me. + +All +In life, and death-- + +Vautrin (aside) +So my savage beasts are once more brought to submission. (Aloud) +Philosopher, try to put on the air, the face, the costume of an +/employe/ of the lost goods bureau, and take back to the embassy the +plate borrowed by Lafouraille. (To Fil-de-Soie) You, Fil-de-Soie, must +prepare a sumptuous dinner, as Monsieur de Frescas is to entertain a +few friends. You will afterwards dress yourself as a respectable man, +and assume the air of a lawyer. You will go to number six, Rue Oblin, +ring seven times at the fourth-story door, and ask for Pere Giroflee. +When they ask where you come from, you will answer from a seaport in +Bohemia. They will let you in. I want certain letters and papers of +the Duc de Christoval; here are the text and patterns. I want an +absolute fac-simile, with the briefest possible delay. Lafouraille, +you must go and insert a few lines in the newspapers, notifying the +arrival of . . . (He whispers into his ear.) This forms part of my +plan. Now leave me. + +Lafouraille +Well, are you satisfied? + +Vautrin +Yes. + +Philosopher +You want nothing more of us? + +Vautrin +Nothing. + +Fil-de-Soie +There will be no more rebellion; every one will be good. + +Buteux +Let your mind rest easy; we are going to be not only polite, but +honest. + +Vautrin +That is right, boys; a little integrity, a great deal of address, and +you will be respected. + +(Exeunt all except Vautrin.) + + +SCENE FOURTH. + +Vautrin (alone) +In order to lead them it is only necessary to let them think they have +an honorable future. They have no future, no prospects! Pshaw! If +generals took their soldiers seriously, not a cannon would be fired! +In a few days, following upon years of subterranean labors, I shall +have won for Raoul a commanding position; it must be made sure to him. +Lafouraille and Philosopher will be necessary to me in the country +where I am to give him a family. Ah, this love! It has put out of the +question the life I had destined him to. I wished to win for him a +solitary glory, to see him conquering for me and under my direction, +the world which I am forbidden to enter. Raoul is not only the child +of my intellect and of my malice, he is also my instrument of revenge. +These fellows of mine cannot understand these sentiments; they are +happy; they have never fallen, not they! They were born criminals. But +I have attempted to raise myself. Yet though a man can raise himself +in the eyes of God, he can never do so in the eyes of the world. +People tell you to repent, and then refuse to pardon. Men possess in +their dealings with each other the instincts of savage animals. Once +wounded, one is down-trodden by his fellows. Moreover, to ask the +protection of a world whose laws you have trampled under foot is like +returning to a house which you have burnt and whose roof would fall +and crush you. I have well polished and perfected the magnetic +instrument of my domination. Raoul was brave, he would have sacrificed +his life, like a fool; I had to make him cold and domineering, and to +dispel from his mind, one by one, his exalted ideas of life; to render +him suspicious and tricky as--an old bill-broker, while all the while +he knew not who I was. And at this moment love has broken down the +whole scaffolding. He should have been great; now, he can only be +happy. I shall therefore retire to live in a corner at the height of +his prosperity; his happiness will have been my work. For two days I +have been asking myself whether it would not be better that the +Princesse d'Arjos should die of some ailment--say brain fever. It's +singular how many plans a woman can upset! + + +SCENE FIFTH. +Vautrin and Lafouraille. + +Vautrin +What is the matter? Cannot I be alone one moment? Did I call? + +Lafouraille +We are likely to feel the claws of justice scratch our shoulders. + +Vautrin +What new blunder have you committed? + +Lafouraille +The fact is little Nini has admitted a well-dressed gentleman who asks +to see you. Buteux is whistling the air, /There's No Place Like Home/, +so it must be a sleuth. + +Vautrin +Nothing of the kind, I know who it is; tell him to wait. Everybody in +arms! Vautrin must then vanish; I will be the Baron de Vieux-Chene. +Speak in a German account, fool him well, until I can play the master +stroke. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SIXTH. +Lafouraille and Saint-Charles. + +Lafouraille (speaking with a German accent) +M. de Frescas is not at home, sir, and his steward, the Baron de +Vieux-Chene, is engaged with an architect, who is to build a grand +house for my master. + +Saint-Charles +I beg your pardon, my dear sir, you said-- + +Lafouraille +I said Baron de Vieux-Chene. + +Saint-Charles +Baron! + +Lafouraille +Yes! Yes! + +Saint-Charles +He is a baron? + +Lafouraille +Baron de Vieux-Chene. + +Saint-Charles +You are a German. + +Lafouraille +Not I! Not I! I am an Alsatian, a very different thing. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +This man has certainly an accent too decidedly German to be a +Parisian. + +Lafouraille (aside) +I know this man well. Here's a go! + +Saint-Charles +If the baron is busy, I will wait. + +Lafouraille (aside) +Ah! Blondet, my beauty, you can disguise your face, but not your +voice; if you get out of our clutches now, you will be a wonder. +(Aloud) What shall I tell the baron brings you here? (He makes as if +to go out.) + +Saint-Charles +Stay a moment, my friend; you speak German, I speak French, we may +misunderstand one another. (Puts a purse into his hand.) There can be +no mistake with this for an interpreter. + +Lafouraille +No, sir. + +Saint-Charles +That is merely on account. + +Lafouraille (aside) +Yes, on account of my eighty thousand francs. (Aloud) And do you wish +me to shadow my master? + +Saint-Charles +No, my friend, I merely ask for some information, which cannot +compromise you. + +Lafouraille +In good German we call that spying. + +Saint-Charles +But no--that is not it--it is-- + +Lafouraille +To shadow him. And what shall I say to his lordship the baron? + +Saint-Charles +Announce the Chevalier de Saint-Charles. + +Lafouraille +We understand each other. I will induce him to see you. But do not +offer money to the steward; he is more honest than the rest of us. (He +gives a sly wink.) + +Saint-Charles +That means he will cost more. + +Lafouraille +Yes, sir. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SEVENTH. + +Saint-Charles (alone) +A bad beginning! Ten louis thrown away. To shadow him indeed! It is +too stupid not to have a spice of wit in it, this habit of calling +things by their right name, at the outset. If the pretended steward, +for there is no steward here, if the baron is as clever as his +footman, I shall have nothing to base my information on, excepting +what they conceal from me. This room is very fine. There is neither +portrait of the king, nor emblem of royalty here. Well, it is plain +they do not frame their opinions. Is the furniture suggestive of +anything? No. It is too new to have been even paid for. But for the +air which the porter whistled, doubtless a signal, I should be +inclined to believe in the De Frescas people. + + +SCENE EIGHTH. +Saint-Charles, Vautrin and Lafouraille. +(Vautrin wears a bright maroon coat, of old-fashioned cut, with large +heavy buttons; his breeches are black silk, as are his stockings. His +shoes have gold buckles, his waistcoat is flowered, he wears two +watch-chains, his cravat belongs to the time of the Revolution; his +wig is white, his face old, keen, withered, dissipated looking. He +speaks low, and his voice is cracked.) + +Vautrin (to Lafouraille) +Very good; you may go. (Exit Lafouraille. Aside) Now for the tug of +war, Monsieur Blondet. (Aloud) I am at your service, sir. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +A worn out fox is still dangerous. (Aloud) Excuse me, baron, for +disturbing you, while yet unknown to you. + +Vautrin +I can guess what your business is. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Indeed? + +Vautrin +You are an architect, and have a proposal to make to me; but I have +already received most excellent offers. + +Saint-Charles +Excuse me, your Dutchman must have mispronounced my name. I am the +Chevalier de Saint-Charles. + +Vautrin (raising his spectacles) +Let me see--we are old acquaintances. You were at the Congress of +Vienna, and then bore the name of Count of Gorcum--a fine name! + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Go choke yourself, old man! (Aloud) So you were there also? + +Vautrin +I should think so! And I am glad to have come upon you again. You were +a deuced clever fellow, you know. How you fooled them all! + +Saint-Charles (aside) +We'll stick to Vienna, then. (Aloud) Ah, baron! I recall you perfectly +now; you also steered your bark pretty cleverly there. + +Vautrin +Of course I did, and what women we had there! Yes, indeed! And have +you still your fair Italian? + +Saint-Charles +Did you know her? She was a woman of such tact. + +Vautrin +My dear fellow, wasn't she, though? She actually wanted to find out +who I was. + +Saint-Charles +And did she find out? + +Vautrin +Well, my dear friend, I know you will be glad to hear it, she +discovered nothing. + +Saint-Charles +Come, baron, since we are speaking freely to each other to-day, I for +my part must confess that your admirable Pole-- + +Vautrin +You also had the pleasure? + +Saint-Charles +On my honor, yes! + +Vautrin (laughing) +Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! + +Saint Charles (laughing) +Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! + +Vautrin +We can safely laugh now, for I suppose you left her there? + +Saint-Charles +Immediately, as you did. I see that we are both come to throw away our +money in Paris, and we have done well; but it seems to me, baron, that +you have accepted a very secondary position, though one which attracts +notice. + +Vautrin +Ah! thank you, chevalier. I hope, however, we may still be friends for +many a day. + +Saint-Charles +Forever, I hope. + +Vautrin +You can be extremely useful to me, I can be of immense service to you, +we understand each other! Let me know what your present business is, +and I will tell you mine. