The Stepmother

Act II

(Stage setting remains as in Act I.)

Ramel: and Marguerite; later, Felix.

(Ramel is buried in his reflections, reclining on the sofa in such a way as to be almost out of sight. Marguerite brings in lights and cards. Night is approaching.)

Marguerite: Four card tablesthat will be enough, even though the cure, the mayor and his assistant come. (Felix lights the candles.) I'll wager anything that my poor Pauline will not be married this time. Dear child! If her late mother were to see that she was not queen of the house, she would weep in her coffin! I only remain here in order to comfort and to wait upon her.

Felix: (aside) What is this old woman grumbling about? (Aloud) Whom are you complaining of now, Marguerite? I'll bet it is the mistress.

Marguerite: No, it is not; I am blaming the master.

Felix: The General? You had better mind your own business. He is a saint, is that man.

Marguerite: Yes, a stone saint, for he is blind.

Felix: You had better say that he has been blinded.

Marguerite: You hit the nail on the head there.

Felix: The General has but one faulthe is jealous.

Marguerite: Yes, and obstinate, too.

Felix: Yes, obstinate; it is the same thing. When once he suspects anything he comes down like a hammer. That was the way he laid two men lifeless at a blow. Between ourselves, there is only one way to treat a trooper of that sort; you must stuff him with flattery. And the mistress certainly does stuff him. Besides, she is clever enough to put blinders on him, such as they put on shying horses; he can see neither to the right nor to the left, and she says to him, "My dear, look straight ahead!" So she does!

Marguerite: Ah! You think with me that a woman of thirty-two does not love a man of seventy without some object. She is scheming something.

Ramel: (aside) Oh, these servants! whom we pay to spy over us!

Felix: What can be her scheme? She never leaves the house, she never sees anyone.

Marguerite: She would skin a flint! She has taken away the keys from mefrom me who always had the confidence of the former mistress; do you know why she did so?

Felix: I suppose she is saving up her pile.

Marguerite: Yes, out of the fortune of Mlle. Pauline, and the profits of the factory. That is the reason why she puts off the marriage of the dear child as long as she can, for she has to give up her fortune when she marries her.

Felix: Yes, that's the law.

Marguerite: I would forgive her everything, if only she made Mademoiselle happy; but I sometimes catch my pet in tears, and I ask her what is the matter, and she says nothing but "Good Marguerite!" (Exit Felix.) Let me see, have I done everything? Yes, here are the card tablesthe candlesthe cardsAh! the sofa. (She catches sight of Ramel) Good Lord! A stranger!

Ramel: Don't be startled, Marguerite.

Marguerite: You must have heard all we said.

Ramel: Don't be alarmed. My business is to keep secrets. I am the state's attorney.

Marguerite: Oh!

The same persons, Pauline, Godard, Vernon, Napoleon, Ferdinand, the General, Madame de Grandchamp.

(Gertrude rushes to Marguerite and snatches the cushions from her hands.)

Gertrude: Marguerite, you know very well what pain you give me, by not allowing me to do everything for your master; besides, I am the only one who knows how to arrange the cushions to his liking.

Marguerite: (to Pauline) What a to-do about nothing!

Godard: Why, look! Here is the state's attorney!

The General: The state's attorney at my house?

Gertrude: I am surprised!

The General: (to Ramel) Sir, what brings you here?

Ramel: I asked my friend, M. Ferdinand Mar

(Ferdinand checks him by a gesture. Gertrude and Pauline look at him in alarm.)

Gertrude: (aside) It is his friend, Eugene Ramel.

Ramel: My friend, Ferdinand de Charny, to whom I have told the object of my visit, to say nothing about it until you had finished your dinner.

The General: Ferdinand then is your friend?

Ramel: I have known him from childhood; and here we met in your avenue. On meeting, after nine years of separation, we had so many things to talk about, that I caused him to be late.

The General: But, sir, to what circumstance am I to attribute your presence here?

Ramel: I come in the matter of Jean Nicot, known as Champagne, your foreman, who is charged with a crime.

