Project Gutenberg's A Comedy of Marriage & Other Tales, by Guy De Maupassant #23 in our series by Guy De Maupassant Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission. Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. 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: A Comedy of Marriage & Other Tales Author: Guy De Maupassant Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9161] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on September 10, 2003] Edition: 10 Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COMEDY OF MARRIAGE & OTHER TALES *** Produced by Tiffany Vergon, Sandra Brown and Distributed Proofreaders GUY DE MAUPASSANT A COMEDY OF MARRIAGE MUSOTTE THE LANCER'S WIFE AND OTHER TALES TABLE OF CONTENTS LA PAIX DU MENAGE MUSOTTE ADDENDA THE LANCER'S WIFE HAUTOT SENIOR AND HAUTOT JUNIOR NO QUARTER THE ORPHAN A LIVELY FRIEND THE BLIND MAN THE IMPOLITE SEX THE CAKE THE CORSICAN BANDIT THE DUEL LA PAIX DU MENAGE DRAMATIS PERSONAE MONSIEUR DE SALLUS JACQUES DE RANDOL MADAME DE SALLUS Time: Paris, 1890 ACT I. SCENE I. Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace. Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair. She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ MME. DE SALLUS Oh! How imprudent you are! JACQUES DE RANDOL Don't be afraid; no one saw me. MME. DE SALLUS But the servants! JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, they are in the outer hall. MME. DE SALLUS How is that? No one announced you JACQUES DE RANDOL No, they simply opened the door for me. MME. DE SALLUS But what will _they_ think? JACQUES DE RANDOL Well, they will doubtless think that _I_ don't count. MME. DE SALLUS But I will not permit it. I must have you announced in future. It does not look well. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_laughs_] Perhaps they will even go so far as to announce your husband-- MME. DE SALLUS Jacques, this jesting is out of place. JACQUES DE RANDOL Forgive me. [_Sits_.] Are you waiting for anybody? MME. DE SALLUS Yes--probably. You know that I always receive when I am at home. JACQUES DE RANDOL I know that I always have the pleasure of seeing you for about five minutes--just enough time to ask you how you feel, and then some one else comes in--some one in love with you, of course,--who impatiently awaits my departure. MME. DE SALLUS [_smiles_] Well, what can I do? I am not your wife, so how can it be otherwise? JACQUES DE RANDOL Ah! If you only were my wife! MME. DE SALLUS If I were your wife? JACQUES DE RANDOL I would snatch you away for five or six months, far from this horrible town, and keep you all to myself. MME. DE SALLUS You would soon have enough of me. JACQUES DE RANDOL No, no! MME. DE SALLUS Yes, yes! JACQUES DE RANDOL Do you know that it is absolute torture to love a woman like you? MME. DE SALLUS [_bridles_] And why? JACQUES DE RANDOL Because I covet you as the starving covet the food they see behind the glassy barriers of a restaurant. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, Jacques! JACQUES DE RANDOL I tell you it is true! A woman of the world belongs to the world; that is to say, to everyone except the man to whom she gives herself. He can see her with open doors for a quarter of an hour every three days--not oftener, because of servants. In exceptional cases, with a thousand precautions, with a thousand fears, with a thousand subterfuges, she visits him once or twice a month, perhaps, in a furnished room. Then she has just a quarter of an hour to give him, because she has just left Madame X in order to visit Madame Z, where she has told her coachman to take her. If he complains, she will not come again, because it is impossible for her to get rid of her coachman. So, you see, the coachman, and the footman, and Madame Z, and Madame X, and all the others, who visit her house as they would a museum,--a museum that never closes,--all the he's and all the she's who eat up her leisure minute by minute and second by second, to whom she owes her time as an employee owes his time to the State, simply because she belongs to the world--all these persons are like the transparent and impassable glass: they keep you from my love. MME. DE SALLUS [_dryly_] You seem upset to-day. JACQUES DE RANDOL No, no, but I hunger to be alone with you. You are mine, are you not? Or, I should say, I am yours. Isn't it true? I spend my life in looking for opportunities to meet you. Our love is made up of chance meetings, of casual bows, of stolen looks, of slight touches--nothing more. We meet on the avenue in the morning--a bow; we meet at your house, or at that of some other acquaintance--twenty words; we dine somewhere at the same table, too far from each other to talk, and I dare not even look at you because of hostile eyes. Is that love? We are simply acquaintances. MME. DE SALLUS Then you would like to carry me off? JACQUES DE RANDOL Unhappily, I cannot. MME. DE SALLUS Then what? JACQUES DE RANDOL I do not know. I only know this life is wearing me out. MME. DE SALLUS It is just because there are so many obstacles in the way of your love that it does not fade. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh! Madeline, can you say that? MME. DE SALLUS [_softening_] Believe me, dear, if your love has to endure these hardships, it is because it is not lawful love. JACQUES DE RANDOL Well, I never met a woman as positive as you. Then you think that if chance made me your husband, I should cease to love you? MME. DE SALLUS Not all at once, perhaps, but--eventually. JACQUES DE RANDOL What you say is revolting to me. MME. DE SALLUS Nevertheless, it is quite true. You know that when a confectioner hires a greedy saleswoman he says to her, "Eat all the sweets you wish, my dear." She stuffs herself for eight days, and then she is satisfied for the rest of her life. JACQUES DE RANDOL Ah! Indeed! But why do you include me in that class? MME. DE SALLUS Really, I do not know--perhaps as a joke! JACQUES DE RANDOL Please do not mock me. MME. DE SALLUS I say to myself, here is a man who is very much in love with me. So far as I am concerned, I am perfectly free, morally, since for two years past I have altogether ceased to please my husband. Now, since this man loves me, why should I not love him? JACQUES DE RANDOL You are philosophic--and cruel. MME. DE SALLUS On the contrary, I have _not_ been cruel. Of what do you complain? JACQUES DE RANDOL Stop! you anger me with this continual raillery. Ever since I began to love you, you have tortured me in this manner, and now I do not even know whether you have the slightest affection for me. MME. DE SALLUS Well, you must admit that I have always been--good-natured. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, you have played a queer little game! From the day I first met you I felt that you were coquetting with me, coquetting mysteriously, obscurely, coquetting as only you can without showing it to others. Little by little you conquered me with looks, with smiles, with pressures of the hand, without compromising yourself, without pledging yourself, without revealing yourself. You have been horribly upright--and seductive. I have loved you with all my soul, yes, sincerely and loyally, and to-day I do not know what feeling you have in the depths of your heart, what thoughts you have hidden in your brain; in fact, I know-I know nothing. I look at you, and I see a woman who seems to have chosen me, and seems also to have forgotten that she _has_ chosen me. Does she love me, or is she tired of me? Has she simply made an experiment--taken a lover in order to see, to know, to taste,--without desire, hunger, or thirst? There are days when I ask myself if among those who love you and who tell you so unceasingly there is not one whom you really love. MME. DE SALLUS Good heavens! Really, there are _some_ things into which it is not necessary to inquire. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, how hard you are! Your tone tells me that you do not love me. MME. DE SALLUS Now, what _are_ you complaining about? Of things I do not say?--because--I do not think you have anything else to reproach me with. JACQUES DE RANDOL Forgive me, I am jealous. MME. DE SALLUS Of whom? JACQUES DE RANDOL I do not know. I am jealous of everything that I do not know about you. MME. DE SALLUS Yes, and without my knowing anything about these things, too. JACQUES DE RANDOL Forgive me, I love you too much--so much that everything disturbs me. MME. DE SALLUS Everything? JACQUES DE RANDOL Yes, everything. MME. DE SALLUS Are you jealous of my husband? JACQUES DE RANDOL [_amazed_] What an idea! MME. DE SALLUS [_dryly_] Well, you are wrong. JACQUES DE RANDOL Always this raillery! MME. DE SALLUS No, I want to speak to you seriously about him, and to ask your advice. JACQUES DE RANDOL About your husband? MME. DE SALLUS [_seriously_] Yes, I am not laughing, or rather I do not laugh any more. [_In lighter tone_.] Then you are not jealous of my husband? And yet you know he is the only man who has authority over me. JACQUES DE RANDOL It is just because he has authority that I am not jealous. A woman's heart gives nothing to the man who has authority. MME. DE SALLUS My dear, a husband's right is a positive thing; it is a title-deed that he can lock up--just as my husband has for more than two years--but it is also one that he can use at any given moment, as lately he has seemed inclined to do. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_astonished_] You tell me that your husband-- MME. DE SALLUS Yes. JACQUES DE RANDOL Impossible! MME. DE SALLUS [_bridles_] And why impossible? JACQUES DE RANDOL Because your husband has--has--other occupations. MME. DE SALLUS Well, it pleases him to vary them, it seems. JACQUES DE RANDOL Jesting apart, Madeline, what has happened? MME. DE SALLUS Ah! Ah! Then you _are_ becoming jealous of him. JACQUES DE RANDOL Madeline, I implore you; tell me, are you mocking me, or are you speaking seriously? MME. DE SALLUS I am speaking seriously, indeed, very seriously. JACQUES DE RANDOL Then what has happened? MME. DE SALLUS Well, you know my position, although I have never told you all my past life. It is all very simple and very brief. At the age of nineteen I married the Count de Sallus, who fell in love with me after he had seen me at the Opera-Comique. He already knew my father's lawyer. He was very nice to me in those early days; yes, very nice, and I really believed he loved me. As for myself, I was very circumspect in my behavior toward him, very circumspect indeed, so that he could never cast a shadow of reproach on my name. JACQUES DE RANDOL Well, did you love him? MME. DE SALLUS Good gracious! Why ask such questions? JACQUES DE RANDOL Then you did love him? MME. DE SALLUS Yes and no. If I loved him, it was the love of a little fool; but I certainly never told him, for positively I do not know how to show love. JACQUES DE RANDOL I can vouch for that! MME. DE SALLUS Well, it is possible that I cared for him sometimes, idiotically, like a timid, restless, trembling, awkward, little girl, always in fear of that disturbing thing--the love of a man--that disturbing thing that is sometimes so sweet! As for him,--you know him. He was a sweetheart, a society sweetheart, who are always the worst of all. Such men really have a lasting affection only for those girls who are fitting companions for clubmen--girls who have a habit of telling doubtful stories and bestowing depraved kisses. It seems to me that to attract and to hold such people, the nude and obscene are necessary both in word and in body--unless--unless--it is true that men are incapable of loving any woman for a length of time. However, I soon became aware that he was indifferent to me, for he used to kiss me as a matter of course and look at me without realizing my presence; and in his manners, in his actions, in his conversation, he showed that I attracted him no longer. As soon as he came into the room he would throw himself upon the sofa, take up the newspaper, read it, shrug his shoulders, and when he read anything he did not agree with, he would express his annoyance audibly. Finally, one day, he yawned and stretched his arms in my face. On that day I understood that I was no longer loved. Keenly mortified I certainly was. But it hurt me so much that I did not realize it was necessary to coquet with him in order to retain his affection. I soon learned that he had a mistress, a woman of the world. Since then we have lived separate lives--after a very stormy explanation. JACQUES DE RANDOL What do you mean? What sort of explanation? MME. DE SALLUS Well-- JACQUES DE RANDOL About--his mistress? MME. DE SALLUS Yes and no. I find it difficult to express myself. To avoid my suspicions he found himself obliged, doubtless, to dissimulate from time to time, although rarely, and to feign a certain affection for his legitimate wife, the woman who had the right to his affection. I told him that he might abstain in future from such a mockery of love. JACQUES DE RANDOL How did you tell him that? MME. DE SALLUS I don't remember. JACQUES DE RANDOL It must have been amusing. MME. DE