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +I should like to know whether he is being set on me, or I on him. + +Vautrin (aside) +It is going to be a somewhat slow business. + +Saint-Charles +I will tell you. + +Vautrin +I am attention! + +Saint-Charles +Baron, between ourselves, I admire you immensely. + +Vautrin +What a compliment from a man like you! + +Saint-Charles +Not at all! To create a De Frescas in the face of all Paris shows an +inventive genius which transcends by a thousand points that of our +countesses at the Congress. You are angling for the dowry with rare +nerve. + +Vautrin +I angling for a dowry? + +Saint-Charles +But, my dear friend, you would be found out, unless I your friend had +been the man chosen to watch you, for I am appointed your shadower by +a very high authority. Permit me also to ask how can you dare to +interfere with the family of Montsorel in their pursuit of an heiress? + +Vautrin +To think that I innocently believed you came to propose we should work +in company, and speculate, both of us, with the money of Monsieur de +Frescas, of which I have entire control--and here you talk to me of +something entirely different! Frescas, my good friend, is one of the +legal titles of this young man, who has seven in all. Stringent +reasons prevent him from revealing the name of his family, which I +know, for the next twenty-four hours. Their property is vast, I have +seen their estate, from which I am just returned. I do not mind being +taken by you for a rogue, for there is no disgrace in the vast sums at +stake; but to be taken for an imbecile, capable of dancing attendance +on a sham nobleman, and so silly as to defy the Montsorels on behalf +of a counterfeit--Really, my friend, it would seem that you have never +been to Vienna! We are not in the same class! + +Saint-Charles +Do not grow angry, worthy steward! Let us leave off entangling +ourselves in a web of lies more or less agreeable; you cannot expect +to make me swallow any more of them. Our cash box is better furnished +than yours, therefore come over to us. Your young man is as much +Frescas as I am chevalier and you baron. You picked him up on the +frontier of Italy; he was then a vagabond, to-day he is an adventurer, +and that's the whole truth of it. + +Vautrin +You are right. We must leave off entangling ourselves in the web of +falsehoods more or less agreeable; we must speak the truth. + +Saint-Charles +I will pay you for it. + +Vautrin +I will give it you for nothing. You are an infamous cur, my friend. +Your name is Charles Blondet; you were steward in the household of De +Langeac; twice have you bought the betrayal of the viscount, and never +have you paid the money--it is shameful! You owe eighty thousand +francs to one of my footmen. You caused the viscount to be shot at +Mortagne in order that you might appropriate the property entrusted to +you by the family. If the Duc de Montsorel, who sent you here, knew +who you are, ha! ha! He would make you settle some old accounts! Take +off your moustache, your whiskers, your wig, your sham decorations and +your badges of foreign orders. (He tears off from him his wig, his +whiskers and decorations.) Good day, you rascal! How did you manage to +eat up a fortune so cleverly won? It was colossal; how did you lose +it? + +Saint-Charles +Through ill-luck. + +Vautrin +I understand. . . . What are you going to do now? + +Saint-Charles +Whoever you are, stop there; I surrender, I haven't a chance left! You +are either the devil or Jacques Collin! + +Vautrin +I am and wish to be nothing but the Baron de Vieux-Chene to you. +Listen to my ultimatum. I can cause you to be buried this instant in +one of my cellars, and no one will inquire for you. + +Saint-Charles +I know it. + +Vautrin +It would be prudent to do so. But are you willing to do for me in +Montsorel's house, what Montsorel sent you to do here? + +Saint-Charles +I accept the offer; but what are the profits? + +Vautrin +All you can take. + +Saint-Charles +From either party? + +Vautrin +Certainly! You will send me by the person who accompanies you back all +the deeds that relate to the De Langeac family; they must still be in +your possession. In case Monsieur de Frescas marries Mademoiselle de +Christoval, you cannot be their steward, but you shall receive a +hundred thousand francs. You are dealing with exacting masters. Walk +straight, and they will not betray you. + +Saint-Charles +It is a bargain! + +Vautrin +I will not ratify it until I have the documents in hand. Until then, +be careful! (He rings; all the household come in.) Attend Monsieur le +Chevalier home, with all the respect due his high rank. (To Saint- +Charles, pointing out to him Philosopher) This man will accompany you. +(To Philosopher) Do not leave him. + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Once I get safe and sound out of their clutches, I will come down +heavy on this nest of thieves. + +Vautrin +Monsieur le Chevalier, I am yours to command! + + +SCENE NINTH. +Vautrin and Lafouraille. + +Lafouraille +M. Vautrin! + +Vautrin +Well? + +Lafouraille +Are you letting him go? + +Vautrin +Unless he considers himself at liberty, what can we hope to learn from +him? I have given my instructions; he will be taught not to put ropes +in the way of hangmen. When Philosopher brings for me the documents +which this fellow is to hand him, they will be given to me, wherever I +happen to be. + +Lafouraille +But afterwards, will you spare his life? + +Vautrin +You are always a little premature, my dear. Have you forgotten how +seriously the dead interfere with the peace of the living? Hush! I +hear Raoul--leave us to ourselves. + + +SCENE TENTH. +Vautrin and Raoul de Frescas. + +Raoul (soliloquizing) +After a glimpse of heaven, still to remain on earth--such is my fate! +I am a lost man; Vautrin, an infernal yet a kindly genius, a man who +knows everything, and seems able to do everything, a man as harsh to +others as he is good to me, a man who is inexplicable except by a +supposition of witchcraft, a maternal providence if I may so call him, +is not after all the providence divine. (Vautrin enters wearing a +plain black peruke, a blue coat, gray pantaloons, a black waistcoat, +the costume of a stock-broker.) Oh! I know what love is; but I did not +know what revenge was, until I felt I could not die before I had +wreaked my vengeance on these two Montsorels. + +Vautrin (aside) +He is in trouble. (Aloud) Raoul, my son, what ails you? + +Raoul +Nothing ails me. Pray leave me. + +Vautrin +Do you again repulse me? You abuse the right you have to ill-treat a +friend--What are you thinking about? + +Raoul +Nothing. + +Vautrin +Nothing? Come, sir, do you think that he who has taught you that +English coldness, under the veil of which men of worth would conceal +their feelings, was not aware of the transparency which belongs to +this cuirass of pride? Try concealment with others, but not with me. +Dissimulation is more than a blunder, for in friendship a blunder is a +crime. + +Raoul +To game no more, to come home tipsy no more, to shun the menagerie of +the opera, to become serious, to study, to desire a position in life, +this you call dissimulation. + +Vautrin +You are as yet but a poor diplomatist. You will be a great one, when +you can deceive me. Raoul, you have made the mistake which I have +taken most pains to save you from. My son, why did you not take women +for what they are, creatures of inconsequence, made to enslave without +being their slave, like a sentimental shepherd? But instead, my +Lovelace has been conquered by a Clarissa. Ah, young people will +strike against these idols a great many times, before they discover +them to be hollow! + +Raoul +Is this a sermon? + +Vautrin +What? Do you take me, who have trained your hand to the pistol, who +have shown you how to draw the sword, have taught you not to dread the +strongest laborer of the faubourg, who have done for your brains what +I have done for your body, have set you above all men, and anointed +you my king, do you take me for a dolt? Come, now, let us have a +little more frankness. + +Raoul +Do you wish me to tell you what I was thinking?--But no, that would be +to accuse my benefactor. + +Vautrin +Your benefactor! You insult me. Do you think I have devoted to you my +life, my blood, shown myself ready to kill, to assassinate your enemy, +in order that I may receive that exorbitant interest called gratitude? +Have I become an usurer of this kind? There are some men who would +hang the weight of a benefit around your heart like a cannon-ball +attached to the feet of----, but let that pass! Such men I would crush +as I would a worm, without thinking that I had committed homicide! No! +I have asked you to adopt me as your father, that my heart may be to +you what heaven is to the angels, a space where all is happiness and +confidence; that you may tell me all your thoughts, even those which +are evil. Speak, I shall understand everything, even an act of +cowardice. + +Raoul +God and Satan must have conspired to cast this man of bronze. + +Vautrin +It is quite possible. + +Raoul +I will tell you all. + +Vautrin +Very good, my son; let us sit down. + +Raoul +You have been the cause to me of opprobrium and despair. + +Vautrin +Where? When? Blood of a man! Who has wounded you? Who has proved false +to you? Tell me the place, name the people--the wrath of Vautrin shall +descend upon them! + +Raoul +You can do nothing. + +Vautrin +Child, there are two kinds of men who can do anything. + +Raoul +And who are they? + +Vautrin +Kings, who are, or who ought to be, above the law; and--this will give +you pain--criminals, who are below it. + +Raoul +But since you are not king-- + +Vautrin +Well! I reign in the region below. + +Raoul +What horrible mockery is this, Vautrin? + +Vautrin +Did you not say that God and the devil hobnobbed to cast me? + +Raoul +Heavens, sir, you make me shudder! + +Vautrin +Return to your seat! Calm yourself, my son. You must not be astonished +at anything, if you wish to escape being an ordinary man. + +Raoul +Am I in the hands of a demon, or of an angel? You have brought me up +without debauching the generous instincts I feel within me; you have +enlightened without dazzling me; you have given me the experience of +the old, without depriving me of the graces of youth; but it is not +with impunity that you have whetted the edge of my intellect, expanded +my view, roused my perspicacity. Tell me, what is the source of your +wealth, is it an honorable one? Why do you forbid me to confess to you +the sufferings of my childhood? Why have you given me the name of the +village where you found me? Why do you prevent me from searching out +my father and mother? Why do you bow me down under a load of +falsehoods? An orphan may rouse the interest of people; an imposter, +never. I live in a style which makes me a equal to the son of a duke +or a peer; you have educated me well, without expense to the state; +you have launched me into the empyrean of the world, and now they +fling into my face the declaration, that there are no longer such +people as De Frescas in existence. I have been asked who my family +are, and you have forbidden me to answer. I am at once a great +nobleman and a pariah. I must swallow insults which would drive me to +rend alive marquises and dukes; rage fills my heart; I should like to +fight twenty duels, and to die. Do you wish me to suffer any further +insults? No more secrets for me! Prometheus of hell, either finish +your work, or shatter it to pieces! + +Vautrin +Who could fail to respond with a glow of sympathy to this burst of +youthful generosity? What flashes of courage blaze forth! It is +inspiring to see sentiment at its full tide! You must be the son of a +noble race. But, Raoul, let us come down to what I call plain reason. + +Raoul +Ah! At last! + +Vautrin +You ask me for an account of my guardianship. Here it is. + +Raoul +But have I any right to ask this? Could I live without you? + +Vautrin +Silence, you had nothing, I made you rich. You knew nothing, I have +given you a good education. Oh! I have not yet done all for you. A +father--all fathers give their life to their children, and as for me, +happiness is a debt which I owe you. But is this really the cause of +your gloom? There are here--in this casket (he points to a casket) a +portrait, and certain letters. Often while reading the letters you +sign as if-- + +Raoul +Then you know all--? + +Vautrin +I know all.