Gertrude: But, sir, our friend, Doctor Vernon, has declared that Champagne's wife died a natural death.

Vernon: Yes, sir, cholera.

Ramel: Justice, sir, believes in nothing but investigations and convictions of its own. You did wrong to proceed before my arrival.

Felix: Madame, shall I bring in the coffee?

Gertrude: Wait a while! (Aside) How changed this man is, this attorney. I shouldn't have recognized him. He terrifies me.

The General: But how could you be brought here by the crime of Champagne, an old soldier for whom I would stand security?

Ramel: You will earn that, on the arrival of the investigating magistrate.

The General: Will you be pleased to take a seat?

Ferdinand: (to Ramel, pointing out Pauline) That is she!

Ramel: A man might lay down his life for such a lovely girl.

Gertrude: (to Ramel) We do not know each other! You have never seen me, have you? You must have pity on us!

Ramel: You may depend upon me for that.

The General: (who sees Ramel and Gertrude talking together) Is my wife to be called to this investigation?

Ramel: Certainly, General. I came here myself because the countess had not been notified that we required her presence.

The General: My wife mixed up in such an affair? It is an outrage!

Vernon: Keep cool, my friend.

Felix: (announcing) Monsieur, the investigating magistrate!

The General: Let him come in.

The same persons, the investigating magistrate, Champagne, Baudrillon and a gendarme who is guarding Champagne.

The Magistrate: (bowing to the company) Monsieur the state's attorney, this is M. Baudrillon, the druggist.

Ramel: Has M. Baudrillon seen the accused?

The Magistrate: No, monsieur, the accused came in charge of a gendarme.

Ramel: We shall soon learn the truth in this case! Let M. Baudrillon and the accused approach.

The Magistrate: Come forward, M. Baudrillon; (to Champagne) and you also.

Ramel: M. Baudrillon, do you identify this man as the person who bought arsenic from you two days ago?

Baudrillon: Yes, that is the very man.

Champagne: Didn't I tell you, M. Baudrillon, that it was for the mice that were eating up everything, even in the house, and that I wanted it for Madame?

The Magistrate: Do you hear him, madame? This is his plea; he pretends that you yourself sent him to get this stuff, and that he handed the package to you just as he took it from M. Baudrillon.

Gertrude: It is true, sir.

Ramel: Did you make any use of the arsenic, madame?

Gertrude: No, sir.

The Magistrate: You can then show us the package sent by M. Baudrillon; it should have his label, and if he acknowledges that it is entire and unbroken, the serious charges made against your foreman will in part be disproved. We shall then have nothing more to do than to receive the report of the physician who held the autopsy.

Gertrude: The package, sir, has never been taken from the desk in my bedroom. (Exit.)

Champagne: Ah! General, I am saved.

The General: Poor old Champagne!

Ramel: General, we shall be very happy if we have to announce the innocence of your foreman; unlike you soldiers, we are always delighted to be beaten.

Gertrude: (returning) Here it is, gentlemen.

(The Magistrate, Baudrillon and Ramel examine the package.)

Baudrillon: (putting on his glasses) It is intact, gentlemen, perfectly intact. Here is my seal on it unbroken.

The Magistrate: Lock that up carefully, madame, for the assizes for sometime have had to deal with nothing but poisoning cases.

Gertrude: You see, sir, I have kept it in my desk, in which none but the General and myself have access.

(Gertrude returns to her bedroom.)

Ramel: General, we will not wait for the report of the autopsy. The principal charge, which you will agree with me was very serious, for all the town was talking of it, has been disproved; and we have full confidence in the skill and integrity of Doctor Vernon. (Gertrude returns) Champagne, you are at liberty. (General expression of satisfaction.) But you see, my friend, to what painful suspicions a man exposes himself when his home has a bad name.

Champagne: Ask the General, your Honor, if I am not mild as a lamb; but my wife, God forgive her, was the worst that was ever made. An angel could not have stood her. If I have sometimes tried to bring her to reason, the anxious moments you have made me pass here, have been punishment enough! To be taken up for a prisoner, and to know yourself innocent, while you are in the hands of justice. (Weeps.)