SALLUS No, he appeared very much surprised at first. Then I formulated a nice little speech and learned it by heart, in which I asked him to carry such intermittent fancies elsewhere. He understood me, saluted me very courteously, and--did as I asked him. JACQUES DE RANDOL Did he never come back? MME. DE SALLUS Never, until-- JACQUES DE RANDOL [_interrupts_] Has he never again tried to tell you of his love? MME. DE SALLUS No, never, until-- JACQUES DE RANDOL [_interrupts_] Have you regretted it? MME. DE SALLUS That is of small importance. What is of importance, though, is that he has had innumerable mistresses whom he entertains, whom he supports, whom he takes out. It is this that has irritated and humiliated me--in fact, cut me to the quick. But then I took heart of grace, and too late, two years too late, I took a lover--you! JACQUES DE RANDOL [_kisses her hand_] And I, Madeline, I love you with my whole soul. MME. DE SALLUS Well, all this is not at all proper. JACQUES DE RANDOL What do you mean by "all this"? MME. DE SALLUS Life in general--my husband--his mistresses--myself--and you. JACQUES DE RANDOL Your words--prove beyond a doubt that you do not love me. MME. DE SALLUS Why? JACQUES DE RANDOL You dare to say of love that it is not proper? If you loved me, it might be divine, but a loving woman would abhor a phrase which should contain such an idea. What! True love not proper? MME. DE SALLUS Possibly. It all depends upon the point of view. For myself, I see too much. JACQUES DE RANDOL What do you see? MME. DE SALLUS I see too well, too far, too clearly. JACQUES DE RANDOL You do not love me? MME. DE SALLUS If I did not love you--a little--I should have had no excuse for giving myself to you. JACQUES DE RANDOL A little--just sufficient to warrant that excuse! MME. DE SALLUS But I do not excuse myself: I accuse myself. JACQUES DE RANDOL Then you did love me a little--and then--now--you love me no more! MME. DE SALLUS Do not let us argue. JACQUES DE RANDOL You do nothing else. MME. DE SALLUS No, I only judge the present by the past; the only just ideas and sane notions of life one can form are those concerning that which is past. JACQUES DE RANDOL And do you regret-- MME. DE SALLUS Perhaps! JACQUES DE RANDOL And what about to-morrow? MME. DE SALLUS I do not know. JACQUES DE RANDOL Is it nothing to you to have one who is yours, body and soul? MME. DE SALLUS [_shrugs her shoulders_] Yes, mine to-day. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_vehemently_] And to-morrow! MME. DE SALLUS [_shrugs her shoulders again_] Yes, the to-morrow that follows to-night, but not the to-morrow of a year hence. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_emphatically_] You shall see. But how about your husband? MME. DE SALLUS Does he annoy you? JACQUES DE RANDOL By heaven-- MME. DE SALLUS Hush! [_Archly._] My husband has fallen in love with me again. JACQUES DE RANDOL Is it possible? MME. DE SALLUS [_indignantly_] What do you mean by such an insolent question, and why should it not be possible? JACQUES DE RANDOL A man falls in love with his wife before he marries her, but after marriage he never commits the same mistake. MME. DE SALLUS But perhaps he has never really been in love with me until now. JACQUES DE RANDOL It is absolutely impossible that he could have lived with you--even in his curt, cavalier fashion--without loving you. MME. DE SALLUS [_indifferently_] It is of little importance. He has either loved me in the past, or is now beginning to love me. JACQUES DE RANDOL Truly, I do not understand you. Tell me all about it. MME. DE SALLUS But I have nothing to tell. He declares his love for me, takes me in his arms, and threatens me with his conjugal rights. This upsets me, torments me, and annoys me. JACQUES DE RANDOL Madeline you torture me. MME. DE SALLUS [_quickly_] And what about me? Do you think that I do not suffer? I know that I am not exactly a faithful woman since I received your addresses, but I have, and shall retain, a single heart. It is either you _or_ he. It will never be you _and_ he. For me that would be infamy--the greatest infamy of a guilty woman, the sharing of her heart--a thing that debases her. One may fall, perhaps, because there are ditches along the wayside and it is not always easy to follow the right path. But if one falls, that is no reason to throw oneself in the abyss. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_takes her in his arms and kisses her_] I simply adore you! MME. DE SALLUS [_melts_] And I, too, love you dearly, Jacques, and that is the reason why I fear. JACQUES DE RANDOL But, tell me, Madeline how long has it been since your husband reformed? MME. DE SALLUS Possibly fifteen days or three weeks. JACQUES DE RANDOL Without relapse? MME. DE SALLUS Without relapse. JACQUES DE RANDOL I will explain the mystery. The fact of the matter is this, your husband has simply become a widower. MME. DE SALLUS What do you say? JACQUES DE RANDOL I mean that your husband is unattached just now, and seeks to spend his leisure time with his wife. MME. DE SALLUS But I tell you that he is in love with me. JACQUES DE RANDOL Yes--yes--and no. He is in love with you--and also with another. Tell me, his temper is usually bad, isn't it? MME. DE SALLUS Execrable! JACQUES DE RANDOL Well, then, here is a man in love with you who shows his wonderful return of tenderness by moods that are simply unsupportable--for they are unsupportable, aren't they? MME. DE SALLUS Absolutely. JACQUES DE RANDOL If he wooed you with tenderness you would not feel fear. You would say to yourself, "My turn has come at last," and then he would inspire you with a little pity for him, for a woman has always a sneaking sort of compassion for the man who loves her, even though that man be her husband. MME. DE SALLUS Perhaps that is true. JACQUES DE RANDOL Is he nervous, preoccupied? MME. DE SALLUS Yes. JACQUES DE RANDOL And he is abrupt with you, not to say brutal? He demands his right without even praying for it? MME. DE SALLUS True. JACQUES DE RANDOL My darling, for the moment you are simply a substitute. MME. DE SALLUS Oh! no, no! JACQUES DE RANDOL My dearest girl, your husband's latest mistress was Madame de Bardane, whom he left very abruptly about two months ago to run after the Santelli. MME. DE SALLUS What, the singer? JACQUES DE RANDOL Yes, a capricious, saucy, cunning, venal little woman. A woman not at all uncommon upon the stage, or in the world either, for that matter. MME. DE SALLUS Then that is why he haunts the Opera. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_laughs_] Without a doubt. MME. DE SALLUS [_dreamily_] No, no, you are deceiving yourself. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_emphatically_] The Santelli resists him and repulses him; then, burdened with a heart full of longing that has no outlet, he deigns to offer you a portion. MME. DE SALLUS My dear, you are dreaming. If he were in love with the Santelli, he would not tell me that he loves me. If he were so entirely preoccupied with this creature, he would not woo me. If he coveted her, he would not desire me at the same time. JACQUES DE RANDOL How little you understand certain kinds of men! Men like your husband, once inoculated with the poison of love,--which in them is nothing but brutal desire,--men like him, I say, when a woman they desire escapes or resists them, become raging beasts. They behave like madmen, like men possessed, with arms outstretched and lips wide open. They must love some one, no matter whom just as a mad dog with open jaws bites anything and everybody. The Santelli has unchained this raging brute, and you find yourself face to face with his dripping jaws. Take care! You call that love! It is nothing but animal passion. MME. DE SALLUS [_sarcastically_] Really, you are very unfair to him. I am afraid jealousy is blinding you. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, no, I am not deceiving myself, you may be sure. MME. DE SALLUS Yes, I think you are. Formerly my husband neglected and abandoned me, doubtless finding me very insipid; but now he finds me much improved, and has returned to me. It is very easy to understand, and moreover, it is the worse for him, for he _must_ believe that I have been a _faithful_ wife to him all my life. JACQUES DE RANDOL Madeline! MME. DE SALLUS Well, what? JACQUES DE RANDOL Does a girl cease to be a faithful wife, if, when deserted by the man who has assumed charge of her existence, and her happiness, and her love, and her ideals, she refuses to resign herself--young, beautiful, and full of hope--to eternal isolation and everlasting solitude? MME. DE SALLUS I think I have already told you that there are certain things which it is _not_ necessary to discuss, and this is one of them. [_The front door bell sounds twice._] Here is my husband. Please be silent. He is in a gloomy mood just now. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_rises_] I think I shall go. I am not in love with your husband any more, for many reasons, and it is difficult for me to be polite to him when I despise him, and when I know that he ought to despise me, and would despise me when I shake hands with him, did he know all. MME. DE SALLUS [_annoyed_] How many times must I tell you that all this is entirely out of place? SCENE II. (_The same, including_ M. de Sallus.) _Enter_ M. de Sallus, _evidently in a bad temper. He looks for a moment at_ Mme. de Sallus _and at_ Jacques de Randol, _who is taking his leave; then comes forward_. JACQUES DE RANDOL Ah! Sallus. M. DE SALLUS How are you, Randol? Surely you are not going because I came. JACQUES DE RANDOL No, but my time is up. I have an appointment at the club at midnight, and now it is half after eleven. [_They shake hands._] Have you come from the first performance of "Mahomet"? M. DE SALLUS Oh! Of course. JACQUES DE RANDOL People say that it should be a great success. M. DE SALLUS It doubtless will be. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_shakes hands again with_ De SALLUS _and_ Madame de Sallus] Well, till I see you again. M. DE SALLUS Till then, my dear fellow. JACQUES DE RANDOL Madame, adieu. MME. DE SALLUS Adieu, Monsieur de Randol. [_Exit_ Randol.] SCENE III. (M. de Sallus _and_ Mme. de Sallus.) M. DE SALLUS [_sinks into an armchair_] Was Randol here any length of time? MME. DE SALLUS No, possibly half an hour. M. DE SALLUS [_meditatively_] Half an hour plus a whole hour makes an hour and a half, does it not? Time seems to fly when you are with him. MME. DE SALLUS What do you mean by an hour and a half? M. DE SALLUS Just what I say. When I saw the carriage waiting at the door, I asked the footman, who was within. He told me that it was M. Jacques de Randol. "Has he been here long?" I asked. "He has been here since ten," said the footman. Admitting that the man might have been mistaken, we will say, in the matter of a quarter of an hour, that would make an hour and a quarter, at the least. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, ho! What is this new attitude of yours? Have I not a right to receive whom I like now? M. DE SALLUS Oh, my dear, I deny you nothing, nothing, nothing. The only thing that astonishes me is that you do not know the difference between half an hour and an hour and a half. MME. DE SALLUS Are you looking for a scene? If you wish a quarrel, say so. I shall know how to answer you. You are simply in a bad temper. Go to bed and sleep, if you can. M. DE SALLUS I am not looking for a quarrel, neither am I in bad humor. I only state that time flies with you when you pass it in the company of Jacques de Randol. MME. DE SALLUS Yes, it does go quickly; far more quickly than when I am with you. M. DE SALLUS He is a very charming fellow, and I know you like him; and, moreover, he must like you very much, since he comes here every day. MME. DE SALLUS These insinuations are distasteful to me. Please speak plainly and say what you mean. Are you assuming the role of a jealous husband? M. DE SALLUS God forbid! I have too much confidence in you, and far too much esteem for you, to reproach you with anything, for I know that you have too much tact ever to give rise to calumny or scandal. MME. DE SALLUS Do not play with words. You think that M. Jacques de Randol comes too often to this house--to your house? M. DE SALLUS I do not find any fault with you for that. MME. DE SALLUS Thank you. You simply have not the right. However, since you adopt this attitude, let us settle this question once for all, for I loathe misunderstandings. It seems to me that you have an exceedingly short memory. Let me come to your aid. Be frank with me. Through some occurrence, the nature of which I do not know, your attitude is different today from that of the past two years. Cast your memory over the past, to the time when you began to neglect me in a manner that was plain to all. I became very uneasy. Then I knew--I was told, and I saw--that you were in love with Madame de Servieres. I told you how hurt I was, how grieved I was. What did you reply? Just what every man replies when he no longer loves the woman who reproaches him. You shrugged