--Are you not touched to the heart? + +Raoul +To the heart. + +Vautrin +O fool! Love lives by treachery, friendship by confidence.--And you-- +you must seek happiness in your own way. + +Raoul +But have I the power? I will become a soldier, and--wherever the +cannot oars, I will win a glorious name, or die. + +Vautrin +Indeed! Why should you? You talk nonsense. + +Raoul +You are too old to possess the power of understanding me, and it is no +use trying to explain. + +Vautrin +Well, I will explain to you. You are in love with Inez de Christoval, +Princesse d'Arjos in her own right, daughter of a duke banished by +King Ferdinand--an Andalusian who loves you and pleases me, not as a +woman, but as a ravishing money-box, whose eyes are the finest in the +world, whose dowry is captivating, and who is the most delightful +piece of cash, graceful and elegant as some black corvette with white +sails which convoys the long-expected galleons of America, and yields +all the joys of life, exactly like the Fortune which is painted over +the entrance of the lottery agencies. I approve of you here. You did +wrong to fall in love, love will involve you in a thousand follies-- +but I understand. + +Raoul +Do not score me with such frightful sarcasms. + +Vautrin +See how quickly he feels his ardor damped, and his hat wreathed in +crepe! + +Raoul +Yes. For it is impossible for the child flung by accident into the +bosom of a fisher family at Alghero to become Prince of Arjos, while +to lose Inez is for me to die of grief. + +Vautrin +An income of twelve thousand francs, the title of prince, grandeur, +and amassed wealth are not things to be contemplated with melancholy. + +Raoul +If you love me, why do you mock me thus in the hour of my despair? + +Vautrin +And what is the cause of your despair? + +Raoul +The duke and the marquis have insulted me, in their own house, in her +presence, and I have seen then all my hopes extinguished. The door of +the Christoval mansion is closed upon me. I do not know why the +Duchesse de Montsorel made me come and see her. For the last few days +she has manifested an interest in me which I do not understand. + +Vautrin +And what brought you to the house of your rival? + +Raoul +It seems you know all about it. + +Vautrin +Yes, and many other things besides. Is it true you desire Inez de +Christoval? Then you can get over this present despondency. + +Raoul +You are trifling with me. + +Vautrin +Look here, Raoul! The Christovals have shut their doors upon you. +Well--to-morrow you shall be the accepted lover of the princess, and +the Montsorels shall be turned away, Montsorels though they be. + +Raoul +The sight of my distress has crazed you. + +Vautrin +What reason have you ever had for doubting my word? Did I not give you +an Arabian horse, to drive mad with envy the foreign and native +dandies of the Bois de Boulogne? Who paid your gambling debts? Who +made provision for your excesses? Who gave you boots, you who once +went barefoot? + +Raoul +You, my friend, my father, my family! + +Vautrin +Many, many thanks. In those words is a recompense for all my +sacrifices. But, alas! when once you become rich, a grandee of Spain, +a part of the great world, you will forget me; a change of atmosphere +brings a change of ideas; you will despise me, and--you will be right +in doing so. + +Raoul +Do I see before me a genie, a spirit materialized from the Arabian +Nights? I question my own existence. But, my friend, my protector, I +have no family. + +Vautrin +Well, we are making up a family for you at this very moment. The +Louvre could not contain the portraits of your ancestors, they would +overcrowd the quays. + +Raoul +You rekindle all my hopes. + +Vautrin +Do you wish to obtain Inez? + +Raoul +By any means possible. + +Vautrin +You will shrink from nothing? Magic and hell will not intimidate you? + +Raoul +Hell is nothing, if it yields me paradise. + +Vautrin +What is hell but the hulks and the convicts decorated by justice and +the police with brandings and manacles, and driven on their course by +that wretchedness from which they have no escape? Paradise is a fine +house, sumptuous carriages, delightful women, and the prestige of +rank. In this world there exist two worlds. I put you in the fairest +of them, I remain myself in the foulest, and if you remember me, it is +all I ask of you. + +Raoul +While you make me shudder with horror, you fill me with the frenzy of +delight. + +Vautrin (slapping him on the shoulder) +You are a child! (Aside) Have I not said too much to him? (He rings.) + +Raoul (aside) +There are moments when my inmost nature revolts from the acceptance of +his benefits. When he put his hand on my shoulder it was like a red- +hot iron; and yet he has never done anything but good to me! He +conceals from me the means, but the ends are all for me. + +Vautrin +What are you saying there? + +Raoul +I am resolved to accept nothing, unless my honor-- + +Vautrin +We will cake care of your honor! Is it not I who have fostered your +sense of honor? Have I ever compromised it? + +Raoul +You must explain to me-- + +Vautrin +I will explain nothing. + +Raoul +Nothing? + +Vautrin +Did you not say, "By any possible means"? When Inez is once yours, +does it matter what I have done, or who I am? You will take Inez away; +you will travel. The Christoval family will protect the Prince of +Arjos. (To Lafouraille) Put some bottles of champagne on ice; your +master is to be married, he bids farewell to bachelor life. His +friends are invited. Go and seek his mistresses, if there are any +left! All shall attend the wedding--a general turn-out in full dress. + +Raoul (aside) +His confidence terrifies me, but he is always right. + +Vautrin +Now for the dinner! + +All +Now for the dinner! + +Vautrin +Do not take your pleasure gloomily; laugh for the last time, while +liberty is still yours; I will order none but Spanish wines, for they +are in fashion to-day. + + +Curtain to the Third Act. + + + + ACT IV. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(Drawing-room of the Duchesse de Christoval.) +The Duchesse de Christoval and Inez. + +Inez +If Monsieur de Frescas is of obscure birth, mother, I will at once +give him up; but you, on your part, must be good enough not to insist +upon my marriage with the Marquis de Montsorel. + +The Duchess +If I oppose this unreasonable match, it is certainly not for the +purpose of making another with a designing family. + +Inez +Unreasonable? Who knows whether it be so or not? You believe him to be +an adventurer, I believe he is a gentleman, and we have nothing to +refute either view. + +The Duchess +We shall not have to wait long for proofs; the Montsorels are too +eager to unmask him. + +Inez +And he, I believe, loves me too much to delay proving himself worthy +of us. Was not his behavior yesterday noble in the extreme? + +The Duchess +Don't you see, silly child, that your happiness is identical with +mine? Let Raoul satisfy the world, and I shall be ready to fight for +you not only against the intrigues of the Montsorels, but in the court +of Spain, itself. + +Inez +Ah, mother, I perceive that you also love him. + +The Duchess +Is he not the man of your choice? + + +SCENE SECOND. +The same persons, a footman and Vautrin. + +(The footman brings the duchess a card, wrapped up and sealed.) + +The Duchess (to Inez) +General Crustamente, the secret envoy of his Majesty Don Augustine I, +Emperor of Mexico. What can he have to say to me? + +Inez +Of Mexico! He doubtless brings news of my father! + +The Duchess (to the footman) +Let him come in. + +(Vautrin enters dressed like a Mexican general, his height increased +four inches. His hat has white plumes; his coat blue, with the rich +lace of a Mexican general officer; his trousers white, his scarf +crimson, his hair long and frizzed like that of Murat; he wears a long +sabre, and his complexion is copper-hued. He stutters like the +Spaniards of Mexico, and his accent resembles Provencal, plus the +guttural intonation of the Moors.) + +Vautrin +Is it indeed her grace, the Duchesse de Christoval that I have the +honor to address? + +The Duchess +Yes, sir. + +Vautrin +And mademoiselle? + +The Duchess +My daughter, sir. + +Vautrin +Mademoiselle is then the Senorita Inez, in her own right Princesse +d'Arjos. When I see you, I understand perfectly Monsieur de +Christoval's idolatry of his daughter. But, ladies, before anything +further, let me impose upon you the utmost secrecy. My mission is +already a difficult one, but, if it is suspected that there is any +communication between you and me, we should all be seriously +compromised. + +The Duchess +I promise to keep secret both your name and your visit. + +Inez +General, if the matter concerns my father, you will allow me to remain +here? + +Vautrin +You are nobles, and Spaniards, and I rely upon your word. + +The Duchess +I shall instruct my servants to keep silence on the subject. + +Vautrin +Don't say a word to them; to demand silence is often to provoke +indiscreet talk. I can answer for my own people. I pledged myself to +bring you news of Monsieur de Christoval, as soon as I reached Paris, +and this is my first visit. + +The Duchess +Tell us at once about my husband, general; where is he now? + +Vautrin +Mexico has become what was sooner or later inevitable, a state +independent of Spain. At the moment I speak there are no more +Spaniards, only Mexicans, in Mexico. + +The Duchess +At this moment? + +Vautrin +Everything seems to happen in a moment where the causes are not +discerned. How could it be otherwise? Mexico felt the need of her +independence, she has chosen an emperor! Although nothing could be +more natural, it may still surprise us: while principles can wait to +be recognized men are always in a hurry. + +The Duchess +What has happened to Monsieur de Christoval? + +Vautrin +Do not be alarmed, madame; he is not emperor. His grace the duke has +been unsuccessful, in spite of a desperate struggle, in keeping the +kingdom loyal to Ferdinand VII. + +The Duchess +But, sir, my husband is not a soldier. + +Vautrin +Of course he is not; but he is a clever loyalist, and he acquitted +himself well. If he does eventually succeed, he will be received back +again into royal favor. Ferdinand cannot help appointing him viceroy. + +The Duchess +In what a strange century do we live! + +Vautrin +Revolutions succeed without resembling each other. France sets the +example to the world. But let me beg of you not to talk politics; it +is dangerous ground. + +Inez +Has my father received our letters, general? + +Vautrin +In the confusion of such a conflict letters may go astray, when even +crowns are lost. + +The Duchess +And what has become of Monsieur de Christoval? + +Vautrin +The aged Amoagos, who exercises enormous influence in those regions, +saved your husband's life at the moment I was going to have him shot-- + +The Duchess and Inez +Ah! + +Vautrin +It was thus that he and I became acquainted. + +The Duchess +You, general? + +Inez +And my father? + +Vautrin +Well, ladies, I should have been either hanged by him, as a rebel, or +hailed by others as the hero of an emancipated nation, and here I am. +The sudden arrival of Amoagos, at the head of his miners, decided the +question. The safety of his friend, the Duc de Christoval, was the +reward of his interference. Between ourselves, the Emperor Iturbide, +my master, is no more than a figurehead; the future of Mexico is +entirely in the hands of the aged Amoagos. + +The Duchess +And who, pray, is this Amoagos, the arbiter, as you say, of Mexico's +destiny? + +Vautrin +Is he not known here? Is it possible? I do not know what can possibly +be found to weld the old and new worlds together. I suppose it will be +steam. What is the use of exploiting gold mines, of being such a man +as Don Inigo Juan Varago Cardaval de los Amoagos, las Frescas y Peral +--and not be heard over here? But of course he uses only one of his +names, as we all do; thus, I call myself simply Crustamente. Although +you may be the future president of the Mexican republic, France will +ignore you. The aged Amoagos, ladies, received Monsieur de Christoval +just as the ancient gentleman of Aragon that he was would receive a +Spanish grandee who had been banished for yielding to the spell of +Napoleon's name. + +Inez +Did you not mention Frescas among other names? + +Vautrin +Yes, Frescas is the name of the second mine worked by Don Cardaval; +but you will learn all that monsieur the duke owes to his host from +the letters I have brought you. They are in my pocket-book. (Aside) +They are much taken by my aged Amoagos. (Aloud) Allow me to send for +one of my people. (He signs Inez to ring. To the duchess) Permit me to +say a few words to him. (To the footman) Tell my negro--but no, you +won't understand his frightful patois. Make signs to him to come here. + +The Duchess +My child, leave the room for a moment. + +(Enter Lafouraille, made up as a negro, and carrying a large +portmanteau.) + +Vautrin (to Lafouraille) +Jigi roro flouri. + +Lafouraille +Joro. + +Inez (to Vautrin) +The confidence my father has reposed in you ensures you a warm +welcome; but, general, you have won my gratitude by your promptness in +allaying our anxieties. + +Vautrin +Your gratitude! Ah, senorita, if we are to reckon accounts I should +consider myself in debt to your illustrious father, after having the +happiness to see you. + +Lafouraille +Jo. + +Vautrin +Caracas, y mouli joro, fistas, ip souri. + +Lafouraille +Souri, joro. + +Vautrin (to the ladies) +Ladies, here are your letters. (Aside to Lafouraille) Go round from +the antechamber to the court, close your lips, open your ears; hands +off, eye on the watch. + +Lafouraille +Ja, mein herr. + +Vautrin (angrily) +Souri joro, fistas. + +Lafouraille +Joro. (whispering) There are the de Langeac papers. + +Vautrin +I am not for the emancipation of the negroes! When there are no more +of them, we shall have to do with whites. + +Inez (to her mother) +Mother, allow me to go and read my father's letter. (To Vautrin) +General-- (She bows.) + +Vautrin +She is charming, may she be happy! + +(Exit Inez, accompanied to the door by her mother.) + + +SCENE THIRD. +The Duchess and Vautrin. + +Vautrin (aside) +If Mexico saw herself represented in this way, the government would be +capable of condemning me to embassades for life. (Aloud) Pray excuse +me, madame. I have so many things to think about. + +The Duchess +If absent-mindedness may be excused in any one, it is in a diplomat. + +Vautrin +Yes, to civil diplomats, but I mean to remain a frank soldier. The +success which I derive must be the result of candor. But now that we +are alone, let us talk, for I have more than one delicate mission to +discharge. + +The Duchess +Have you any news which my daughter should not hear? + +Vautrin +It may be so. Let me come to the point; the senorita is young and +beautiful, she is rich and noble born; she probably has four times as +many suitors as any other lady. Her hand is the object of rivalry. +Well, her father has charged me to find whether she has singled out +any one in particular. + +The Duchess +With a frank man, general, I will be frank. Your question is so +strange that I cannot answer it. + +Vautrin +Take care, for we diplomats, in our fear of being deceived, always put +the worst interpretation on silence. + +The Duchess +Sir, you forget that we are talking of Inez de Christoval! + +Vautrin +She is in love with no one. That is good; she will be able then to +carry out the wishes of her father. + +The Duchess +How has Monsieur de Christoval disposed of his daughter's hand? + +Vautrin +You see my meaning, and your anxiety tells me that she has made her +choice. I tremble to ask further, as much as you do to answer. Ah! if +only the young man whom your daughter loves were a foreigner, rich, +apparently without family, and bent on concealing the name of his +native land! + +The Duchess +The name, Frescas, which you lately uttered, is that of a young man +who seeks the hand of Inez. + +Vautrin +Does he call himself also Raoul? + +The Duchess +Yes, Raoul de Frescas. + +Vautrin +A young man of refinement, elegance and wit, and twenty-three years of +age? + +The Duchess +Gifted with manners which are never acquired, but innate. + +Vautrin +Romantic to the point of desiring to be loved for his own sake, in +spite of his immense fortune; he wishes that passion should prevail in +marriage--an absurdity! The young Amoagos, for it is he, madame. + +The Duchess +But the name of Raoul is not-- + +Vautrin +Mexican--you are right. It was given to him by his mother, a +Frenchwoman, an /emigree/, a De Granville, who came from St. Domingo. +Is the reckless fellow favored by her? + +The Duchess +Preferred to all the rest. + +Vautrin +Well, open this letter, and read it, madame; and you will see that I +have received full authority from Amoagos and Christoval to conclude +this marriage. + +The Duchess +Oh, let me call in Inez, sir. (Exit.) + + +SCENE FOURTH. + +Vautrin (alone) +The major-domo is on my side, the genuine deeds, if he comes upon +them, will be handed to me. Raoul is too proud to return to this +house; besides that, he has promised me to wait. I am thus master of +the situation; Raoul, when once he is a prince, will not lack +ancestors; Mexico and I will see to that. + + +SCENE FIFTH. +Vautrin, the Duchesse de Christoval and Inez. + +The Duchess (to her daughter) +My child, you have reason to thank the general very warmly. + +Inez +To thank you, sir? My father tells me, that among other missions you +have received is that of marrying me to a certain Signor Amoagos, +without any regard to my inclinations. + +Vautrin +You need not be alarmed, for his name here is Raoul de Frescas. + +Inez +What! He, Raoul de Frescas!--why then his persistent silence? + +Vautrin +Does it need an old soldier to interpret the heart of a young man? He +wished for love, not obedience; he wished-- + +Inez +Ah, general, I will punish him well for his modesty and distrust. +Yesterday, he showed himself readier to swallow an affront than to +reveal the name of his father. + +Vautrin +But, mademoiselle, I am still uncertain as to whether the name of his +father is that of a man convicted of high treason, or of a liberator +of America. + +Inez +Ah! mother, do you hear that? + +Vautrin (aside) +How she loves him! Poor girl, she does not deserve to be imposed upon. + +The Duchess +My husband's letter does in truth give you the full authority, +general. + +Vautrin +I have the authentic documents, and family deeds. + +A footman (as he enters) +Will her grace the duchess see Monsieur de Frescas? + +Vautrin (aside) +What! Raoul here? + +The Duchess (to the footman) +Let him come in. + +Vautrin (aside) +What a mess! The patient is liable to dose his doctor. + +The Duchess +Inez, you can see Monsieur de Frescas alone hereafter, since he has +been acknowledged by your father. + +(Inez kisses her mother's hand formally.) + + +SCENE SIXTH. +The same persons, and Raoul. + +(Raoul salutes the two ladies. Vautrin approaches him.) + +Vautrin (to Raoul) +Don Raoul de Cardaval. + +Raoul +Vautrin! + +Vautrin +No! General Crustamente. + +Raoul +Crustamente! + +Vautrin +Certainly; Mexican Envoy. Bear well in mind the name of your father,-- +Amoagos, a gentleman of Aragon, friend of the Duc de Christoval. Your +mother is dead; I bring the acknowledged titles, and authentic family +papers. Inez is yours. + +Raoul +And do you think that I will consent to such villainies? Never! + +Vautrin (to the two ladies) +He is overcome by what I have told him, not anticipating so prompt an +explanation. + +Raoul +If the truth should kill, your falsehoods would dishonor me, and I +prefer to die. + +Vautrin +You wished to obtain Inez by any means possible, yet you shrink from +practicing a harmless stratagem. + +Raoul (in exasperation) +Ladies! + +Vautrin +He is beside himself with joy. (To Raoul) To speak out would be to +lose Inez and deliver me to justice: do as you choose, I am at your +disposal. + +Raoul +O Vautrin! In what an abyss you have plunged me! + +Vautrin +I have made you a prince; and don't forget that you are at the summit +of happiness. (Aside) He will give in. (Exit.) + + +SCENE SEVENTH. +Inez (standing at the door through which her mother has passed); Raoul +(at the other side of the stage). + +Raoul (aside) +Honor bids me to speak out, gratitude to keep silence; well, I accept +my role of happy man, until he is out of danger; but I will write this +evening, and Inez shall learn who I am. Vautrin, after