The General: Well! well! You are acquitted now!

Napoleon: Papa, what is justice?

The General: Gentlemen, justice ought not to commit errors of this kind.

Gertrude: There seems to be always something fatal in this justice! And this poor man will always bear a bad name from your arrival here.

Ramel: Madame, for the innocent there is nothing fatal in criminal justice. You see that Champagne has been promptly discharged. (Fixing his eyes upon Gertrude.) Those who live without reproach, who indulge no passions, save the noble and the lawful, have nothing to fear from justice.

Gertrude: Sir, you do not know the people of this country. Ten years from this time they will say that Champagne poisoned his wife, that the officers of justice came to investigate and, but for our protection

The General: Say no more, Gertrude. These gentlemen have done only their duty. (Felix prepares the coffee.) Gentlemen, can I offer you a cup of coffee?

The Magistrate: Thank you, General; the urgency of this affair called me away from home rather suddenly, and my wife is waiting dinner for me at Louviers. (He goes on the veranda to talk with the doctor.)

The General: (to Ramel) You are a friend of Ferdinand's, I believe?

Ramel: Yes, General, and you have in him the noblest heart, the most spotless integrity, the most charming character that I have ever met.

Pauline: This state's attorney seems to be a very kind man!

Godard: (aside) And why does she say that? Is it because he praised M. Ferdinand? Ah! there's something there!

Gertrude: (to Ramel) Whenever you have any moments to spare, you must come to see M. de Charny. (To the General) Would not that be nice, dear?

The Magistrate: (coming in from the veranda) M. de la Grandiere, our physician, agrees with Doctor Vernon that this death resulted from Asiatic cholera. We beg, therefore, that you, countess, and you, count, will excuse us for having disturbed, even for a moment, the tranquillity of your charming household.

Ramel: (to Gertrude in the front of the stage) Take care! God never protects undertakings so rash as yours. I have discovered all. Give up Ferdinand, leave his life free, and be satisfied with the happiness of a wife. The path which you are following leads to crime.

Gertrude: I'll die before I give him up!

Ramel: (aside) I must get Ferdinand away from this place.

(Ramel beckons to Ferdinand, takes his arm, and goes out with him after exchange of formal bows.)

The General: At last we are rid of them! (To Gertrude) Let the coffee be handed round.

Gertrude: Pauline, kindly ring for the coffee.

(Pauline rings.)

The same persons, excepting Ferdinand, Ramel, the Magistrate and Baudrillon.

Godard: (aside) I shall find out presently whether Pauline loves Ferdinand. This urchin, who wants to know about justice, seems to me pretty cute; I'll make use of him.

(Felix appears.)

Gertrude: The coffee.

(Felix brings in the tray.)

Godard: (who has taken Napoleon aside) Would you like to play a nice trick on somebody?

Napoleon: That I would. Do you know one?

Godard: Come with me, and I'll tell you how you must do it.

(Godard goes on the veranda with Napoleon.)

The General: Pauline, my coffee. (Pauline brings it to him.) It isn't sweet enough. (Pauline gives him some sugar.) Thank you, dear.

Gertrude: M. de Rimonville?

The General: Godard?

Gertrude: M. de Rimonville?

The General: Godard, my wife wants to know if you would like some coffee?

Godard: Yes, thank you.

(Godard places himself in such a way as to watch Pauline.)

The General: It is pleasant to sit down and take a little coffee in quiet.

Napoleon: (running in) Mamma, mamma! My good friend Ferdinand has just fallen down; he has broken his leg and they are carrying him into the house.

Vernon: That's dreadful!

The General: How very unfortunate!

Pauline: Oh!

(Pauline falls back on her chair.)

Gertrude: What is that you said?

Napoleon: It is all a joke! I only wished to see if you all loved my good friend.

Gertrude: It is very naughty of you to act in that way; how did you come to think of such a trick?

Napoleon: (whispering) It was Godard.

Godard: (aside) She loves him! She was nicely caught by my trap, which I have never known to fail.

Gertrude: (to Godard, as she offers him some coffee) Are you aware, sir, that you would make a very indifferent preceptor? It is very bad of you to teach a child such mischievous tricks.