your shoulders, smiled impatiently, told me I was mad, and then expounded to me--I must admit, in a most skillful manner--those grand principles of freedom in love that are adopted by every husband who deceives his wife and thinks she will not deceive him. You gave me to understand that marriage is not a bond, but simply an association of mutual interests, a social rather than a moral alliance; that it does not demand friendship or affection between married couples, provided there be no scandal. You did not absolutely confess the existence of your mistresses, but you pleaded extenuating circumstances. You were very sarcastic upon the subject of those poor, silly women who object to their husbands being gallant toward other women, since, according to you, such gallantry is one of the laws of the polished society to which you belong. You laughed at the foolish man who does not dare to pay compliments to a woman in the presence of his own wife, and ridiculed the gloomy look of a wife whose eyes follow her husband into every corner, imagining that because the poor man disappears into an adjoining room he is at the feet of a rival. All this was very airy, funny, and disagreeable, wrapped up in compliments and spiced with cynicism--sweet and bitter at the same time, and calculated to banish from the heart all love for a smooth, false, and well-bred man who could talk in such a manner. I understood, I wept, I suffered, and then I shut my door upon you. You made no objection; you judged me better than you thought; and since then we have lived completely separate lives. Such has been the case for the past two years, two long years and more, which certainly have not seemed more than six months to you. We go into society as usual, we return from society as usual, and we each enter our own temple of life. The situation was established by you in consequence of your first infidelity, an infidelity which has been followed by many others. I have said nothing; I have resigned myself to the situation; and I have banished you from my heart. Now that I have finished, what do you wish? M. DE SALLUS My dear, I am not asking for anything. I do not even wish to answer the very aggressive speech you have done me the honor to make. I only wish to give you advice--the advice of a friend--upon a situation that may possibly endanger your reputation. You are beautiful, always in the public eye, and much envied. Scandal could have easy birth. MME. DE SALLUS Pardon me. If we are to speak of scandal, I must have leave to balance my account with you. M. DE SALLUS Come, do not let us joke over this thing. I speak to you as a friend--seriously, as a friend. As to what you have said about me, it is all extremely exaggerated. MME. DE SALLUS Not at all. You have never tried to conceal, in fact, you have actually proclaimed to all the world your infidelities--a fact which gives me the right to go and do likewise, and, my friend, believe what I say-- M. DE SALLUS One moment-- MME. DE SALLUS Let me finish. According to you, I am beautiful, I am young, and yet condemned by my husband to live, and watch him live, as if I were a widow. Look at me [_rises_], is it just to consign me to play the role of an abandoned Ariadne, while my husband runs from this woman to that woman, and this girl to that girl? [_Grows excited_.] A faithful wife! I cry you mercy! Is a faithful wife compelled to sacrifice all her life, all her happiness, all her affections, everything, in fact, every privilege, every expectation, every claim, which is hers by birth and for which she has been born? Look at me! Am I made for a nunnery? The fact that I married you should answer that question. And yet, you, _you_, who took me from my father's house, neglect me to run after others. And what others? I am not in their circle, neither am I one of those who would share your life with others. So much the worse for you--for I am free, and you have no right to give me advice since I _am_ free. M. DE SALLUS My dear girl, be calm. You misunderstand me completely. I have never suspected you. Indeed, I have the most profound esteem and friendship for you--a loving friendship which grows greater every day. I have no wish to comment upon that past with which you reproach me so cruelly. Perhaps I am a little too--too--what shall I say? MME. DE SALLUS Oh! Say that you belong to the period of the Regency. I know that method of excusing all male weaknesses and follies. Oh! yes; that eighteenth century, that _dainty_ century, so full of _elegance_, so full of delicious _fantasies_ and adorable _whims_! Alas! my dear, that is ancient history. M. DE SALLUS No, no, you misunderstand me again. Believe me, I am and have been above everything too--too--much of a Parisian, too much accustomed to turning night into day, for the sedate life of marriage. I have been too much accustomed to go behind the scenes of theaters, to various clubs, to a thousand other forms of dissipation; and you know a man cannot change all at once,--it takes time. Marriage seeks to change us all too suddenly. It ought to give us time to get accustomed to it, little by little. You would practically take away from me the joy of life were I to behave as you seem to desire. MME. DE SALLUS I am so grateful; and now, perhaps, you wish to offer me a new proof--a new proof-- M. DE SALLUS Oh, as you please. Really, when a man who has lived as I have marries, he can hardly help looking upon his wife as a new mistress--I mean to say a faithful mistress--and it is only when it is too late that he understands more clearly,--comes to his senses and repents. MME. DE SALLUS Well, my friend, it _is_ too late. As I have already told you, I mean to have my innings. I have taken nearly three years to think it over. You may think that is long, but I need some amusement as well as you. The fact that I have taken nearly three years to think it over is a compliment to you, but you fail to see it. M. DE SALLUS Madeline, this jesting is altogether out of place. MME. DE SALLUS Oh! no, because I am compelled to think that every one of your mistresses was far more attractive than I, since you have preferred them to me. M. DE SALLUS What sort of mood are you in? MME. DE SALLUS In the same mood that I always am. It is you who have changed. M. DE SALLUS True, I _have_ changed. MME. DE SALLUS And that is to say-- M. DE SALLUS That I have been an idiot. MME. DE SALLUS And that-- M. DE SALLUS I am sane once more. MME. DE SALLUS And that-- M. DE SALLUS That I am again in love with my wife. MME. DE SALLUS You must have returned to your youth. M. DE SALLUS What do you say? MME. DE SALLUS I say that you must have returned to your youth. M. DE SALLUS What do you mean? MME. DE SALLUS Let me illustrate. When you are young you are always hungry, and when a youth is hungry he often eats things that he would not eat at another time. Well, I am the dish,--the dish that you have neglected in your days of plenty, the dish to which you return in the days of scarcity--[_slowly_] for which I thank you! M. DE SALLUS I have never looked upon you as you think. You pain me as well as astonish me. MME. DE SALLUS So much the worse for both of us. If I astonish you, you repel me. Learn now, once for all, that I am not made for the role of a substitute. M. DE SALLUS [_approaches her, takes her hand and presses a long kiss upon it_] Madeline, I swear to you that I love you, in truth, devotedly, now and forever. MME. DE SALLUS [_ironically_] You must really believe it! [_Suddenly._] But who is the woman that attracts--and repels you--just now? M. DE SALLUS Madeline, I swear-- MME. DE SALLUS Oh, a truce to your swearing! I know that you have just broken with one of your mistresses; you need another and you cannot find one, so you come to me. For nearly three years you have forgotten all about me, so that now you find I am somewhat of a novelty. It is not your wife you are seeking now, but a woman with whom you have formerly had a rupture, and with whom you now desire to make up. To speak the truth you are simply playing the game of a libertine. M. DE SALLUS I do not ask you whether you be my wife or not my wife. You are the woman I love, the woman who possesses my heart. You are the woman of whom I dream, whose image follows me everywhere, whom I continually desire. It happens that you are my wife. So much the worse, or so much the better. What matters it? MME. DE SALLUS Truly, it is a distinguished part that you offer me. After Mademoiselle Zozo, after Mademoiselle Lilie, Mademoiselle Tata, you have the audacity to offer to your wife--to Madame de Sallus--the place left vacant, asking her to become her husband's mistress for a short space of time. M. DE SALLUS No; now, and--forever. MME. DE SALLUS Pardon me. You ask that I should re-become your wife forever? That is out of the question; I have already ceased to entertain the idea. The reason may be obscure, but nevertheless it is real; and after all, the idea of making me your _legitimate_ mistress seems to be far more entertaining to you than assuming the role of a _faithful_ husband. M. DE SALLUS [_laughs_] Well, why should not the wife become the husband's mistress? You are right in what you say; you are absolutely free and I own my faults. Yet, I am in love with you-for the second time, if you will-and I say to you, here and now, Madeline, since you confess that your heart is empty, have pity upon me, for I tell you that I love you. MME. DE SALLUS And you ask me to give you a husband's right? M. DE SALLUS I do. MME. DE SALLUS And you acknowledge that I am free, absolutely free? M. DE SALLUS I do. MME. DE SALLUS And you really wish me to become your mistress? M. DE SALLUS I do. MME. DE SALLUS You understand what I mean--your mistress? M. DE SALLUS Yes. MME. DE SALLUS [_sarcastically_] Well, well! I think I would rather accept another offer that I have, but since you are good enough to ask me to give you the preference, I may give it to you--for a fair sum. M. DE SALLUS What do you mean? MME. DE SALLUS Just what I say. Listen! Do you consider me as attractive as any of your mistresses? Now, be frank with me. M. DE SALLUS A thousand times more! MME. DE SALLUS Really! M. DE SALLUS I swear it! MME. DE SALLUS What, better than the best? M. DE SALLUS A thousand times! MME. DE SALLUS Well, tell me, now, truly, how much has the one you liked best among all your numerous mistresses cost you, let us say--in three months? M. DE SALLUS I cannot tell. MME. DE SALLUS Listen to me. I repeat the question. How much has the most charming of your numerous mistresses cost you in the space of three months--not only in money, but in gifts of jewelry, in dainty little suppers, in ceremonious dinners, in theater boxes,--in everything? M. DE SALLUS How can I tell? MME. DE SALLUS You should be able to. Come, let us make an estimate. Did you give her a round sum, or did you pay for everything separately? However, I know you are not a man to bother over details, so I conclude that you gave her a round sum. M. DE SALLUS Madeline, you are absolutely unbearable. MME. DE SALLUS Follow me closely. When you began to neglect me, you took away three horses from our stables--one of them was mine and the other two were yours. Then you took away a coachman and a footman; you then found it necessary to make me economize at home in order that you might be extravagant abroad. M. DE SALLUS That is not true. MME. DE SALLUS Oh! yes, it is. I have every date; do not deny it, for I shall confound you if you do. You also stopped giving me jewels, for, of course, you had other ears, other fingers, other wrists, and other necks to adorn. You also deprived me of one of my nights at the Opera, and I do not know how many other things less important. And all this, according to my idea, should mean about five thousand francs a month. Am I not right? M. DE SALLUS You may be, but you are mad. MME. DE SALLUS No, no, confess; did the most expensive one of your mistresses cost you about five thousand francs a month? M. DE SALLUS You are crazy. MME. DE SALLUS If you are going to answer me thus, I bid you good evening. [_She rises as if to retire, but_ M. de Sallus _interposes_.] M. DE SALLUS Come now, Madeline, a truce to this jesting. MME. DE SALLUS [_in a determined manner_] Five thousand francs? Tell me, did she cost you five thousand francs? M. DE SALLUS [_shrugs his shoulders_] Oh, yes, thereabouts. MME. DE SALLUS [_looks him straight in the face_] Ah, ah! Well, listen. If you will give me immediately five thousand francs, you may be my husband for a month--but only a month. M. DE SALLUS You have lost your head! MME. DE SALLUS Well, farewell, good night! M. DE SALLUS What a farce! Stop, Madeline, let us talk seriously. MME. DE SALLUS About what? M. DE SALLUS Of--of--hang it--of my love for you. MME. DE SALLUS [_archly_] But that's not a serious question at all. M. DE SALLUS I swear it is! MME. DE SALLUS Hypocrite! You make me thirsty with so much talk. [_Goes to a chiffonier, where there is a decanter and various liqueurs, and pours herself out a glass of water. At the instant she begins to drink_, M. de Sallus _steals up and kisses