such a +sacrifice, I may cry quits with you; all ties between us are severed. +I will seek, I care not where, a soldier's death. + +Inez (approaching, after gazing at him) +My father and yours are friends; they consent to our marriage; we make +love to each other as if they were opposed to it, and you seem lost in +thought, and almost sad! + +Raoul +You are right, and I have lost my reason. At the very moment you see +no obstacle in our way, it is possible that insurmountable +difficulties may arise. + +Inez +Raoul, what a damper you are throwing on our happiness! + +Raoul +Our happiness! (Aside) It is impossible to dissemble. (Aloud) In the +name of our common love I implore you to believe in my loyalty. + +Inez +Has not my confidence in you been boundless? And the general has quite +justified it, even during your silence before the Montsorels. I +forgive you all the little annoyances you were forced to cause me. + +Raoul (aside) +Ah! Vautrin! I trust myself to you! (Aloud) Inez, you do not know how +great is the impression your words make upon me; they give me power to +bear the overwhelming rapture your presence causes--Come then, let us +be happy! + + +SCENE EIGHTH +The same persons and the Marquis de Montsorel. + +The footman (announcing a visitor) +Monsieur le Marquis de Montsorel. + +Raoul (aside) +Ah! That name recalls me to myself. (To Inez) Whatever happens, Inez, +do not judge my conduct until I have myself given an account of it, +and believe at the present moment that I am carried along by an +invincible fatality. + +Inez +Raoul, I cannot understand you; but I shall trust you always. + +The Marquis (aside) +Again this little gentleman here! (He salutes Inez.) I thought you +were with your mother, mademoiselle, and I never dreamed my visit +would be so inopportune. Be good enough to excuse me-- + +Inez +I beg that you will not go; there is no one but ourselves here, for +Monsieur Raoul has been accepted by my family. + +The Marquis +Will Monsieur Raoul de Frescas, then, accept my congratulations? + +Raoul +Your congratulations? I accept them (they shake hands) in the same +spirit as that in which they are offered. + +Inez (to Raoul) +Manage that he go away, and do you remain. (To the Marquis) My mother +requires me for a few moments, and I will return with her. + + +SCENE NINTH. +The Marquis and Raoul; later, Vautrin. + +The Marquis +Will you agree to a meeting without seconds--a fight to the death? + +Raoul +Without seconds? + +The Marquis +Do you realize that both of us cannot exist in the same world? + +Raoul +Your family is a powerful one; your proposition exposes me, in case I +am victorious, to their vengeance. Allow me to say that I do not want +to exchange this house for a prison. (Vautrin appears.) I will fight +to the death--but not without seconds. + +The Marquis +Will those on your side stop the duel? + +Raoul +Our mutual hatred is sufficient guarantee against that. + +Vautrin (aside) +Well, now--we always commit some blunder in the moment of success! To +the death! This child would gamble away his life as if it belonged to +him. + +The Marquis +Very well, monsieur; to-morrow at eight o'clock, we meet at the +terrace of Saint-Germain, and drive from there to the forest. + +Vautrin (coming forward) +You will not go. (To Raoul) A duel? Are the principals of equal rank? +Is this gentleman, like you, the only son of a noble house? Would your +father Don Inigo Juan Varago de los Amoagos de Cardaval las Frescas y +Peral, allow you to do it, Raoul? + +The Marquis +I have consented to fight with an unknown man, but the greatness of +the house to which the gentleman belongs cannot nullify the agreement. + +Raoul (to the marquis) +Nevertheless, it seems to me, monsieur, that we can treat each other +with courtesy, and act like people who esteem each other too much to +take the trouble to hate and to kill. + +The Marquis (looking at Vautrin) +May I know the name of your friend? + +Vautrin +By whom have I to honor to be referred to? + +The Marquis +By the Marquis de Montsorel, sir. + +Vautrin (eyeing him from head to foot) +I have the right to refuse you, but I will tell you my name, once for +all, in a very short time, and you won't repeat it. I am to be one of +the seconds of Monsieur de Frescas. (Aside) And Buteux shall be the +other. + + +SCENE TENTH. +Raoul, Vautrin, the Marquis and the Duchesse de Montsorel; Later, the +Duchesse de Christoval and Inez. + +Footman (announcing a visitor) +Her grace the Duchesse de Montsorel. + +Vautrin (to Raoul) +Let me have no nonsense; be calm and firm! I stand face to face with +the enemy. + +The Marquis +Ah, mother dear, and are you come to witness my defeat? All is ended. +The De Christoval family has trifled with us. This gentleman (he +points to Vautrin) represents both families. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Then Raoul has a family? (The Duchesse de Christoval and her daughter +enter and salute the speaker. To the Duchesse de Christoval) Madame, +my son has told me what has occurred to frustrate all our hopes. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +The interest which yesterday you manifested in Monsieur de Frescas +has, I see, changed to indifference? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (scrutinizing Vautrin) +Is it through this gentleman that all your doubts have been satisfied? +Who is he? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +He represents the father of Monsieur de Frescas, don Amoagos, and the +father of Inez, Monsieur de Christoval. He has brought us the news we +expected, and brought letters from my husband. + +Vautrin (aside) +Am I to act this part long? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to Vautrin) +Doubtless you have known the family of Monsieur de Frescas for some +time? + +Vautrin +My acquaintance is limited to a father and an uncle--(to Raoul) You +have not even the mournful satisfaction of remembering your mother. +(To the Duchess) She died in Mexico, shortly after her marriage. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Monsieur de Frescas, then, was born in Mexico? + +Vautrin +Of course he was. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +My dear, we are being imposed upon. (To Raoul) Sir, you did not come +from Mexico. Your mother is not dead, is she? And have you not been +abandoned since your childhood? + +Raoul +Would that my mother were alive! + +Vautrin +Pardon me, madame, but I am here to satisfy your curiosity, if you +wish to learn the secret history which it is not necessary you should +seek from this gentleman. (To Raoul) Not a word! + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +It is he! And this man is making him the tool in some sinister +undertaking. (She approaches the marquis) My son-- + +The Marquis +You have put them out, mother, and I share your impression of this man +(he indicated Vautrin); but only a woman has the right to express her +thoughts in a way to expose this frightful imposture. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Frightful indeed! But pray leave us. + +The Marquis +Ladies, in spite of my ill-fortune, do not blame me if I still have +hopes. (To Vautrin) Often between the cup and the lip there is-- + +Vautrin +Death! + +(Exit the Marquis, after exchanging bows with Raoul.) + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +My dear duchess, I implore you to excuse Inez. We cannot make our +explanations before her. + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to her daughter, making signs to her to +leave the room) +I will rejoin you in a moment. + +Raoul (kissing his hand to Inez) +This is perhaps good-bye forever! + +(Exit Inez.) + + +SCENE ELEVENTH. +The Duchesse de Christoval, the Duchesse de Montsorel, Raoul and +Vautrin. + +Vautrin (to the Duchesse de Christoval) +Do you suspect the motive that brings madame here? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +After what happened yesterday I prefer not to say. + +Vautrin +I guessed her love for him immediately. + +Raoul (to Vautrin) +This atmosphere of falsehood stifles me. + +Vautrin (to Raoul) +One word more, and the affair will be ended. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Madame, I know well how strange my present conduct must appear to you, +and I won't attempt to justify it. There are solemn duties before +which the conventions and even the laws of society must give way. What +is the character and what the powers of this man? + +The Duchesse de Christoval (to whom Vautrin makes a signal) +I am forbidden to answer this question. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Well, I will tell you; this man is either the accomplice or the dupe +in an imposture of which we are the victims. In spite of the letters +and documents which he brings to you, I am convinced that all evidence +which gives name and family to Raoul is false. + +Raoul +To tell the truth, madame, I do not know what right you have to +interfere in personal matters of mine. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Madame, you were wise to send out of the room my daughter and the +marquis. + +Vautrin (to Raoul) +What right? (To the Duchesse de Montsorel) You need not avow it, for we +divine it. I can well understand, madame, the pain you feel at the +prospect of this marriage, and am not therefore offended at your +suspicions with regard to me, and the authentic documents which I have +brought to the Duchesse de Christoval. (Aside) Now for the final +stroke. (He takes her aside) Before becoming a Mexican I was a +Spaniard, and I know the cause of your hatred for Albert. And as to +the motive which brings you here, we will talk about that very soon at +the house of your confessor. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +You know? + +Vautrin +All. (Aside) She has some motive. (Aloud) Will you examine the +documents? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Well, my dear? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Be quick, and send for Inez. Examine the deeds carefully, I implore +you. This is the request of a despairing mother. + +The Duchesse de Christoval +A despairing mother! + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (to herself, looking at Raoul and Vautrin) +How is it possible that this man should know my secret and have this +hold upon my son? + +The Duchesse de Christoval +Will you come, madame? + +(Exeunt the two duchesses.) + + +SCENE TWELFTH. +Raoul, Vautrin and later Lafouraille. + +Vautrin +I thought our star was setting; but it is still in the ascendant. + +Raoul +Have I not been humbled sufficiently? I had nothing in the world but +my honor, and that I gave into your keeping. Your power is infernal, I +see that plainly. But from this very moment I withdraw from its +influence. You are no longer in danger. Farewell. + +Lafouraille (coming in while Raoul speaks) +No one caught,--'twas lucky,--we had time! Ah, sir, Philosopher is +below, all is lost! The house has been entered by the police. + +Vautrin +Disgusting! And no one has been taken? + +Lafouraille +We were too cute for that. + +Vautrin +Philosopher is below, as what? + +Lafouraille +As a footman. + +Vautrin +Good; let him get up behind my carriage. I want to give you my orders +about locking up the Prince d'Arjos, who thinks he is going to fight a +duel to-morrow. + +Raoul +I see that you are in danger. I will not leave you, and I desire to +know-- + +Vautrin +Nothing. Do not worry about your own security. I will look out for +you, in spite of you. + +Raoul +Oh! I know what my future will be. + +Vautrin +I too know. + +Lafouraille +Come, things are getting hot. + +Vautrin +Nay, the fat is in the fire. + +Lafouraille +No time for sentiment, or dilly-dallying, they are on our track and +are mounted. + +Vautrin +Let us be off then. (He takes Lafouraille aside) If the government +should do us the honor to billet its gendarmes on us, our duty is to +let them alone. All are at liberty to scatter; but let all be at +Mother Giroflee's at midnight. Get off post haste, for I do not wish +us to meet our Waterloo, and the Prussians are upon us. We must run +for it. + + +Curtain to the Fourth Act. + + + + ACT V. + + +SCENE FIRST. +(The scene is laid at the Montsorel house, in a room on the ground +floor.) + +Joseph (alone) +The cursed white mark appears this evening on the wicket side of the +garden. Things cannot go on long in this way; the devil only knows how +it will end. I prefer seeing him there, however, rather than in the +apartments; the garden is at least away from the house, and when the +warning comes, one can walk out to meet him. + + +SCENE SECOND. +Joseph, Lafouraille and Buteux; later, Vautrin. + +(The humming sound of a voice is heard for a moment.) + +Joseph +There it is, our national air, which I never hear without trembling. +(Enter Lafouraille) And who are you? (Lafouraille makes a sign) A new +one coming? + +Lafouraille +No, an old one. + +Joseph +Oh, he whose mark is in the garden. + +Lafouraille +Can he be waiting here? He intended to be here. (Buteux appears.) + +Joseph +Why, there will be three of you. + +Lafouraille (pointing to Joseph) +There will be four of us. + +Joseph +And what do you come to do at this hour? Do you want to snatch up +everything here? + +Lafouraille +He takes us for thieves! + +Buteux +We prove that we can be, when we are down in our luck; but we never +say so. + +Lafouraille +That is, we make money, like other people. + +Joseph +But his grace the duke is going-- + +Lafouraille +Your duke cannot return home before two o'clock, and that gives us +time enough: do not therefore interlard with anxious thought the +professional dish which we have to serve-- + +Buteux +And serve hot. + +(Vautrin wears a brown coat, blue trousers, and a black waistcoat. His +hair is short and he is got up as an imitation of Napoleon in undress. +As he enters he abruptly puts out the candle and draws the slide of +his dark lantern.) + +Vautrin +What! You have lights here! You think yourselves still members of +respectable society. I can understand that this fool should ignore the +first elements of sane conduct--but you others! (To Buteux, as he +points out Joseph to him) Put wool in this fellow's ears, and talk +with him over there. (To Lafouraille) And what of the youngster? + +Lafouraille +He is kept well out of sight. + +Vautrin +In what place? + +Lafouraille +In the other rookery of Giroflee's woman, near here, behind the +Invalides. + +Vautrin +And see that he does not escape like that slippery eel of a Saint- +Charles, that madman, who came for the purpose of breaking up our +establishment--for I--but I never threaten. + +Lafouraille +Upon the youngster's safety I will stake my head! Philosopher has put +buskins on his hands and frills on his feet, he cannot stir hand or +foot, and will be given up only to me. As for the other, who could +help it? Poor Giroflee cannot resist strong liquors, and Blondet knew +it. + +Vautrin +What did Raoul say? + +Lafouraille +He made a terrible uproar; and swore he was disgraced. Fortunately +Philosopher is insensible to metaphors. + +Vautrin +Do you think the boy wishes for a fight to the death? A young man is +fearful; he has the courage to conceal his terror and the folly to +allow himself to be killed. I hope they prevent him from writing to +any one. + +Lafouraille (aside) +We are in for it! (Aloud) I can conceal nothing from you, before he +was fastened up the prince sent little Nini with a letter to the +Christoval house. + +Vautrin +To Inez? + +Lafouraille +To Inez. + +Vautrin +He wrote a lot of rubbish, I'll warrant. + +Lafouraille +A pack of lies and absurdities. + +Vautrin (to Joseph) +Hello there! You--the honest man. + +Buteux (leading Joseph to Vautrin) +You had better explain things to the master, as he desires. + +Joseph +It seems to me that I am not unreasonable to ask what risk I am to +run, and what profit is to accrue to me. + +Vautrin +Time is short, speech long, let us employ the former and drop the +latter. There are two lives in peril, that of a man I am interested +in, and that of a musketeer which I consider useless: we are going to +crush him. + +Joseph +What! Do you mean monsieur the marquis? I will have nothing to do with +it. + +Lafouraille +You have no say in the matter of your consent. + +Buteux +We have captured him. Look you, my friend, when the wine is drawn-- + +Joseph +If it is bad, it must not be drunk. + +Vautrin +And you refuse to pledge me in a glass? He who thinks calculates, and +he who calculates betrays. + +Joseph +Your calculations lead to the scaffold. + +Vautrin +Enough! You tire me. Your master is to fight a duel to-morrow. In this +duel one of the combatants will never leave the ground alive; imagine +that the duel has taken place, and that your master has had no fair +chance. + +Buteux +That is just it. + +Lafouraille +The master is as deep as fate. + +Joseph +A fine condition to be in. + +Buteux +The devil to pay and no pitch hot! + +Vautrin (to Joseph, pointing out Lafouraille and Buteux) +You will conceal these two. + +Joseph +Where? + +Vautrin +I tell you, you must conceal them. When all are asleep in the house, +excepting us, you must send them up to the musketeer's room. (To +Buteux and Lafouraille) Try to go there without him; you must be +cautions and adroit; the window of his room overlooks the court. +(Whispers in their ears) Throw him down. It will be a case of despair +(turning to Joseph), and suicide will be a ground for averting +suspicion from all. + + +SCENE THIRD. + +Vautrin (alone) +All is saved! There is only one suspect among us, and I will change +that state of affairs. Blondet is the traitor, and in this case bad +debts will make good friends, for I will point him out to the duke in +a friendly manner as the murderer of Vicomte de Langeac. I must +finally discover the motive of the duchess's singular behavior. If +what I learn explains the suicide of the marquis, what a master stroke +it will be! + + +SCENE FOURTH. +Joseph and Vautrin. + +Joseph +Your men are well concealed, but you doubtless intend to leave the +house? + +Vautrin +No, I am going to do some reading in the study of the Duc de +Montsorel. + +Joseph +But if he comes home, won't you be afraid? + +Vautrin +If I feared anything, would I be master of you all? + +Joseph +But where are you going? + +Vautrin +You are very curious. + + +SCENE FIFTH. + +Joseph (alone) +There, he is disposed of for the moment, his two fellows likewise; I +hold them, and, as I don't want to have anything to do with the +affair, I am going-- + + +SCENE SIXTH +Joseph, a footman; and afterwards Saint-Charles. + +The footman +Monsieur Joseph, some one is asking for you. + +Joseph +At this hour? + +Saint-Charles +It is I. + +Joseph (to the footman) +You may go. + +Saint-Charles +His grace the duke cannot come home until after the king's retirement +for the night. The duchess is on her way home. I wish to speak to her +privately and wait for her here. + +Joseph +Here? + +Saint-Charles +Here. + +Joseph (aside) +O my God! And Jacques-- + +Saint-Charles +If it inconveniences you-- + +Joseph +Not in the least. + +Saint-Charles +Tell me the truth, you are expecting some one? + +Joseph +I am expecting the duchess. + +Saint-Charles +And not Jacques Collin? + +Joseph +Oh! don't talk to me about that man, you make me shudder. + +Saint-Charles +Collin is mixed up with some business that might bring him here. You +must have seen him lately. I have no time to pump you, and I have no +need to bribe, but you must choose between him and me, and pretty +quickly, too. + +Joseph +What do you require of me? + +Saint-Charles +To tell me everything that takes place here. + +Joseph +Well, the latest thing is the duel of the marquis; he fights to-morrow +with Monsieur de Frescas. + +Saint-Charles +What next? + +Joseph +I see her grace the duchess has just returned. + + +SCENE SEVENTH. + +Saint-Charles (alone) +What a timid beast he is! This duel is a capital excuse for speaking +with the duchess. The duke did not understand me, he saw in me nothing +but a tool, to be taken up and dropped at pleasure. Did he not, by +imposing silence upon me towards his wife, betray his suspicion that I +was dangerous to him? The patrimony of the strong is the faculty of +utilizing the faults of a neighbor. I have already devoured several +patrimonies, and my appetite is still good. + + +SCENE EIGHTH. +Saint-Charles, the Duchesse de Montsorel and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey. + +(Saint-Charles disappears till the two ladies have passed, and remains +at the back, while they come to the front of the stage.) + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You are quite worn out. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel (sinking into an armchair) +Yes; I am dead! In despair-- + +Saint-Charles (coming forward) +Madame the duchess. + +The Duchess +Ah! I had forgotten! Sir, it is impossible at this moment to grant you +the interview you ask. To-morrow--or later in the day. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (to Saint-Charles) +My niece, sir, is not in a condition to listen to you. + +Saint-Charles +To-morrow, ladies, it will be too late! The life of your son, the +Marquis de Montsorel, who fights a duel to-morrow with Monsieur de +Frescas, is threatened. + +The Duchess +The duel is indeed a frightful thing. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (in a low tone to the duchess) +You have already forgotten that Raoul is a stranger to you. + +The Duchess (to Saint-Charles) +Sir, my son will know how to acquit himself. + +Saint-Charles +May I venture to inform you of facts which ordinarily would be kept +from a mother? Your son will be killed without any fighting. His +adversary's servants are bravoes, wretches of whom he is the +ringleader. + +The Duchess +And what proof have you of this? + +Saint-Charles +A former steward of Monsieur de Frescas has offered me a vast sum if I +would join in this foul conspiracy against the Christoval family. In +order to make time, I pretended to assent; but just as I was on my way +to warn the authorities, I was dashed to the ground by two men who +came by at full speed, and I lost consciousness; they administered to +me in this condition a powerful narcotic, thrust me into a cab, and +when I came to myself, I was in a den of criminals. Recovering my +self-possession, I escaped from my confinement, and set out to track +these dare-devils. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +You sometimes come here to see Monsieur de Montsorel, according to +what Joseph tells us? + +Saint-Charles +Yes, madame. + +The Duchess +And who, pray, may you be, sir? + +Saint-Charles +I am a private detective, whom his grace the duke distrusts, and I am +hired for clearing up mysterious occurrences. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (to the duchess) +O Louise! + +The Duchess (fixing her eyes on Saint-Charles) +And who has had the impertinence to send you to address me? + +Saint-Charles +A sense of your danger brings me here. I am paid to be your enemy. You +can keep silence as well as I; prove that your protection is more +advantageous to me than the hollow promises of the duke, and I can +assure you the victory. But time presses, the duke will soon be here, +and if he finds us together, the success of our undertaking would be +endangered. + +The Duchess (to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey) +Ah! we may still hope! (To Saint-Charles) And what were you going to +do at the house of Monsieur de Frescas? + +Saint-Charles +That which, at present, I am doing at yours. + +The Duchess +Silence, sir. + +Saint-Charles +Your grace has given me no answer; the duke has my word, and he is +very powerful. + +The Duchess +And I, sir, am immensely rich; but do not expect to take advantage of +me. (She rises) I will never be the dupe of Monsieur de Montsorel, I +recognize his trickery in this secret interview, which you had asked +for. (With emphasis) Let me complete your information. Monsieur de +Frescas is not a wretch; his servants are not assassins; he belongs to +a family as rich as it is noble, and he is about to marry the +Princesse d'Arjos. + +Saint-Charles +Yes, madame, a Mexican envoy has produced letters from Monsieur de +Christoval, and documents remarkably authentic. You have sent for a +secretary of the Spanish legation, who has endorsed them: seals, +stamps, authentications--ah! all are flawless. + +The Duchess +Yes, sir, the documents are unassailable. + +Saint-Charles +You are very much interested, madame, in their being proved forgeries, +I presume? + +The Duchess (to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey) +Never has such torture as this wrung the heart of a mother! + +Saint-Charles (aside) +Whose side shall I take, husband's or wife's? + +The Duchess +Sir, any sum you may ask shall be yours, if you can prove to me that +Monsieur Raoul de Frescas-- + +Saint-Charles +Is a criminal? + +The Duchess +No, but a child-- + +Saint-Charles +You mean your child, don't you? + +The Duchess (forgetting herself) +Yes, yes! Be my deliverer, and I will be your eternal protector. (To +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey) Ah me! What have I said? (To Saint-Charles) +Where is Raoul? + +Saint-Charles +He has disappeared, and this steward of his, who procured the forged +deeds in Rue Oblin, and doubtless played the part of the Mexican +envoy, is one of the most astute of criminals. (The duchess starts.) +Oh, you need not be alarmed; he is too clever to shed blood; but he is +more formidable than those who shed it recklessly; and such a man is +the guardian of Raoul. + +The Duchess +My whole fortune for his life! + +Saint-Charles +I am for you, madame. (Aside) I know all, and can choose which side I +like. + + +SCENE NINTH. +The same persons, the Duc de Montsorel and a footman. + +The Duke +Ah, well you are getting your own way; there is talk of nothing else +but the fortune and coming marriage of Monsieur de Frescas; but of +course he can claim a family. (Whispers to the Duchesse de Montsorel) +He has a mother. (Perceiving Saint-Charles) What! You here, chevalier, +and with the duchess? + +Saint-Charles (taking the duke aside) +Your grace will approve of what I have done. (Aloud) You have been at +the palace and I thought it necessary to warn the duchess of the +danger which threatens her only son, the marquis; he is likely to be +murdered. + +The Duke +Murdered! + +Saint-Charles +But your grace will listen to my advice-- + +The Duke +Come into my study, my friend, and let us at once take steps to avert +this catastrophe. + +Saint-Charles (exchanging a look of intelligence with the duchess) +I have strange things to tell your grace. (Aside) I am certainly going +to take the duke's part. + + +SCENE TENTH. +The Duchess, Mademoiselle de Vaudrey and Vautrin. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +If Raoul is your son, how vile is the company he keeps. + +The Duchess +An angel would purify hell itself. + +(Vautrin half opens with caution a French casement that leads to the +garden, where he has been listening to the preceding conversation.) + +Vautrin (aside) +I know all. Two brothers cannot fight a duel. Ah, here is my duchess! +(Aloud) Ladies! + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +A man! Help! Help! + +The Duchess +It is he! + +Vautrin (to the duchess) +Silence! Women can do nothing but cry out. (To Mademoiselle de +Vaudrey) Mademoiselle de Vaudrey, run to the chamber of the marquis. +Two infamous murderers are there; be quick, before they cut out his +throat. But let the wretches be seized without making a disturbance. +(To the duchess) Stay where you are, madame. + +The Duchess +Go, dear aunt; have no fear for me. + +Vautrin (aside) +My rascals will be vastly surprised. What will they think? This is the +way I bring down judgment upon them. + +(A noise is heard.) + + +SCENE ELEVENTH. +The Duchess and Vautrin. + +The Duchess +The whole house is in commotion! What will be said, when it is known +that I am here? + +Vautrin +Let us hope that the foundling will be saved. + +The Duchess +But you are known here, and the duke is with-- + +Vautrin +The Chevalier de Saint-Charles. I am imperturbed; you will defend me. + +The Duchess +I? + +Vautrin +Yes, you. Or you will never again see your son, Fernand de Montsorel. + +The Duchess +Raoul is undoubtedly my son then? + +Vautrin +He is--I hold in my possession complete proofs of your innocence, and +--your son. + +The Duchess +You! You shall not leave me until-- + + +SCENE TWELFTH. +The same persons and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey on one side of the stage, +Saint-Charles on the other, and domestics. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Here he is! (To Vautrin) Begone! At once! + +The Duchess (to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey) +You are ruining everything. + +Saint-Charles (to the servants) +Behold their ringleader and accomplice! Whatever he may say, seize +him! + +The Duchess (to the company) +I command you to leave me alone with this man. + +Vautrin +What is it, chevalier? + +Saint-Charles +You are a puzzle to me, baron. + +Vautrin (whispering to the duchess) +You behold in this man the murderer of the viscount whom you loved so +well. + +The Duchess +He the murderer? + +Vautrin (to the duchess) +Let him be closely watched, or he will slip through your fingers like +money. + +The Duchess +Joseph! + +Vautrin (to Joseph) +What happened upstairs? + +Joseph +His lordship the marquis drew his sword, and being attacked from the +rear, defended himself, and was twice slightly wounded. His grace the +duke is with him now. + +The Duchess (to her aunt) +Return to Albert's room, I implore you. (To Joseph, pointing out +Saint-Charles) I shall hold you responsible for this man's detention. + +Vautrin (to Joseph) +So shall I. + +Saint-Charles (to Vautrin) +I see the situation, you have got ahead of me. + +Vautrin +I bear no malice towards you, my dear fellow. + +Saint-Charles (to Joseph) +Take me before the duke. + +(Exeunt.) + + +SCENE THIRTEENTH. +Vautrin and the Duchess. + +Vautrin (aside) +He has a father, an ancestral family, a mother. What a climax! In whom +shall I henceforth find an interest? Whom shall I be able to love? +After ten years of paternity, the loss is irreparable. + +The Duchess (approaching Vautrin) +What is it? + +Vautrin +What is it? It is, that I can never give back to you your son, madame; +it is, that I do not feel brave enough to survive his separation from +me, nor his contempt for me. The loss of such as Raoul is +irretrievable! My life has been bound up in his. + +The Duchess +But could he feel affection for you, you a criminal whom one could at +any moment give up-- + +Vautrin +To justice do you mean? I thought you would have been more tender. But +you do not, I perceive, see the abyss in which I am dragging you, your +son and the duke, and which all descend in company. + +The Duchess +Oh! What have you made of my poor child? + +Vautrin +A man of honor. + +The Duchess +And he loves you? + +Vautrin +He loves me still. + +The Duchess +But has that wretch spoken the truth in revealing what you are and +whence you come? + +Vautrin +Yes, madame. + +The Duchess +And have you taken care of my son? + +Vautrin +Your son, our son--yes--have you not perceived that he is as pure as +an angel? + +The Duchess +Ah, may you receive a blessing for what you have done! May the world +pardon you! Oh God! (she kneels) The voice of a mother must reach +Thee, forgive, forgive this man. (She looks at Vautrin.) My tears +shall bathe his hands! Oh! grant that he may repent! (Turning to +Vautrin) You belong to me; I will change you! But people are deceived, +you are no criminal, and, whatever you are, all mothers will give you +their absolution! + +Vautrin +Come, it is time to restore her son to her. + +The Duchess +Did you still harbor the horrible thought of refusing him to his +mother? But I have waited for him for two and twenty years. + +Vautrin +And I, have I not been for ten years his father? Raoul is my very +soul! Let me endure anguish, let men heap shame upon me; if he is +happy and crowned with honor, I shall see it and my life will once +more be bright. + +The Duchess +I am overwhelmed. He loves like a mother. + +Vautrin +The only tie that binds me to the world, to life, is this bright link, +purer than gold. + +The Duchess +And--without stain? + +Vautrin +Ah! People know themselves only in their virtues, and are austere for +others alone. But in myself I see but infamy--in him the heart of +honor. And yet was he found by me on the highroad from Toulon to +Marseilles, the route of the convict. He was twelve years old, without +bread, and in rags. + +The Duchess +Bare-foot, it may be? + +Vautrin +Yes. But beautiful, with curly hair-- + +The Duchess +It was thus you saw him? + +Vautrin +Poor angel, he was crying. I took him with me. + +The Duchess +And you brought him up? + +Vautrin +I stole the means to do so. + +The Duchess +I should, perhaps, myself have done the like. + +Vautrin +I did more! + +The Duchess +He must have suffered much. + +Vautrin +Never! I concealed from him the means I took to make his life happy +and easy. I would not let him even suspect them--it would have +blighted him. You may ennoble him by parchments, I have made him noble +in heart. + +The Duchess +And he was my son! + +Vautrin +Yes, a son full of nobility, of winning grace, of high instincts; he +needed but to have the way made clear to him. + +The Duchess (wringing the hand of Vautrin) +You must needs be great indeed, who have so well performed a mother's +task! + +Vautrin +And better than you mothers do! Often you love your babes amiss--Ah, +you will spoil him for me even now!