Godard: You will come to the conclusion that I did pretty well, when you learn that I have been enabled by this little stratagem to discover my rival.

(Godard points to Ferdinand who is entering the room.)

Gertrude: (letting fall the sugar basin) He!

Godard: (aside) She is in the same box!

Gertrude: (aloud) You startled me.

The General: (who has risen from his seat) What is the matter with you, my dear child?

Gertrude: Nothing; it is Godard's nonsense; he told me that the public prosecutor had come back. Felix, take away this sugar basin, and bring me another one.

Vernon: This is a day of surprises.

Gertrude: M. Ferdinand, they are going to bring some sugar for you. (Aside) He is not looking at her. (Aloud) How is it, Pauline, you did not put any sugar in your father's coffee?

Napoleon: Why, of course, it was because she was too scared; didn't you hear her say "oh!"?

Pauline: Won't you hold your tongue, you little story-teller! You are always teasing me.

(Pauline sits on her father's knee, and puts sugar in his cup.)

Gertrude: Can it be true? And to think that I have taken such pains in dressing her! (To Godard) If you are right, your marriage will take place in a fortnight. (Aloud) M. Ferdinand, here is your coffee.

Godard: (aside) It seems that I caught two in my mouse-trap! And all the time the General is so calm, so tranquil, and this household is so peaceful! Things are getting mixed up. I shan't go yet; I wish to have a game of whist! Oh! I give up all thoughts of marriage for the present. (Glancing at Ferdinand) There's a lucky fellow! He is loved by two womentwo charming, delightful creatures! He is indeed a factotum! But how is it that he is more successful than I am, who have an income of forty thousand?

Gertrude: Pauline, my dear, offer the cards to the gentlemen for a game of whist. It is almost nine o'clock. If they are going to have a game, there is no time to be lost. (Pauline puts out the cards.) Come, Napoleon, bid good-night to the gentlemen, let them see you are a good boy, and don't try to stay up as you usually do.

Napoleon: Good-night, papa. What is justice like?

The General: Justice is blind! Good-night, my pet.

Napoleon: Good-night, M. Vernon! What is justice made of?

Vernon: It is made up of all our crimes. When you are naughty, they whip you; that is justice.

Napoleon: They never whip me.

Vernon: Then they never do justice to you!

Napoleon: Good-night, my good friend! Good-night, Pauline! Good-night M. Godard.

Godard: De Rimonville.

Napoleon: Have I been good?

(Gertrude kisses Napoleon.)

The General: I have the king.

Vernon: And I, the queen.

Ferdinand: (to Godard) Monsieur, we are partners.

Gertrude: (seeing Marguerite) Be sure to say your prayers, and don't provoke Marguerite. Now, go to bed, dear heart.

Napoleon: Yes, dear heart! What is love made of?

(Exit Napoleon.)

The same persons, except Napoleon.

The General: When that child begins to ask questions, he is an amusing youngster.

Gertrude: It is often very embarrassing to answer him. (To Pauline) Come, Pauline, let us go and finish our work.

Vernon: It is your lead, General.

The General: Mine? You ought to get married, and we could visit at your house, as you visit here, and you would have all the happiness of a family. Don't forget, Godard, that there is no one in the department happier than I am.

Vernon: When a man reaches sixty-seven without reaching happiness, it is impossible to catch up. I shall die a bachelor.

(The two women set to work at the same piece of embroidery.)

Gertrude: (seated with Pauline at the front of the stage) How is this, my child! Godard tells me that you received his advances very coldly; yet he is a very good match for you.

Pauline: My father, madame, has given me leave to choose a husband for myself.

Gertrude: Do you know what Godard will say? He will say that you refused him because you had already made your choice.

Pauline: If it were true, you and my father would know it. What reason have I for not giving you my confidence?

Gertrude: I cannot say, and I do not blame you. You see in matters of love women keep their secret with heroic constancy, sometimes in the midst of the most cruel torments.

Pauline: (aside, picking up the scissors, which she had let drop) Ferdinand was wise in telling me to distrust hershe is so insinuating!