her on the back of the neck. She turns with a start and throws the glass of water in his face_.] M. DE SALLUS I suppose you think that funny. MME. DE SALLUS It may or may not be. Certainly what you have done, or tried to do, was ridiculous. M. DE SALLUS Madeline, I ask-- MME. DE SALLUS Five--thousand--francs. M. DE SALLUS But that would be idiotic. MME. DE SALLUS And why? M. DE SALLUS Ask me why a husband should pay his wife--his lawful wife--when he has the right? MME. DE SALLUS Oh, no, no. You may have the strength, but I can have my revenge. M. DE SALLUS Madeline-- MME. DE SALLUS Five--thousand--francs. M. DE SALLUS I should be an object of ridicule forever if I were to pay my wife--yes--not only an object of ridicule, but an idiot, an imbecile. MME. DE SALLUS Well, don't you think it is still more imbecile, when you have such a wife as I, to--to go outside and--pay mistresses? M. DE SALLUS Madeline, I confess it; but now--we are husband and wife, and it is not necessary to ruin me, is it? MME. DE SALLUS Allow me. When you took your wealth--the wealth which was also partly mine by marriage--to pay for your folly, you committed an action that was more than doubtful. In fact, it was criminal, for you ruined me at the same time you ruined yourself. I use your own language. I have refrained from asking you more about the folly that is in question; moreover, the five thousand francs that you must give me will be spent upon your own house. You must admit that is practical economy. But I know you; I know that you are never in love with anything that is lawful and right; so in paying dearly--very dearly, because I shall probably seek an increase--for what you have the right to take, you will find our--_liaison_--far more to your taste. [_Smiles_.] Good night, I am going to bed. M. DE SALLUS [_angrily_] Will you take it in cash, or have a cheque? MME. DE SALLUS [_haughtily_] I prefer cash. M. DE SALLUS [_opening a pocketbook_] I have only three bank-notes. I will give you the rest in a cheque. [_Writes a cheque and hands it to_ Mme. de Sallus.] MME. DE SALLUS [_takes the cheque, looks at_ M. de Sallus _with disgust, and Speaks in harsh tones_] You are just the kind of man I took you to be. After paying your numerous mistresses, you actually consent to pay me as if I were like them--without any feeling of disgust or realizing the difference in our situation. You have said that I asked too much, you have pleaded the fear of ridicule, but you could not understand that you were consenting to _buy_ me--_me_--your _wife_! You wished to possess me for a little, as a sort of variation to your usual list, although your heart must have told you that it was degrading to me to be placed on such a plane. You did not recoil from such an idea, but pursued it, just as you pursue them, and the more eagerly, because I was more expensive. But you have deceived yourself, not me. Not thus will you ever regain possession of your wife. Adieu, Monsieur! [_Throws the money in his face, and makes a haughty exit_.] ACT II. SCENE I. Madame de Sallus _alone in her drawing-room, as in_ Act I. _She is writing; she stops and looks at the clock. A servant announces_ Monsieur Jacques de Randol. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_after kissing_ Mme. de Sallus's _hand_] I trust you are well, Madame. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, yes, thank you. [_Exit servant_.] JACQUES DE RANDOL What is it all about? Your letter has completely upset me. I thought some accident had occurred, and I came immediately. MME. DE SALLUS [_looks at him steadfastly_] My dear Jacques, we must decide upon some course of action immediately. The important hour has come. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_surprised_] What do you mean? MME. DE SALLUS For two days I have undergone all the anguish that a woman's heart can endure. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_still more surprised_] What has happened? MME. DE SALLUS I am about to tell you, but I wish to do so with calmness and moderation lest you think me mad. That is the reason why I sent for you. JACQUES DE RANDOL You know that I am yours entirely. Tell me what I must do. MME. DE SALLUS I cannot live near him any longer. It is absolutely impossible. It is an hourly crucifixion. JACQUES DE RANDOL Near your husband? MME. DE SALLUS Yes, my husband. JACQUES DE RANDOL What has he done? MME. DE SALLUS It is necessary to revert to the other evening, after you took your leave. When we were alone he tried to make a jealous scene, with you as the subject. JACQUES DE RANDOL With me as the subject? MME. DE SALLUS Yes, a scene which proved to me that he had been watching us. JACQUES DE RANDOL How? MME. DE SALLUS He had been questioning a servant. JACQUES DE RANDOL Nothing more than that? MME. DE SALLUS No. That in itself, however, is not of much importance, for I believe he really likes you. But, after that, he told me of his love for me. Perhaps I was a little too insolent, too disdainful. I do not know exactly how far I went; but I found myself in such a perplexing, such a painful, such an extraordinary situation, that I dared everything to escape it. JACQUES DE RANDOL What did you do? MME. DE SALLUS I sought to wound him so deeply that he would leave me forever. JACQUES DE RANDOL Apparently you have not succeeded. MME. DE SALLUS No. JACQUES DE RANDOL Of course not; that method never does succeed. On the contrary, it often brings about a reconciliation. MME. DE SALLUS The next day, during luncheon, he was sulky, irritable, and gloomy. Then, as he was rising from the table, he said, "I have not forgotten your behavior of yesterday, and shall not let you forget it. You wish for war, let it be war; but I warn you that I shall conquer you, because I am your master." I answered him, "Be it so; but if you drive me to extremity, take care,--it is not always safe to make a woman desperate." JACQUES DE RANDOL Especially when that woman is his wife. And what did he reply? MME. DE SALLUS He did not reply in words; but he treated me brutally. JACQUES DE RANDOL Did he strike you? MME. DE SALLUS Yes and no. He jostled me, he squeezed me, he suffocated me. I have bruises all along my arms, but he did not strike me. JACQUES DE RANDOL Then what did he do? MME. DE SALLUS He hugged and embraced me, trying to overcome my resistance. JACQUES DE RANDOL Is that all? MME. DE SALLUS What do you mean by saying, "Is that all?" Don't you think that is enough? JACQUES DE RANDOL You do not understand me. I only wish to know whether he struck you. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, no. I am not afraid of that from him; but luckily I was able to ring the bell. JACQUES DE RANDOL You rang the bell? MME. DE SALLUS Yes. JACQUES DE RANDOL What a thing to do! [_Smiles_.] And when the servant came, did you ask him to show your husband out? MME. DE SALLUS [_pouts_] You seem to find this very funny. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, no, my dear Madame; it is all exceedingly painful to me, but I cannot help realizing the grotesqueness of the situation. Pardon me,--and what then? MME. DE SALLUS I ordered my carriage. And then, as soon as Joseph had gone out, my husband said, with that arrogant air which you know so well in him, "Today, or to-morrow--it matters not which." JACQUES DE RANDOL And-- MME. DE SALLUS And that is almost all. JACQUES DE RANDOL Almost? MME. DE SALLUS Yes, because since then I have locked myself in my room as soon as I heard him coming in. JACQUES DE RANDOL Haven't you seen him since? MME. DE SALLUS Oh, yes, several times, but only for a few minutes each time. JACQUES DE RANDOL What has he said to you? MME. DE SALLUS Little or nothing. He either sneers or insolently asks whether I am less savage to-day. Last night at the table he brought out a little book, which he read during dinner. As I did not wish to appear embarrassed or anxious, and desired to maintain my dignity, I said: "Your manners toward me are certainly exceedingly courteous." He smiled and replied: "What did you say?" "It is strange that, for reading, you should choose the time that we are together," I said. He answered: "Great heavens! It is all your fault, since you do not care to be amiable. Besides, this little book is very interesting. It is the Civil Code. Perhaps you would like to become acquainted with some clauses in it. They would certainly interest you." Then he read me the law concerning marriage; the duties of a wife and the rights of a husband. Then he looked me full in the face, and asked me whether I understood. I answered in the same tone that I understood too much,--especially did I understand the kind of man I had married. Then I went out and I have not seen him since. JACQUES DE RANDOL Haven't you seen him to-day? MME. DE SALLUS No. He lunched alone. As for myself, I have thought over the situation, and have decided not to meet him _tete-a-tete_ any more. JACQUES DE RANDOL But are you quite sure that at bottom his attitude is not induced by anger, by wounded vanity, by disappointment, and perhaps by a little bravado? Possibly he will behave himself better in future. To-night he is at the Opera. The Santelli has scored a great success in "Mahomet," and I think she has invited him to supper after the performance. Now, if the supper is very much to his taste, he will probably be in good humor when he comes home. MME. DE SALLUS Oh! How provoking you are. Can't you understand that I am in the power of this man, that I belong to him even more than his valet or his dog, because he has those abominable legal rights over me? The Code, your barbarous Code, puts me entirely in his power without any possible defense on my part; save actually killing me, he can do everything. Can't you understand that? Can't you realize the horror of my situation? Imagine, save actual murder, he can do anything to me, and he has the strength--not only physical but legal--to obtain anything from me. And I, I have not a single avenue of escape from a man whom I despise and hate. And that is the law made by you men! He took me, married me, deserted me. On my part, I have an absolutely moral right to leave him. And yet, despite this righteous hatred, this overpowering disgust, this loathing which creeps through me in the presence of the man who has scorned me, deceived me, and who has fluttered, right under my eyes, from girl to girl--this man, I say, has the right to demand from me a shameful and infamous concession. I have no right to hide myself; I have no right even to a key to my own door. Everything belongs to him--the key, the door, and even the woman who hates him. It is monstrous! Can you imagine such a horrible situation? That a woman should not be mistress of herself, should not even have the sacred right of preserving her person from a loathsome stain? And all this is the consequence of the infamous law which you men have made! JACQUES DE RANDOL [_appealingly_] My darling! I fully understand what you must be suffering; but how can I help it? No magistrate can protect you; no statute can preserve you. MME. DE SALLUS I know it. But when you have neither mother nor father to protect you, when the law is against you, and when you shrink from complicity in those degrading transactions to which many women yield themselves, there is always one means of escape. JACQUES DE RANDOL And that? MME. DE SALLUS Flight. JACQUES DE RANDOL You mean to say-- MME. DE SALLUS Flight. JACQUES DE RANDOL Alone? MME. DE SALLUS No--with you. JACQUES DE RANDOL With me! Are you dreaming? MME. DE SALLUS No; so much the better. The scandal of it will prevent him from taking me back. I have gained courage now. Since he forces me to dishonor, I shall see that that dishonor is complete and overwhelming--even though it be the worse for him and for me. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh! Beware, beware, my darling! You are in one of those moments of exaltation and nervous excitement in which a woman sometimes commits a folly that is irreparable. MME. DE SALLUS Well, I would rather commit such a folly and ruin myself--if that be ruin--than expose myself to the infamous struggle with which each day I am threatened. JACQUES DE RANDOL Madeline, hear me. You are in a terrible situation, but for God's sake do not throw yourself into one that is irretrievable. Be calm, I implore you. MME. DE SALLUS Well, what do you advise? JACQUES DE RANDOL I do not know; we shall see. But I do not, I cannot, advise you to venture on a scandal which will put you outside the pale of society. MME. DE SALLUS Well, yes, there is another law, an unwritten law which permits one to have lovers, even though it be shameful, because [_sarcastically_] it does not outrage society. JACQUES DE RANDOL That is not the question. The thing is to avoid taking up a wrong position in your quarrel with your husband. Have you decided to leave him? MME. DE SALLUS Yes. JACQUES DE RANDOL Finally and forever? MME. DE SALLUS Yes. JACQUES DE RANDOL Do you mean for _all_ time? MME. DE SALLUS For _all_ time. JACQUES DE RANDOL Well, now, be cautious; be careful and cunning; guard your reputation and your name. Make neither commotion nor scandal, and await your opportunity. MME. DE SALLUS [_ironically_] And must I continue to be very charming when he returns to me, and be ready for all his fancies? JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, Madeline, I speak to you in the truest friendship. MME. DE SALLUS [_bitterly_] In the truest friendship! JACQUES DE RANDOL Yea, as a friend who loves you far too dearly to advise you to commit any folly. MME. DE SALLUS And loves me just enough to advise me to be complaisant to a man I despise. JACQUES DE RANDOL I! Never, never. My most ardent desire is to be with you forever. Get a divorce, and then if you still love me, let us wed. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, yes, yes--two years from now. Certainly, you _are_ a patient lover! JACQUES DE RANDOL But supposing I were to carry you off, he would take you back to-morrow; would shut you up in his house, and would never get a divorce lest you should become my wife. MME. DE SALLUS Well, do you mean to say I could fly nowhere but to your house, that I could not hide myself in such fashion that he would never find me? JACQUES DE RANDOL Yes, you could hide yourself, but it would be necessary for you to live abroad under another name, or buried in the country, till death. That is the curse of our love. In three months you would hate me. I never will let you commit such a folly. MME. DE SALLUS I thought you loved me enough to fly with me, but it seems that I am mistaken. Adieu! JACQUES DE RANDOL Madeline, listen to me for God's-- MME. DE SALLUS Jacques, take me, or leave me--answer! JACQUES DE RANDOL Madeline, I implore you! MME. DE SALLUS Never! Adieu! [_Rises and goes to the door_.] JACQUES DE RANDOL Once more I implore you, Madeline, listen to me. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, no, no; adieu! [De Randol _takes her by the arms; she frees herself angrily_.] Unhand me! Let me go, or I shall call for help! JACQUES DE RANDOL Call if you will, but listen to me. I would not that you should ever be able to reproach me for the madness that you meditate. God forbid that you should hate me, but, bound to me by this flight that you propose, you would carry with you forever a keen and unavailing regret that I allowed you to do it. MME. DE SALLUS Let me go! I despise you! Let me go! JACQUES DE RANDOL Well, if you wish to fly, why, let us fly. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, no, not now. I know you now. It is too late. Let me go. JACQUES DE RANDOL I have done exactly what I ought to have done; I have said exactly what I ought to have said; consequently, I am no longer responsible for you, and you have no right to reproach me with the consequences. So let us fly. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, no, it is too late, and I do not care to accept sacrifices. JACQUES DE RANDOL There is no more any question of sacrifice. To fly with you is my most ardent desire. MME. DE SALLUS [_astonished_] You are mad. JACQUES DE RANDOL Well, suppose I am mad. That is only natural, since I love you. MME. DE SALLUS What do you mean? JACQUES DE RANDOL I mean what I say. I love you; I have nothing else to say. Let us fly. MME. DE SALLUS Ah, you were altogether too cautious just now to become so brave all at once. JACQUES DE RANDOL Will you ever understand me? Listen to me. When I first realized that I adored you, I made a solemn vow concerning what might happen between you and me. The man who falls in love with a woman such as you, a woman married yet deserted; a slave in fact yet morally free, institutes between her and himself a bond which only she can break. The woman risks everything. Ay, it is just because she does this, because she gives everything--her heart, her body, her soul, her honor, her life, because she has foreseen all the miseries, all the dangers, all the misfortunes that can happen, because she dares to take so bold, and fearless a step, and because she is ready and determined to hazard everything--a husband who could kill her, and a world that would scorn her--it is for all this and for the heroism of her conjugal infidelity, that her lover, in taking her, ought to foresee all, to guard her against every ill that can possibly happen. I have nothing more to say. I spoke at first as a calm and foreseeing man who wished to protect you against everything--now I am simply and only the man who loves you. Order me as you please. MME. DE SALLUS That is all very prettily said; but is it true? JACQUES DE RANDOL I swear it! MME. DE SALLUS You wish to fly with me? JACQUES DE RANDOL Yes. MME. DE SALLUS From the bottom of your heart? JACQUES DE RANDOL From the bottom of my heart. MME. DE SALLUS To-day? JACQUES DE RANDOL Yes, and whenever you please. MME. DE SALLUS It is now a quarter to eight. My husband will be coming in directly, for we dine at eight. I shall be free at half past nine or ten o'clock. JACQUES DE RANDOL Where shall I wait for you? MME. DE SALLUS At the end of the street in a _coupe_. [_The bell rings_.] There he is, and for the last time, thank God! SCENE II. (_The same characters, and_ M. de Sallus.) M. DE SALLUS [_enters. To_ Jacques de Randol, _who has risen to take his leave_] Well, you are not going again, are you? Why, it seems that I need only come in to make you take your leave. JACQUES DE RANDOL No, no, my dear fellow; you don't make me go, but I must. M. DE SALLUS That is just what I say. You always go the very moment I come in. Of course, I understand that a husband is less attractive than a wife. But, at least, let me believe that _I_ am not objectionable to you. [_Laughs_.] JACQUES DE RANDOL On the contrary, my dear fellow, you know I like you. And if you would acquire the habit of coming into your own house without ringing the bell, you would never find me taking my leave when you come. M. DE SALLUS How is that? Is it not natural to ring the door bell? JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, yes; but a ring of the bell always makes me feel that I must go, and surely, coming into your own house, you can dispense with that habit. M. DE SALLUS I don't understand you. JACQUES DE RANDOL Why, it is very simple. When I visit people whom I like, such as Madame de Sallus and yourself, I do not expect to meet the Paris that flutters from house to house in the evening, gossiping and scandalizing. I have had my experience of gossip and tittle-tattle. It needs only one of these talkative dames or men to take away all the pleasure there is for me in visiting the lady on whom I happen to have called. Sometimes when I am anchored perforce upon my seat, I feel lost; I do not know how to get away. I have to take part in the whirlpool of foolish chatter. I know all the set questions and answers better than I do the catechism itself, and it bores me to have to remain until the very end and hear the very last opinion of some fool upon the comedy, or the book, or the divorce, or the marriage, or the death that is being discussed. Now, do you understand why I always get up and go at the sound of a bell? M. DE SALLUS [_laughs_] What you say is very true. Drawing-rooms now are not habitable from four o'clock to seven, and our wives have no right to complain if we leave them to go to the club. MME. DE SALLUS [_sarcastically_] Nevertheless, I do not see my way to receiving ballet girls, or chorus girls, or actresses, or so-called painters, poets, musicians, and others--in order to keep you near me. M. DE SALLUS I do not ask so much as that. All I desire is a few witty fellows, some charming women, and by no means a crowd. MME. DE SALLUS You talk nonsense; you cannot pick and choose. JACQUES DE RANDOL No, truly, you cannot sift and strain the flow of idiocy that you meet in the drawing-rooms of to-day. M. DE SALLUS Why? MME. DE SALLUS Simply because it is as it is--to-day. M. DE SALLUS What a pity! How I should love the intimacy of a small and carefully selected circle of men and women. MME. DE SALLUS You? M. DE SALLUS Yes, why not? MME. DE SALLUS [_laughs_] Ha, ha, ha! What a charming little intimate circle you would bring to me! Ha, ha, ha! The fascinating men, and the fashionable women that you would invite! My dear sir, it is I who would leave the house then. M. DE SALLUS My dear girl, I only asked for three or four women like yourself. MME. DE SALLUS Pray repeat that. M. DE SALLUS Three or four such women as you. MME. DE SALLUS If you need four, I can understand how you found your house lonesome. M. DE SALLUS You understand very well what I wish to say, and it is not necessary for me to explain myself. And you know that you need only be alone to please me better than I could possibly be pleased elsewhere. MME. DE SALLUS Really, I do not recognize you. I am afraid you must be ill--very ill. You are not going to die, are you? M. DE SALLUS Oh, chaff me as much as you like, you won't worry me. MME. DE SALLUS And is this mood of yours going to last? M. DE SALLUS Forever. MME. DE SALLUS Men often change. M. DE SALLUS [_turns to_ Jacques de Randol] My dear Randol, will you give us the pleasure of your company at dinner to-night? You may help me to turn aside the epigrams that my wife seems to have barbed and ready for me. JACQUES DE RANDOL A thousand thanks, my dear Sallus! You are very, very good, but unfortunately, I am not free. M. DE SALLUS But, my dear fellow, send your excuses. JACQUES DE RANDOL I cannot. M. DE SALLUS Are you dining in town? JACQUES DE RANDOL Yes, well--not altogether. I have an appointment at nine o'clock. M. DE SALLUS Is it very important? JACQUES DE RANDOL Very important M. DE SALLUS With a lady? JACQUES DE RANDOL My dear fellow, what a question! M. DE SALLUS Oh, I am discreet! But that need not prevent you from dining with us. JACQUES DE RANDOL Thank you, my dear fellow, I cannot. M. DE SALLUS You know you can go away when you wish. JACQUES DE RANDOL But I am not in evening dress. M. DE SALLUS I can easily send for your things. JACQUES DE RANDOL No, truly, thank you; I cannot. M. DE SALLUS [_to_ Mme. de Sallus] My dear girl, won't you keep Randol? MME. DE SALLUS Why ask me? You know that I have no influence over him. M. DE SALLUS You are charming enough to influence the world this evening, so why can't you make him stay? MME. DE SALLUS Good gracious! I cannot make my friends stay in order to please you, and keep them in your house against their wish. Bring _your_ friends. M. DE SALLUS Well, I shall remain at home this evening in any case, and we shall then be _tete-a-tete_. MME. DE SALLUS Really? M. DE SALLUS Yes. MME. DE SALLUS You will be at home all the evening? M. DE SALLUS All the evening. MME. DE SALLUS [_sarcastically_] Good gracious! How you surprise me--and how you honor me! M. DE SALLUS No, it is a pleasure to be with you. MME. DE SALLUS What a charming mood you are in to-night! M. DE SALLUS Now ask Randol to remain. MME. DE SALLUS My dear sir, Monsieur de Randol will do as he pleases. He knows that I am always glad to see him. [_Rises, and after reflecting for a second_.] Will you dine with us, Monsieur de Randol? You know you can go directly after dinner. JACQUES DE RANDOL With the greatest pleasure, Madame. MME. DE SALLUS Excuse my absence for a minute. It is eight o'clock, and I must give some new directions for dinner. [_Exit_ Mme. de Sallus.] SCENE III. (M. de Sallus _and_ M. Jacques de Randol.) M. DE SALLUS My dear fellow, you will do me the greatest service if you will pass the whole evening here. JACQUES DE RANDOL But I have told you that I cannot. M. DE SALLUS Is it altogether--absolutely--impossible? JACQUES DE RANDOL Absolutely. M. DE SALLUS I most earnestly ask you to remain. JACQUES DE RANDOL And why? M. DE SALLUS For the best of reasons--because--because I want to make peace with my wife. JACQUES DE RANDOL Peace? Is there a rupture between you? M. DE SALLUS Not a very great one, but you know what you have seen this evening. JACQUES DE RANDOL Is it your fault or hers? M. DE SALLUS Oh, mine, I suppose. JACQUES DE RANDOL The devil! M. DE SALLUS I have had annoyances outside, serious annoyances, and they have made me bad-tempered, so much so that I have been unpleasant and aggressive in my behavior toward her. JACQUES DE RANDOL But I don't see how a third party can contribute toward peace between you. M. DE SALLUS My dear fellow, you will enable me to make her understand in an indirect manner, while avoiding all indelicate and wounding explanations, that my ideas concerning life have altogether changed. JACQUES DE RANDOL Then you wish to be--to be--reconciled to her altogether? M. DE SALLUS Oh, no, no, no--on the contrary-- JACQUES DE RANDOL Pardon me, I do not understand you. M. DE SALLUS Listen: I wish to establish and maintain a _status quo_ of a pacific neutrality--a sort of Platonic peace. [_Laughs_.] But I am going into details that cannot interest you. JACQUES DE RANDOL Pardon me again. From the moment that you ask me to play a part in this very interesting affair, I must know exactly what part I am to play. M. DE SALLUS Why, just a conciliatory role. JACQUES DE RANDOL Then you wish to conclude a peace without restrictions for yourself? M. DE SALLUS Now you have it. JACQUES DE RANDOL That is to say, that, after the disappointments and annoyances of which you have just told me, and which I presume are ended, you wish to have peace at home and yet be free to enjoy any happiness that you may acquire outside. M. DE SALLUS Let me go farther. My dear fellow, the present situation between my wife and myself is very much strained, and I never care to find myself alone with her altogether, because my position is a false one. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, in that case, my dear fellow, I will remain. M. DE SALLUS All the evening? JACQUES DE RANDOL All the evening. M. DE SALLUS My dear De Randol, you are indeed a friend! I shall never forget it. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, never mind that. [_A short silence_.] Were you at the Opera last night? M. DE SALLUS As usual. JACQUES DE RANDOL So it is a good performance? M. DE SALLUS Admirable. JACQUES DE RANDOL The Santelli scored a great success, didn't she? M. DE SALLUS Not only a success, but a veritable triumph. She was recalled six times. JACQUES DE RANDOL She _is_ good, isn't she? M. DE SALLUS More than admirable. She never sang better. In the first act she has a long recitative: "O God of all believers, hear my prayer," which made the body of the house rise to their feet. And in the third act, after that phrase, "Bright heaven of beauty," I never saw such enthusiasm. JACQUES DE RANDOL She was pleased? M. DE SALLUS Pleased? She was enchanted. JACQUES DE RANDOL You know her well, don't you? M. DE SALLUS Oh, yes, for some time back. I had supper with her and some of her friends after the performance. JACQUES DE RANDOL Were there many of you? M. DE SALLUS No, about a dozen. You know she is rather particular. JACQUES DE RANDOL. It is pleasant to be intimate with her, is it not? M. DE SALLUS Exquisite! And then, you know, she is a woman in a million. I do not know whether you agree with me, but I find there are so few women that are really women. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_laughs_] I have found that out. M. DE SALLUS Yes, and you have found out that there are women who have a feminine air, but who are not women. JACQUES DE RANDOL Explain yourself. M. DE SALLUS Good gracious! Our society women, with very rare exceptions, are simply pictures; they are pretty; they are distinguished; but they charm you only in their drawing-rooms. The part they play consists entirely in making men admire their dress, their dainty ways, all of which are assumed. JACQUES DE RANDOL Men love them, nevertheless. M. DE SALLUS Oh, very rarely, my dear fellow. JACQUES DE RANDOL Pardon me! M. DE SALLUS Oh, yes, dreamers do. But men--real men--men who are passionate, men who are positive, men who are tender, do not love the society woman of to-day, since she is incapable of love. My dear fellow, look around you. You see intrigues--everyone sees them; but can you lay your finger upon a single real love affair--a love that is disinterested, such a love as there used to be--inspired by a single woman of our acquaintance? Don't I speak the truth? It flatters a man to have a mistress--it flatters him, it amuses him, and then it tires him. But turn to the other picture and look at the woman of the stage. There is not one who has not at least five or six love affairs on the carpet; idiotic follies, causing bankruptcy, scandal, and suicides. Men love them; yes, they love these women because these women know how to inspire love, and because they are loving women. Yes, indeed, _they_ know how to conquer men; they understand the seduction of a smile; they know how to attract, seize, and wrap us up in their hearts, how to enslave us with a look, and they need not be beautiful at that. They have a conquering power that we never find in our wives. JACQUES DE RANDOL And the Santelli is a seductress of this kind? M. DE SALLUS She is first among the first! Ah, the cunning little coquette! _She_ knows how to make men run after her. JACQUES DE RANDOL Does she do only that? M. DE SALLUS A woman of that sort does not give herself the trouble of making men run after her unless she has some further object in view. JACQUES DE RANDOL The devil! You make me believe you attend two first nights in the same evening. M. DE SALLUS My dear boy, don't imagine such a thing. JACQUES DE RANDOL Great heavens! you have such a satisfied and triumphant air--an air so desirous of calm at home. If I am deceived I am sorry--for your sake. M. DE SALLUS Well, we will assume that you are deceived and-- SCENE IV. (_The same, and_ Mme. de Sallus.) M. DE SALLUS [_gaily_] Well, my dear, Jacques remains. He has consented for my sake. MME. DE SALLUS I congratulate you. And how did you achieve that miracle? M. DE SALLUS Oh, easily enough, in the course of conversation. MME. DE SALLUS And of what have you been talking? JACQUES DE RANDOL Of the happiness that comes to a man who remains quietly at home. MME. DE SALLUS That sort of happiness has but little attraction for me. I like the excitement of travel. JACQUES DE RANDOL There is a time for everything; and travel is very often inopportune and very inconvenient. MME. DE SALLUS But how about that important appointment of yours at nine o'clock? Have you given it up altogether, Monsieur de Randol? JACQUES DE RANDOL I have, Madame. MME. DE SALLUS You are very changeable. JACQUES DE RANDOL No, no, I am simply adapting myself to circumstances. M. DE SALLUS Will you pardon me if I write a note? [_Sits at desk at the other end of the drawing-room._] MME. DE SALLUS [_to_ Jacques de Randol] What has happened? JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, nothing; everything is all right. MME, DE SALLUS When do we go? JACQUES DE RANDOL Not at all. MME. DE SALLUS Are you mad? Why? JACQUES DE RANDOL Please don't ask me now about it. MME. DE SALLUS I am sure that he is laying a trap for us. JACQUES DE RANDOL Not at all. He is very quiet, very contented, and has absolutely no suspicion. MME. DE SALLUS Then what does it all mean? JACQUES DE RANDOL Now, be calm. He is happy, I tell you. MME. DE SALLUS That is not true. JACQUES DE RANDOL I tell you it is. He has made me the confidant of all his happiness. MME. DE SALLUS It is just a trick; he wishes to watch us. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, no; he is confiding and conciliatory. The only fear he has is of you. MME. DE SALLUS Of me? JACQUES DE RANDOL Yes; in the same way that you are, all the time, afraid of him. MME. DE SALLUS Great heavens! You have lost your head. You are talking at random. JACQUES DE RANDOL Listen--I am sure that he intends to go out this evening. MME. DE SALLUS Well, in that case, let us go out too. JACQUES DE RANDOL No, no,--I tell you there is nothing more for us to fear. MME. DE SALLUS What nonsense! You will end by maddening me with your blindness. M. DE SALLUS [_from the other end of the drawing-room_] My dear, I have some good news for you. I have been able to get another night at the Opera for you every week. MME. DE SALLUS Really, it is very good of you to afford me the opportunity of applauding Madame Santelli so often. M. DE SALLUS [_from the same place_] Well, she is very clever. JACQUES DE RANDOL And everybody says she is charming. MME. DE SALLUS [_irritably_] Yes; it is only such women who please men. JACQUES DE RANDOL You are unjust. MME. DE SALLUS Oh, my dear Randol; it is only for such women that men commit follies, and [_sarcastically_], understand me, the measure of a man's folly is often the measure of his love. M. DE SALLUS [_from the same place_] Oh, no, my dear girl,--men do not marry them, and marriage is the only real folly that a man can commit with a woman. MME. DE SALLUS A beautiful idea, truly, when a woman has to endure all man's caprices. JACQUES DE RANDOL Oh, no, not having anything to lose, they have nothing to risk. MME. DE SALLUS Ah, men are sad creatures! They marry a young girl because she is demure and self-contained, and they leave her on the morrow to dangle after a girl who is not young and who certainly is not demure, her chief attraction being that all the rich and well-known men about town have at one time been in her favor. The more danglers she has after her, the more she is esteemed, the more she is sought after, and the more she is respected; that is to say, with that kind of Parisian respect which accrues to a woman in the degree of her notoriety--a notoriety due either to the scandal she creates, or the scandal men create about her. Ah, yes, you men are so nice in these things! M. DE SALLUS [_laughs gently_] Take care! One would think you were jealous. MME. DE SALLUS I? Jealous? For whom do you take me? [_The butler announces_.] Madame is served. [_Hands a letter to_ M. de Sallus.] MME. DE SALLUS [_to_ Jacques de Randol] Your arm, M. Jacques de Randol. JACQUES DE RANDOL [_in a low tone_] How I love you! MME. DE SALLUS [_indifferently_] Just a little, I suppose. JACQUES DE RANDOL Ah, no; with all my soul! M. DE SALLUS [_after reading his letter_] Come along, then, let us go to dinner. I have to go out this evening. _Curtain._ MUSOTTE OR A CRITICAL SITUATION A COMEDY IN THREE ACTS MUSOTTE DRAMATIS PERSONAE JEAN MARTINEL Nephew of M. Martinel, a painter; not yet thirty years of age, but already well known and the recipient of various honors. LEON DE PETITPRE Brother to Gilberts Martinel, a young lawyer about thirty years of age. M. MARTINEL An old gunmaker of Havre, aged fifty-five. M. DE PETITPRE An old magistrate, officer of the Legion of Honor. Aged sixty. DR. PELLERIN A fashionable physician of about thirty-five. MME. DE RONCHARD Sister to M. de Petitpre, about fifty-five years of age. HENRIETTE LEVEQUE Nicknamed Musotte; a little model, formerly Jean Martinel's mistress. Twenty-two years of age. MME. FLACHE A midwife. Formerly a ballet-dancer at the Opera. About thirty-five years of age. GILBERTE MARTINEL Daughter of M. and Mme. de Petitpre, married in the morning to Jean Martinel. About twenty years old. LISE BABIN A nurse, about twenty-six. SERVANTS _Time: Paris of to-day. The first and third acts take place in_ M. de Petitpre's _drawing-room. The second act takes place in_ Musotte's _bedchamber_. Act I SCENE I. (_A richly yet classically furnished drawing-room in_ M. de Petitpre's house. _A table_, C.; _sofas_, R.; _chairs and armchairs_, L. _Wide doors_, C., _opening upon a terrace or gallery. Doors_ R. _and_ L. _of_ C. _Lighted lamps_.) _Enter from_ R. M. de Petitpre, Monsieur Martinel, Madame de Ronchard, Leon de Petitpre, Jean _and_ Gilberte. Gilberte _is in her bridal attire, but without wreath and veil_. MME. DE RONCHARD [_after bowing to_ M. Martinel, _whose arm she relinquishes, seats herself_ R.] Gilberte, Gilberte! GILBERTE [_leaves Jean's arm_] What is it, Auntie? MME. DE RONCHARD The coffee, my dear child. GILBERTE [_goes to the table_] I will give you some, Auntie. MME. DE RONCHARD Don't soil your gown. LEON [_comes up_] No, no, not to-day shall my sister serve coffee. The day of her marriage! No, indeed, I will take care of that. [_To_ Mme. de Ronchard.] You know that I am a lawyer, my dear Aunt, and therefore can do everything. MME. DE RONCHARD Oh, I know your abilities, Leon, and I appreciate them-- LEON [_smiles, and gives his Aunt a cup of coffee_] You are too good. MME. DE RONCHARD [_taking cup, dryly_] For what they are worth. LEON [_aside, turns to the table_] There she goes again--another little slap at me! That is never wanting. [_offers a cup to_ Martinel.] You will take a small cup, won't you, M. Martinel, and a nip of old brandy with it? I know your tastes. We will take good care of you. MARTINEL Thank you, Leon. LEON [_to_ Petitpre] Will you have a cup, father? PETITPRE I will, my son. LEON [_to the newly married couple, seated L. and talking aside_] And you, you bridal pair there? [_The couple, absorbed in each other, do not answer._] Oh, I suppose we must not bother you. [_He sets cup down on the table_]. PETITPRE [_to_ Martinel] You don't smoke, I believe? MARTINEL Never, thank you. MME. DE RONCHARD You astonish me! My brother and Leon would not miss smoking each day for anything in the world. But what an abomination a cigar is! PETITPRE A delicious abomination, Clarisse. LEON [_turns to_ Mme. de Ronchard] Almost all abominations are delicious, Auntie; in fact many of them, to my personal knowledge, are exquisite. MME. DE RONCHARD You naughty fellow! PETITPRE [_takes_ Leon's _arm_] Come and smoke in the billiard-room, since your aunt objects to it here. LEON [_to_ Petitpre] The day when she will love anything except her spaniels-- PETITPRE Hold your tongue and come along. [_Exit_ C.] MARTINEL [_to_ Mme. de Ronchard] This is the sort of marriage that I like--a marriage that, in this Paris of yours, you don't have very often. After the wedding breakfast, which takes place directly after you come from the church, all the guests go home, even the maids of honor and the ushers. The married couple remain at home and dine with their parents or relatives. In the evening they play billiards or cards, just as on an ordinary night; the