--He was of reckless courage; he +wished to be a soldier, and the Emperor would have accepted him. I +showed him the world and mankind under their true light--Yet now he is +about to renounce me-- + +The Duchess +My son ungrateful? + +Vautrin +NO, 'tis mine I speak of. + +The Duchess +Oh! give him back to me this very instant! + +Vautrin +I and those two men upstairs--are we not all liable to prosecution? +And ought not the duke to give us assurance of silence and release? + +The Duchess +Those two men then are your agents? And you came-- + +Vautrin +But for me, of the two, natural and lawful son, there would not, in a +few hours, have survived but one child. And they might perchance both +have fallen--each by the other's hand. + +The Duchess +Ah! you are a providence of horror! + +Vautrin +What would you have had me do? + + +SCENE FOURTEENTH. +The same persons, the Duke, Lafouraille, Buteux, Saint-Charles, and +all the domestics. + +The Duke (pointing to Vautrin) +Seize him! (Pointing to Saint-Charles) And obey no one but this +gentleman. + +The Duchess +But you owe to him the life of your Albert! It was he who gave the +alarm. + +The Duke +He! + +Buteux (to Vautrin) +Ah! you have betrayed us! Why did you bring us here? + +Saint-Charles (to the duke) +Does your grace hear them? + +Lafouraille (to Buteux) +Cannot you keep silence? Have we any right to judge him? + +Buteux +And yet he condemns us! + +Vautrin (to the duke) +I would inform your grace that these two men belong to me, and I claim +possession of them. + +Saint-Charles +Why, these are the domestics of Monsieur de Frescas! + +Vautrin (to Saint-Charles) +Steward of the Langeacs, hold your tongue! (He points to Lafouraille) +This is Philip Boulard. (Lafouraille bows.) Will your grace kindly +send every one out of the room? + +The Duke +What! Do you dare give your orders in my house? + +The Duchess +Ah! sir, he is master here. + +The Duke +What! This wretch? + +Vautrin +If his grace the duke wishes to have an audience present we will +proceed to talk of the son of Dona Mendes. + +The Duke +Silence! + +Vautrin +Whom you are passing off as the son of-- + +The Duke +Once more I say, silence! + +Vautrin +Your grace perceives, evidently, that there are too many people within +hearing. + +The Duke +All of you begone! + +Vautrin (to the duke) +Set a watch on every outlet from your house, and let no one leave it, +excepting these two men. (To Saint-Charles) Do you remain here. (He +draws a dagger and cuts the cords by which Lafouraille and Buteux are +bound.) Take yourselves off by the postern; here is the key, and go to +the house of mother Giroflee. (To Lafouraille) You must send Raoul to +me. + +Lafouraille (as he leaves the room) +Oh! our veritable emperor. + +Vautrin +You shall receive money and passports. + +Buteux (as he goes out) +After all, I shall have something for Adele! + +The Duke +But how did you learn all these facts? + +Vautrin (handing some documents to the duke) +These are what I took from your study. + +The Duke +These comprise my correspondence, and the letters of the duchess to +the Viscount de Langeac. + +Vautrin +Who was shot at Mortagne, October, 1792, through the kind efforts of +Charles Blondet, otherwise known as the Chevalier de Saint-Charles. + +Saint-Charles +But your grace very well knows-- + +Vautrin +It was he himself who gave me these papers, among which you will +notice the death certificate of the viscount, which proves that he and +her grace the duchess never met after the Tenth of August, for he had +then left the Abbaye for the Vendee, accompanied by Boulard, who +seized the moment to betray and murder him. + +The Duke +And so Fernand-- + +Vautrin +The child sent to Sardinia is undoubtedly your son. + +The Duke +And her grace the duchess-- + +Vautrin +Is innocent. + +The Duke +My God! (He sinks back into an armchair.) What have I done? + +The Duchess +What a horrible proof--his death! And the assassin stands before us. + +Vautrin +Monsieur le Duc de Montsorel, I have been a father to Fernand, and I +have just saved your two sons, each from the sword of the other; you +alone are the author of all this complication. + +The Duchess +Stop! I know him better than you do, and he suffers at this moment all +that I have suffered during twenty years. In the name of mercy, where +is my son? + +The Duke +What, Raoul de Frescas? + +Vautrin +Fernand de Montsorel is on his way here. (To Saint-Charles) And what +do you say about all this? + +Saint-Charles +You are a hero; let me be your servant. + +Vautrin +You are ambitious. Would you follow me? + +Saint-Charles +Anywhere. + +Vautrin +I can well believe it. + +Saint-Charles +Ah! what a master mind you obtain in me, and what a loss to the +government! + +Vautrin +Go; and wait for me at the bureau of passports. + +(Exit Saint-Charles.) + + +SCENE FIFTEENTH. +The same persons, the Duchesse de Christoval, Inez and Mademoiselle de +Vaudrey. + +Mademoiselle de Vaudrey +Here they are! + +The Duchesse de Christoval +My daughter, madame, has received a letter from Monsieur Raoul, in +which this noble young man declares that he would rather give up Inez, +than deceive us; he has related his whole life's history. He is to +fight a duel with your son to-morrow, and as Inez is the involuntary +cause of this duel we are come to prevent it; for it is now entirely +without ground or reason. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +There will be no duel, madame. + +Inez +He will live then! + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +And you shall marry the Marquis de Montsorel, my child. + + +SCENE SIXTEENTH. +The same persons, Raoul and Lafouraille. (The last named does not +tarry.) + +Raoul (to Vautrin) +What! Would you imprison me to prevent my fighting a duel? + +The Duke +With your brother? + +Raoul +My brother? + +The Duke +Yes. + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +You are, then, really my child! (She embrace Raoul.) Ladies, this is +Fernand de Montsorel, my son, the-- + +The Duke (taking Raoul by the hand, and interrupting his wife) +The eldest son, who was carried off from us in childhood. Albert is +now no more than Comte de Montsorel. + +Raoul +For three days I have been in a dream! You, my mother! You, sir-- + +The Duke +Your father--yes! + +Raoul +Among the very people who asked me to name my family-- + +Vautrin +Your family has been found. + +Raoul +And--are you still to have a place in my life? + +Vautrin (to the Duchesse de Montsorel) +What shall I say to you? (to Raoul) Remember, my lord marquis, that I +have, in advance, absolved you from all charge of ingratitude. (To the +duchess) The child will forget me; will the mother also? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Never. + +The Duke +But what are the misfortunes that plunged you into so dark an abyss? + +Vautrin +Can any one explain misfortune? + +The Duchesse de Montsorel +Dear husband, is it not in your power to obtain his pardon? + +The Duke +The sentences under which he has served are irreversible. + +Vautrin +That word reconciles me to you, it is a statesman's word. Your grace +should explain that transportation is the last expedient to which you +can resort in overcoming us. + +Raoul +Monsieur-- + +Vautrin +You are wrong; I am not even monsieur at present. + +Inez +I think I understand that you are an outlaw, that my friend owes you a +vast debt, and cannot discharge it. Beyond the sea, I have extensive +lands, which require a man's energy for their right administration; +you shall go and exercise there your talents, and become-- + +Vautrin +Rich, under a new name? Child, can you not realize that in this world +there are pitiless necessities? Yes, I could acquire a fortune, but +who will give me the opportunity? (To the duke) The king could at your +grace's intercession grant me a pardon, but who then would take my +hand in his? + +Raoul +I would! + +Vautrin +Ah! It was this I waited for before taking leave. You now have a +mother. Farewell! + + +SCENE SEVENTEENTH. +The same persons, a police officer, guards and servants. + +(The window casements are flung open; and an officer enters; at the +back of the stage are gendarmes.) + +The officer (to the duke) +In the name of the king, of the law, I arrest Jacques Collin, +convicted of having broken-- + +(All persons present fling themselves between the armed force and +Jacques, in order to give him opportunity for escaping.) + +The Duke +Gentlemen, I take upon myself-- + +Vautrin +In your grace's house the justice of the king must have free course. +The matter lies between these gentlemen and me. (To the officer) I +will follow you. (To the duchess) It was Joseph who brought the +police; he is one of us; discharge him. + +Raoul +Are we separated forever? + +Vautrin +You will marry very shortly. Within a year, on a day of christening, +scan carefully the faces of the poor at the church door; one will be +there who wishes to be certain of your happiness. Till then, adieu. +(To the officer) It is time for us to be moving. + + +Final Curtain. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Vautrin, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VAUTRIN *** + +This file should be named vtrin10.txt or vtrin10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, vtrin11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, vtrin10a.txt + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnypg@yahoo.com + and John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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