Gertrude: Perhaps you have in your heart a love like that. If such a misfortune has befallen you, you may rely on my helpI love you, remember! I can win your father's consent; he has confidence in me, and I can sway both his mind and affections. Therefore, dear child, you may open your heart to me.

Pauline: You can read my heart, madame, for I am concealing nothing from you.

The General: Vernon, what in the name of everything are you doing?

(Faint murmurs are heard among the card players; Pauline casts a look at them.)

Gertrude: (aside) The question point-blank does not do with her. (Aloud) How happy you make me! For this provincial joker, Godard, avers that you almost fainted when he prompted Napoleon to declare that Ferdinand had broken his leg. Ferdinand is a pleasant young fellow, our intimate friend for some four years; what is more natural than your attachment for the youth, whose birth and talents are both in his favor?

Pauline: He is my father's clerk.

Gertrude: Thank God, you are not in love with him; I was a little anxious for the moment, for, my dear child, he is a married man.

Pauline: What! He is married? Why then does he make a secret of it? (Aside) Married? That would be outrageous. I will ask him this evening. I will give him the signal on which we agreed to meet.

Gertrude: (aside) Not a line of her face changed! Godard is wrong, or this child is more self-possessed than I am. (Aloud) What is the matter with you, my pet?

Pauline: Oh! nothing.

Gertrude: (touching Pauline's neck) Why, you are quite hot! Do you feel so? (Aside) She loves him, that is plain. But the question is, does he love her? I suffer the torments of the damned!

Pauline: I have been working too closely at this frame! And what, pray, is the matter with you?

Gertrude: Nothing. But you asked me why Ferdinand kept his marriage secret.

Pauline: Ah! yes!

Gertrude: (rising, aside) If she is in love, she has a will of iron. But where can they have met? I never leave her in the daytime, and Champagne sees him all the time at the factory. No! it is absurd. If she does love him, it is without his knowledge, and she is like all other young girls, who begin to love a man in secret. But if they have come to an understanding, I have given her such a start that she will be sure to communicate with him about it, if only through her eyes. I will keep them both well in sight.

Godard: We have had wonderful luck, M. Ferdinand!

(Ferdinand leaves off playing and goes towards Gertrude.)

Pauline: (aside) I did not know that it was possible to suffer so much and yet live on.

Ferdinand: (to Gertrude) Madame, won't you take my place in the game?

Gertrude: Pauline, will you go instead? (Aside) I can't tell him that he loves Pauline, that would suggest what may be a new idea to him. What shall I do? (to Ferdinand) She has confessed all.

Ferdinand: Confessed what?

Gertrude: Why, all!

Ferdinand: I don't understand. Do you refer to Mlle. de Grandchamp?

Gertrude: Yes.

Ferdinand: And what has she been doing?

Gertrude: You have not been false to me? You do not want to kill me?

Ferdinand: Kill you? She? I?

Gertrude: Am I the victim of one of Godard's jokes?

Ferdinand: Gertrude, you are beside yourself!

Godard: (to Pauline) Ah! Mademoiselle, that is bad play!

Pauline: You lost a great deal by not taking my stepmother for a partner.

Gertrude: (to Ferdinand) Ferdinand, I do not know whether I am rightly or wrongly informed; but this I do know; I prefer death to the loss of our hopes.

Ferdinand: Take care! The doctor has been watching us very keenly for the last few days.

Gertrude: (aside) She has not once looked back at him! (Aloud) She will marry Godard, for her father will compel her to do so.

Ferdinand: Godard would make an excellent match for any one.

The General: I can't stay here any longer! My daughter plays vilely, and you, Vernon, have trumped my king!

Vernon: My dear General, it was a finesse.

The General: You stupid! Come, it is ten o'clock, and time to go to sleep instead of playing cards. Ferdinand, be good enough to take Godard to his room. As for you, Vernon, you deserve to sleep on the floor as a punishment, for trumping my king.

Godard: It is, after all, merely a matter of five francs, General.