newly married couple entertain each other. [Gilberte _and_ Jean _rise, and hand in hand slowly retire_ C.] Then, before midnight, good night! MME. DE RONCHARD [_aside_] Which is altogether very _bourgeois_! MARTINEL [_sits_ R. _upon the sofa beside_ Mme. de Ronchard] As to newly married couples--instead of going on that absurd and traditional thing you call a honeymoon, it is far better for them to go at once to the apartment or house prepared for them. I dare say you will think my plan lacking in fashion and display, but I cannot help that. For myself, I must say that I like absence of all ostentation. MME. DE RONCHARD Your plan is not according to the customs of polite society, Monsieur. MARTINEL Polite society, indeed! Why, there are thirty-six different kinds of polite society. For instance, take Havre. MME. DE RONCHARD [_interrupts_] I know only ours. [_Corrects herself._] That is, I mean to say, mine, which is the correct one. MARTINEL Oh, naturally, naturally! Nevertheless, simple as it may be, this marriage is an acknowledged fact, and I hope that you have taken into your good books my dear nephew, who, until now-- MME. DE RONCHARD I can hardly help doing so since he is my brother's son-in-law, and my niece's husband. MARTINEL Well, that is not the only thing, is it? I am very happy that the affair is over--although my life has been spent in the midst of difficulties. MME. DE RONCHARD What! Your life? MARTINEL I mean commercial difficulties, not matrimonial. MME. DE RONCHARD What commercial difficulties can you have--you, a Croesus who has just given five hundred thousand francs in dowry to his nephew. [_With a sigh._] Five hundred thousand francs! Just what my late husband squandered. MARTINEL Oh! Yes, I know that, Madame de Ronchard. MME. DE RONCHARD [_sighs again_] I was ruined and deserted after just one year of married life, Monsieur--one year. I just had time to realize how happy I could be, for the scoundrel, the wretch, knew how to make me love him. MARTINEL Then he was a scoundrel? MME. DE RONCHARD Oh! Monsieur, he was a man of fashion. MARTINEL Well, that did not prevent him from-- MME. DE RONCHARD Oh, don't let us talk any more about my misfortunes. It would be too long and too sad, and everybody else is so happy here just now. MARTINEL And I am happier than anybody else, I assure you. My nephew is such a good fellow. I love him as I would a son. Now, as for myself, I made my fortune in trade-- MME. DE RONCHARD [_aside_] That is very evident. MARTINEL [_resumes_] In the sea-going trade. But my nephew will gain fame for our name by his renown as an artist; the only difference between us is that he makes his fortune with his brushes, and I have made mine with ships. Art, to-day, Madame, may be as important as trade, but it is less profitable. Take my nephew. Although he has made a very early success, it is I who have enabled him to. When my poor brother died, his wife following him almost immediately, I found myself, while quite a young man, left alone with this baby. Well, I made him learn everything that I could. He studied chemistry, music, and literature, but he had a leaning toward art more than to the other things. I assure you that I encouraged him in it, and you see how he has succeeded. He is only just thirty, is well known, and has just been decorated. MME. DE RONCHARD [_dryly_] Thirty years old, and only just decorated; that is slow for an artist. MARTINEL Pshaw! He will make up for lost time. [_Rises_] But I am afraid I am getting boastful. You must pardon me, I am a plain man, and just now a little exhilarated by dining. It is all Petitpre's fault. His Burgundy is excellent. It is a wine that you may say is a friend to wisdom. And we are accustomed to drink a good deal at Havre. [_Takes up his glass of brandy and finishes it._] MME. DE RONCHARD [_aside_] Surely that is enough about Havre. MARTINEL [_turns to_ Mme. de Ronchard] Well, there is a treaty between us--a treaty which will last--which no foolishness can break, such as that which has failed to break this marriage. MME. DE RONCHARD [_rises and crosses_ L.] Foolishness! You speak very lightly about it. But now that the marriage is a thing accomplished, it is all right. I had destined my niece for another sphere than a painter's world. However, when you can't get a thrush, eat a blackbird, as the proverb says. MARTINEL But a white blackbird, Madame, for your niece is a pearl. Let me tell you, the happiness of these children will be the happiness of my declining years. MME. DE RONCHARD I wish that it may be, Monsieur, without daring to hope for it. MARTINEL Never mind. There are two things on which I am an expert--the merits of women and of wine. MME. DE RONCHARD [_aside_] Especially upon the latter. MARTINEL They are the only two things worth knowing in life. SCENE II. (_The same characters and_ Petitpre _who enters_ C, _with_ Leon.) PETITPRE Now that this red-letter day has gone by as any other day goes, will you play a game of billiards with me, Monsieur Martinel? MARTINEL Most certainly, I am very fond of billiards. LEON [_comes down stage_] You are like my father. It seems to me that when anyone begins to like billiards at all, they become infatuated with the game; and you two people are two of a kind. MARTINEL My son, when a man grows old, and has no family, he has to take refuge in such pleasures as these. If you take bait-fishing as your diversion in the morning and billiards for the afternoon and evening, you have two kinds of amusement that are both worthy and attractive. LEON Oh, ho! Bait-fishing, indeed! That means to say, getting up early and sitting with your feet in the water through wind and rain in the hope of catching, perhaps each quarter of an hour, a fish about the size of a match. And you call that an attractive pastime? MARTINEL I do, without a doubt. But do you believe that there is a single lover in the world capable of doing as much for his mistress throughout ten, twelve, or fifteen years of life? If you asked my opinion, I think he would give it up at the end of a fortnight. MME. DE RONCHARD Of a truth; he would. LEON [_interrupts_] Pardon me, I should give it up at the end of a week. MARTINEL You speak sensibly. PETITPRE Come along, my dear fellow. MARTINEL Shall we play fifty up? PETITPRE Fifty up will do. MARTINEL [_turns to_ Mme. de Ronchard] We shall see you again shortly, Madame. MME. DE RONCHARD Well, I have had enough of Havre for the present. [_Exit_ Martinel _and_ Petitpre C.] SCENE III. (Leon _and_ Mme. de Ronchard.) LEON Martinel is a good fellow. Not a man of culture, but bright as sunshine and straight as a rule. MME. DE RONCHARD [_seated_ L.] He is lacking in distinction of manner. LEON [_inadvertently_] How about yourself, Aunt? MME. DE RONCHARD What do you mean? LEON [_corrects himself and approaches_ Mme. de Ronchard] I said, how about yourself? You know what I mean--you have such an intimate knowledge of the world that you are a better judge of human nature than anyone I know. MME. DE RONCHARD Indeed, I am. You were too small a boy to recollect it, but nevertheless, I went a great deal into society before my husband spent all my money, and let me tell you that I was a great success. For instance, at a grand ball given by the Turkish ambassador, at which I was dressed as Salammbo-- LEON [_interrupts_] What, you, the Carthaginian princess? MME. DE RONCHARD Certainly. Why not? Let me tell you that I was greatly admired, for my appearance was exquisite. My dear, that was in eighteen hundred and sixty-- LEON [_sits near_ Mme. de Ronchard] Oh, no dates! for goodness sake, no dates! MME. DE RONCHARD It is not necessary to be sarcastic. LEON What! I, sarcastic? God forbid! It is simply this: in view of the fact that you did not wish this marriage to take place, and that I did, and that the marriage has taken place, I feel very happy. Do you understand me? It is a triumph for me, and I must confess that I feel very triumphant this evening. Tomorrow, however, vanish the triumpher, and there will remain only your affectionate little nephew. Come, smile, Auntie. At heart you are not as ill-natured as you pretend to be, and that is proved by the generosity of soul you have evinced in founding at Neuilly, despite your modest means, a hospital for--lost dogs! MME. DE RONCHARD What else could I do. When a woman is alone and has no children--and I was married such a short time--do you know what I am, after all? Simply an old maid, and like all old maids-- LEON [_finishes the sentence for her_] You love toy dogs. MME. DE RONCHARD As much as I hate men. LEON You mean to say one man. Well, I could hardly blame you for hating him. MME. DE RONCHARD And you know for what kind of girl he abandoned and ruined me. You never saw her, did you? LEON Pardon me, I did see her once in the Champs-Elysees. I was walking with you and my father. A gentleman and lady came toward us; you became excited, quickened your steps, and clutched nervously at my father's arm, and I heard you say in a low voice, "Don't look at them; it is she!" MME. DE RONCHARD And what were you doing? LEON I?--I was looking at him. MME. DE RONCHARD [_rises_] And you thought her horrible, didn't you? LEON I really don't know. You know I was only eleven years old. MME. DE RONCHARD [_crosses_ R.] You are insufferable! Go away, or I shall strike you. LEON [_soothingly, and rising_] There, there, Aunt, I won't do it again. I will be good, I promise you, if you will forgive me. MME. DE RONCHARD [_rises, as if to go out_ C.] I will not! LEON Please do! MME. DE RONCHARD [_returns_] I will not! If it were simply a case of teasing me, I could let it pass, for I can take care of myself; but you have done your sister a wrong, and that is unforgivable. LEON How? MME. DE RONCHARD [_stands_ R. _of table and drums on it with her fingers_] Why, this marriage! You brought it about. LEON [_imitates her action at_ L. _of table_] That is true, and I did right. Moreover, I shall never be tired asserting that what I did was right. MME. DE RONCHARD [_still tapping on the table_] And for my part I shall never be tired of saying that Gilberte has not married the right man. LEON [_still tapping_] Well, what kind of man do you think Gilberte ought to have married? MME. DE RONCHARD A man of position, a public official, or an eminent physician, or--an engineer. LEON Do you mean a theatrical engineer? MME. DE RONCHARD There are other kinds of engineers. Then, above all, she should not have married a handsome man. LEON Do you reproach Jean for his good looks? If you do, my dear Aunt, there are a good many men in the world who must plead guilty. Suppose, even, that a man has no need of good looks, it does not follow that he ought to be ugly. MME. DE RONCHARD [_sits on a little stool by the table, clasps her hands, and looks upward_] My husband was handsome, nay, superb, a veritable guardsman--and I know how much it cost me. LEON It might have cost you a great deal more if he had been ugly! [Mme. de Ronchard _rises to go away_.] Besides Jean is not only good-looking but he is good. He is not vain, but modest; and he has genius, which is manifesting itself more and more every day. He will certainly attain membership in the Institute. That would please you, would it not? That would be worth more than a simple engineer; and, moreover, every woman finds him charming, except you. MME. DE RONCHARD That's the very thing for which I blame him. He is too good and too honest. He has already painted the portraits of a crowd of women, and he will continue to do that. They will be alone with him in his studio for hours at a time, and everybody knows what goes on in those studios. LEON You have been accustomed to go there, my dear Aunt? MME. DE RONCHARD [_dreamily_] Oh, yes. [_Corrects herself_.] I mean to say, once I went to Horace Vernet's studio. LEON The painter of battle scenes! MME. DE RONCHARD Well, what I say of Jean, I say of all artists--that they ought not to be allowed to marry into a family of lawyers and magistrates, such as ours. Such doings always bring trouble. I ask you as a man, is it possible to be a good husband under such conditions--among a crowd of women continually around you who do nothing but unrobe and re-dress themselves, whether they be clients or models (_pointedly_), especially models? [Mme. de Ronchard _rises and_ Leon _is silent_.] I said _models_, Leon. LEON I understand you, Aunt. You make a very pointed and delicate allusion to Jean's past. Well, what of it? If he did have one of his models for a mistress, he loved her, and loved her sincerely for three years-- MME. DE RONCHARD You mean to tell me a man can love such women? LEON Every woman can be loved, my dear Aunt; and this woman certainly deserved to be loved more than most women. MME. DE RONCHARD A great thing, truly, for a model to be pretty! That is the essential thing, I should think. LEON Whether it be essential or not, it is nevertheless very nice to be pretty. But this girl was better than pretty, for she had a nature which was exceptionally tender, good, and sincere. MME. DE RONCHARD Well, then, why did he leave her? LEON What! Can you ask me such a question?