The General: It is also a matter of honor. (To Vernon) Come, now, although you have played so badly, let me hand you your hat and cane.

(Pauline takes a flower from the vase and plays with it.)

Gertrude: (aside) A signal! I will watch her this night, even though my husband should afterwards kill me for it!

Ferdinand: (taking a candlestick from Felix) M. de Rimonville, I am at your service.

Godard: I wish you good-night, madame. My respects to you, mademoiselle. General, good-night.

The General: Good-night, Godard.

Godard: De RimonvilleDoctor, I

Vernon: (looking at him and blowing his nose) Good-bye, my friend.

The General: (attending the doctor on his way out) Good-bye till to-morrow, Vernon, but come early.

Gertrude: , Pauline and the General.

Gertrude: My dear, Pauline refuses Godard.

The General: And what are your reasons, my daughter?

Pauline: I do not like him sufficiently to take him for a husband.

The General: Well, never mind! We will look out some one else for you; but it is time for this to end, for you are now twenty-two, and people will begin to talk about you, my wife and me unless you make an early choice.

Pauline: May I not be permitted, if I choose, to remain single?

Gertrude: She has made her choice, but probably wishes to tell you by yourself. I will leave you, and she will confess it. (To Pauline) Good-night, my child; talk freely with your father. (Aside) I will listen.

(Gertrude enters her chamber and proceeds to close the door.)

The General: and Pauline.

The General: (aside) Act as my daughter's confessor! I am utterly unfitted for such a task! She might rather act as confessor to me. (Aloud) Pauline, come here. (He takes her on his knee) Now, do you really think, my pet, that an old trooper like me doesn't understand your resolution to remain single? Why, of course, that means, in every language in which it has ever been uttered, that a young person is in a special hurry to be marriedto some one that she is in love with.

Pauline: Papa, I would like to tell you something, but I cannot have confidence in you.

The General: And why not, mademoiselle?

Pauline: Because you tell everything to your wife.

The General: And you mean to tell me that you have a secret of such a kind that it cannot be revealed to an angel, to the woman who has educated youto your second mother!

Pauline: Oh! If you are going to be vexed, I shall get off to bed. I used to think that a father's heart would be a place of unfailing refuge for a daughter.

The General: You silly child! Come, I am going to be in a good humor.

Pauline: How kind you are! But listen! Suppose I were in love with the son of one of those whom you detest?

The General: (rising abruptly to his feet and repulsing her) I should detest you!

Pauline: And this is what you call being good humored?

(Gertrude appears.)

The General: My child, there are feelings in my heart that you should never rouse in me; you ought to know this. They are my very life. Do you wish to be the death of your father?

Pauline: Oh!

The General: Dear child! I have had my day. My lot, with you and Gertrude at my side, is an enviable one. But, however sweet and charming is my life, I would quit it without regret, if by that means I could render you happy; for happiness is a debt we owe to those who owe to us their existence.

Pauline: (noticing the door ajar, aside) Ah! she is listening. (Aloud) Father, I didn't mean what I said, but suppose I felt a love of that kind and it was so violent that I was likely to die of it?

The General: It would be best for you to tell me nothing about it, and wait for your happiness until my death. And yet, since there is nothing more sacred, nothing more dear next to God and country, than children to their parents, children in their turn ought to hold sacred their parents' wishes and never to disobey them, even after their death. If you do not remain faithful to this hatred of mine, I think I should come forth from my grave to curse you!

Pauline: (kissing her father) Oh! you bad, bad man! At any rate, I shall now find out whether you can keep a secret or not. Swear to me on your honor that you'll not repeat a syllable of what I told you.

The General: I promise you that. But what reason have you for distrusting Gertrude?

Pauline: If I told you, you would not believe it.

The General: Are you trying to torture your father?

Pauline: No. But which do you place first,this hatred for traitors, or your own honor?

The General: They are both first with me, for they are based upon a common principle.

Pauline: Very well; if you throw away your honor by violating your oath, you may as well throw away your hatred. That is all I wanted to find out.

The General: If women are angelic, they have in them also something of the diabolical. Tell me, who has filled the head of such an innocent girl as you are with ideas like these? This is the way they lead us by the

Pauline: (interrupting him) Good-night, father.

The General: You naughty child!

Pauline: Keep my secret, or I will bring you a son-in-law that will drive you wild.

(Pauline enters her own apartment.)

The General: (alone) There must certainly be some key to this enigma! It must be discovered! Yes, and Gertrude shall discover it!

(Scene curtain.)

(Pauline's chamber; a small plain room with a bed in the centre and a round table at the left; the entrance is at the right, but there is a secret entrance on the left.)

Pauline: At last I am alone! At last I can be natural! Married? My Ferdinand married? If this is so, he is the falsest, foulest, vilest of men! And I could kill him! Kill him? But I myself could not survive one hour the knowledge that he was actually married. My stepmother I detest! And if she becomes my enemy, there will be war between us, and war in earnest. It would be terrible, for I should tell my father all I know. (She looks at her watch.) Half-past eleven, and he cannot come before midnight, when the whole household is asleep. Poor Ferdinand! He has to risk his life for a few minutes' chat with her he loves! That is what I call true love! Such perils men will not undergo for every woman! But what would I not undergo for him! If my father surprised us, I would be the one to take the first blow. Oh! To suspect the man you love is to suffer greater torment than to lose him! If he dies, you can follow him in death; but doubtis the cruelest of separations!Ah! I hear him.

Ferdinand: and Pauline (who locks the door).

Pauline: Are you married?

Ferdinand: What a joke! Wouldn't I have told you?

Pauline: Ah! (She sinks back on a chair, then falls upon her knees.) Holy Virgin, what vows shall I make to thee? (She kisses Ferdinand's hand.) And you, a thousand blessings on your head!

Ferdinand: Who could have told you such a foolish thing?

Pauline: My stepmother.

Ferdinand: Why, she knows all about me, and if she did not, she would set spies to discover all; for suspicion with such women as that is certitude! Listen, Pauline, moments now are precious. It was Madame de Grandchamp who brought me into this house.

Pauline: And why?

Ferdinand: Because she is in love with me.

Pauline: How horrible! And what of my father?

Ferdinand: She was in love with me before her marriage.

Pauline: She is in love with you; but you, are you in love with her?

Ferdinand: Do you think if I were, I should have remained in this house?

Pauline: And she is still in love with you?

Ferdinand: Yes, unhappily she is! I ought to tell you that she was at one time beloved by me; but to-day I hate her from the bottom of my heart, and I sometimes ask myself why. Is it because I am in love with you, and every genuine and pure love is by nature exclusive? Is it because the contrast between an angel of purity, such as you, and a devil like her excites in me just as much hatred towards her as it rouses love towards you, my joy, my bliss, my beauteous treasure? I cannot say. But I hate her, and I love you so much that I should not regret dying if your father killed me; for one talk with you, one hour spent in this chamber by your side, seems, even when it is passed away, a whole lifetime to me.

Pauline: Oh, say those dear words again! For they bring back my confidence once more. After hearing you speak thus, I forgive you the wrong you have done me in telling that I am not your first and only love, as you are mine. It is but a lost illusion, that is all! Do not be vexed with me. Young girls are foolish, they have no ambition but in their love, and they would fain rule over the past as they rule over the future of their beloved! But you hate her! And in that word, you give me more proof of love than you have given me for the two years that we have loved. If only you knew with what cruelty this stepmother has put me on the rack, by her questions! But I will be avenged!

Ferdinand: You must be very careful! She is a very dangerous woman! She rules your father. She is a woman who will fight to the death!

Pauline: To the death! That is as I wish it!

Ferdinand: Be prudent, dear Pauline! We are going to act in harmony, are we not? Well, my love, the prosecuting attorney is of opinion that if we would triumph over the difficulties that prevent our union, we must have fortitude enough to part for some time.

Pauline: Oh! Give me two days and I will win over my father!

Ferdinand: But you do not know Madame de Grandchamp. She has gone too far to leave off without ruining you, and to do that she will go to any lengths. But I will not go away without giving you what may prove most effective weapons against her.

Pauline: Oh, give them, give them to me!

Ferdinand: Not yet. And you must promise me not to make use of them, unless your life is in danger; for what I am doing is certainly a breach of confidence. But it is for your sake I do it.

Pauline: Tell me what it is?

Ferdinand: To-morrow I shall put into your hands the letters which she wrote to me, some of them before, some of them after her marriage. Pauline, do not read them! Swear this to me, in the name of our love, in the name of our happiness! It will be sufficient, should it ever become absolutely necessary, that she knows that they are in your possession; at that moment you will see her trembling and groveling at your feet, for all her machinations then are foiled. But do not use them excepting as a last resort, and keep them well concealed.

Pauline: What a terrible duel it will be!

Ferdinand: Terrible! But, Pauline be courageous, as you have so far been, in keeping the secret of our love; do not acknowledge it, until you find it no longer possible to deny it.

Pauline: Oh, why did your father betray the Emperor? If fathers knew how their children would be punished for the sins of their parents, there would be none but good men!

Ferdinand: Perhaps this sad interview will prove the last moment of happiness we shall have!

Pauline: (aside) I will rejoin him, if he leaves me(Aloud) See, I no longer weep, I am full of courage! But tell me, will your friend know the place where you are hiding?

Ferdinand: Eugene will be our confidential friend.

Pauline: And the letters?

Ferdinand: To-morrow! To-morrow! But where will you conceal them?

Pauline: I shall keep them about me.

Ferdinand: Good! Farewell!

Pauline: Oh no, not yet!

Ferdinand: A moment more may ruin us.

Pauline: Or unite us for life. Come, let me show you out, I shall not rest until I see you in the garden. Come!

Ferdinand: Let me take one more glance at this maiden chamber, in which you will think of mewhere all things speak of you.

(Scene curtain.)

(The drawing-room before described.)

Pauline: on the veranda; Gertrude at the door of the room.

Gertrude: She is seeing him out! He has been deceiving me! So has she! (Taking Pauline by the hand, she leads her to the front of the stage.) Will you dare tell me, now, mademoiselle, that you do not love him?

Pauline: Madame, I am deceiving no one.

Gertrude: You are deceiving your father.

Pauline: And you, madame?

Gertrude: So both of you are against meOh, I shall

Pauline: You shall do nothing, either against me or against him.

Gertrude: Do not compel me to show my power! You must be obedient to your father, andhe is obedient to me.

Pauline: We shall see!

Gertrude: (aside) Her coolness makes my blood boil. My brain reels! (Aloud) Do you know that I would rather die than live without him?

Pauline: And so would I, madame. But I am free. I have not sworn as you have to be faithful to a husbandAnd your husband is my father!

Gertrude: (kneeling before Pauline) What have I done to you? I have loved you, I have educated you, I have been a good mother to you.

Pauline: Be a faithful wife, and I will say no more.

Gertrude: Nay! Speak! Say all you likeAh! the struggle has begun.

The same persons and the General.

The General: How is this? What is going on here?

Gertrude: (to Pauline) You must feign sickness. Come lie down. (She makes her lie down.) I happened, my dear, to hear moans. Our dear child was calling for help; she was almost suffocated by the flowers in her bedroom.

Pauline: Yes, papa, Marguerite had forgotten to take away the vase of flowers, and I almost died.

Gertrude: Come, my daughter, come into the open air.

(Gertrude and Pauline go towards the door.)

The General: Stay a moment. What have you done with the flowers.

Pauline: I do not know where Madame has put them.

Gertrude: I threw them into the garden.

(The General abruptly rushes out, after setting his candle on the card table.)

Pauline: and Gertrude; later, the General.

Gertrude: Go back to your room, lock yourself in! I'll take all the blame. (Pauline goes to her room.) I will wait for him here.

(Gertrude goes back into her room.)

The General: (coming in from the garden) I can find the vase of flowers nowhere. There is some mystery in all these things. Gertrude?There is no one here! Ah! Madame de Grandchamp, you will have to tell me!It is a nice thing that I should be deceived by both wife and daughter!