--you, who know so much about the world and the world's opinions? [_Folds his arms_.] Would you advocate free love? MME. DE RONCHARD [_indignantly_] You know I would not. LEON [_seriously_] Listen. The truth is, that it happened to Jean as it has happened to many others besides him--that is to say, there was a pretty little nineteen-year-old girl whom he met, whom he loved, and with whom he established an intimacy little by little--an intimacy which lasted one, two, three years--the usual duration of that sort of thing. Then, as usually happens, there came a rupture--a rupture which is sometimes violent, sometimes gentle, but which is never altogether good-natured. Then also, as usual in such cases, each went a separate way--the eternal ending, which is always prosaic, because it is true to life. But the one thing that distinguishes Jean's _liaison_ from the usual affair is the truly admirable character of the girl in the case. MME. DE RONCHARD Oh, admirable character! Mademoiselle--tell me, what is the name of this young lady? If you mentioned it I have forgotten it. Mademoiselle Mus-- Mus-- LEON Musotte, Auntie; little Musotte. MME. DE RONCHARD Musette! Pshaw, that's a very common name. It reminds me of the Latin quarter and of Bohemian life. [_With disgust._] Musette! LEON No, no; not Musette. Musotte, with an O instead of an E. She is named Musotte because of her pretty little nose; can't you understand? Musotte, the name explains itself. MME. DE RONCHARD [_with contempt_] Oh, yes; a _fin-de-siecle_ Musotte, which is still worse. Musotte is not a name. LEON My dear Aunt, it is only a nickname. The nick-name of a model. Her true name is Henriette Leveque. MME. DE RONCHARD [_puzzled_] Leveque? LEON Yes, Leveque. What does this questioning mean? It is just as I told you, or else I know nothing about it. Now, Henriette Leveque, or Musotte, if you prefer that term, has not only been faithful to Jean during the course of her love affair with him; has not only been devoted and adoring, and full of a tenderness which was ever watchful, but at the very hour of her rupture with him, she gave proof of her greatness of soul. She accepted everything without reproach, without recrimination; the poor little girl understood everything--understood that all was finished and finished forever. With the intuition of a woman, she felt that Jean's love for my sister was real and deep, she bowed her head to circumstances and she departed, accepting, without a murmur, the loneliness that Jean's action brought upon her. She carried her fidelity to the end, for she would have slain herself sooner than become [_hesitating out of respect for_ Mme. de Ronchard] a courtesan. And this I _know_. MME. DE RONCHARD And has Jean never seen her since? LEON Not once; and that is more than eight months ago. He wished for news of her, and he gave me the task of getting it. I never found her and I have never been able to gain any knowledge of her, so cunningly did she arrange this flight of hers--this flight which was so noble and so self-sacrificing. [_Changing his tone._] But I don't know why I repeat all this. You know it just as well as I do, for I have told it to you a dozen times. MME. DE RONCHARD It is just as incredible at the twentieth time as at the first. LEON It is nevertheless the truth. MME. DE RONCHARD [_sarcastically_] Well, if it is really the truth, you were terribly wrong in helping Jean to break his connection with such an admirable woman. LEON Oh, no, Aunt, I only did my duty. You have even called me hairbrained, and perhaps you were right; but you know that I can be very serious when I wish. If this three-year-old _liaison_ had lasted until now, Jean would have been ruined. MME. DE RONCHARD Well, how could we help that? LEON Well, these things are frightful--these entanglements--I can't help using the word. It was my duty as a friend--and I wish to impress it upon you--to rescue Jean; and as a brother, it was my duty to marry my sister to such a man as he. The future will tell you whether I was right or not. [_Coaxingly._] And then, my dear Aunt, when later you have a little nephew or a little niece to take care of, to dandle in your arms, you will banish all these little spaniels that you are taking care of at Neuilly. MME. DE RONCHARD The poor little darlings! I, abandon them! Don't you know that I love them as a mother loves her children? LEON Oh, yes; you can become an aunt to them, then, because you will have to become a mother to your little nephew. MME. DE RONCHARD Oh, hold your tongue; you irritate me. (Jean _appears with_ Gilberte _for a moment at C._) JEAN [_to servant entering_ R.] Joseph, have you forgotten nothing, especially the flowers? SERVANT Monsieur and Madame may rest assured that everything has been done. [_Exit servant_ L.] LEON [_to_ Mme. de Ronchard] Look at them; aren't they a bonny couple? SCENE IV. (_The same with_ Jean _and_ Gilberte.) JEAN [_approaches_ Mme. de Ronchard _and speaks to her_] Do you know of whom we were talking just now? We were talking of you. LEON [_aside_] Ahem! ahem! JEAN Yes; I was just saying that I had not made you a present on the occasion of my nuptials, because the choosing of it demanded a great deal of reflection. MME. DE RONCHARD [_dryly_] But Gilberte made me a very pretty one for you both, Monsieur. JEAN But that is not enough. I have been looking for something which I thought would be particularly acceptable to you; and do you know what I found? It is a very small thing, but I ask you, Madame, to be so good as to accept this little pocketbook, which holds some bank-notes, for the benefit of your dear little deserted pets. You can add to your home for these little pets some additional kennels on the sole condition that you will allow me from time to time to come and pet your little pensioners, and on the additional condition that you will not pick out the most vicious among them to greet me. MME. DE RONCHARD [_greatly impressed_] With all my heart, I thank you. How good of you to think of my poor little orphans! LEON [_whispers to_ Jean] You diplomat, you! JEAN There is nothing extraordinary about it, Madame. I am very fond of dumb animals. They are really the foster-brothers of man, sacrificed for them, slaves to them, and in many cases their food. They are the true martyrs of the world. MME. DE RONCHARD What you say is very true, Monsieur, and I have often thought of it in that way. For instance, take those poor horses, scourged and beaten by coachmen in the streets. LEON [_with sarcastic emphasis_] And the pheasants, Auntie, and the partridges and the blackcock falling on all sides under a hail of lead, flying panic-stricken before the horrible massacre of the guns. MME. DE RONCHARD Oh, don't talk like that, it makes me shudder; it is horrible! JEAN [_turns to_ Gilberte] Horrible, indeed! LEON [_after a pause, in light tone_] Perhaps so, but they are good eating. MME. DE RONCHARD You are pitiless. LEON [_aside to his aunt_] Pitiless, perhaps, toward animals, but not pitiless, like you, toward people. MME. DE RONCHARD [_in the same tone_] What do you mean by that? LEON [_in the same tone pointing to_ Jean _and_ Gilberte, _who are seated on a sofa_ R.] Do you think that your presence here can be acceptable to those two lovers? [_Takes her arm_.] My father has certainly finished smoking; come into the billiard-room for a little while. MME. DE RONCHARD And what are you going to do? LEON I am going down into my study on the ground floor, and I shall come up here after a little while. MME. DE RONCHARD [_sarcastically_] Your study, indeed--your studio--you mean, you rascal, where your clients are--models-- LEON [_with mock modesty_] Oh, Auntie. My clients, at least, don't unrobe--alas! [_Exit_ Leon R., _giving a mock benediction to the lovers_.] Children, receive my benediction! [_Exit_ Madame de Ronchard C.] SCENE V. (Jean _and_ Gilberte _seated on the sofa at right_.) JEAN At last, you are my wife, Mademoiselle. GILBERTE Mademoiselle? JEAN Forgive me. I hardly know how to address you. GILBERTE Call me Gilberte. There is nothing shocking about that, is there? JEAN Gilberte, at last, at last, at last, you are my wife! GILBERTE And truly, not without a good deal of trouble. JEAN And what a dainty, energetic little creature you are! How you fought with your father, and with your aunt, for it is only through you, and thanks to you, that we are married, for which I thank you with all my heart--the heart which belongs to you. GILBERTE But it is only because I trusted you, and that is all. JEAN And have you only trust for me? GILBERTE Stupid boy! You know that you pleased me. If you had only pleased me, my confidence in you would have been useless. One must love first. Without that, Monsieur, nothing can come. JEAN Call me Jean, just as I have called you Gilberte. GILBERTE [_hesitates_] But that is not altogether the same thing. It seems to me--that--that--I cannot do it. [_Rises and crosses_ L.] JEAN [_rises_] But I love you. I am no trifler, believe me; I love you. I am the man who loves you because he has found in you qualities that are inestimable. You are one of those perfect creatures who have as much brains as sentiment; and the sentimentality that permeates you is not the sickly sentimentality of ordinary women. It is that gloriously beautiful faculty of tenderness which characterizes great souls, and which one never meets elsewhere in the world. And then, you are so beautiful, so graceful, with a grace that is all your own, and I, who am a painter, you know how I adore the beautiful. Then, above everything, you drew me to you, but not only that, you wiped out the traces of the world from my mind and eyes. GILBERTE I like to hear you say that. But, don't talk any more just now in that way, because it embarrasses me. However, I know, for I try to foresee everything, that to enjoy these things I must listen to them to-day, for your words breathe the passion of a lover. Perhaps in the future your words will be as sweet, for they could not help being so when a man speaks as you spoke and loves as you appear to love, but at the same time, they will be different. JEAN Oh! GILBERTE [_sits on stool near the table_] Tell me it over again. JEAN What drew me to you was the mysterious harmony between your natural form and the soul within it. Do you recollect my first visit to this house? GILBERTE Oh, yes, very well. My brother brought you to dinner, and I believe that you did not wish to come. JEAN [_laughs_] If that were true, it was very indiscreet of your brother to tell you. And he told you that? I am annoyed that he did so, and I confess I did hesitate somewhat, for you know I was an artist accustomed to the society of artists, which is lively, witty, and sometimes rather free, and I felt somewhat disturbed at the idea of entering a house so serious as yours--a house peopled by dignified lawyers and young ladies. But I was so fond of your brother, I found him so full of novelty, so gay, so wittily sarcastic and discerning, under his assumed levity, that not only did I go everywhere with him, but I followed him to the extent of meeting you. And I never cease to thank him for it. Do you remember when I entered the drawing-room where you and your family were sitting, you were arranging in a china vase some flowers that had just been sent to you? GILBERTE I do. JEAN Your father spoke to me of my Uncle Martinel, whom he had formerly known. This at once formed a link between us, for all the time that I was talking to him I was watching you arrange your flowers. GILBERTE [_smiles_] You looked far too long and too steadfastly for a first introduction. JEAN I was looking at you as an artist looks, and was admiring you, for I found your figure, your movements, and your entire self attractive. And then for the last six months I have often come to this house, to which your brother invited me and whither your presence attracted me, and finally I felt your sway as a lover feels the sway of the one he adores. There was an inexplicable, unseen attraction calling me to you. [_Sits beside her_ R. _of table_.] Then a dim idea entered my brain,--an idea that one day you might become my wife. It gained possession of my soul, and I immediately took steps to renew the friendship between your father and my uncle. The two men again became friends. Did you never divine my maneuvers? GILBERTE Divine your maneuvers? No, I suspected a little at times, but I was so astounded that a man like you--in the full flush of success, so well known, so sought after--should concern himself with such a little, unimportant girl as I, that, really, I could place no faith in the sincerity of your attention. JEAN Nevertheless, we quickly knew how to understand each other, did we not? GILBERTE Your character pleased me. I felt that you were loyal, and then you entertained me greatly, for you brought into our house that artistic air which gave my fancies life. I ought to tell you that my brother had already warned me that I should like you. You know that Leon loves you. JEAN I know it, and I think it was in _his_ brain that the first idea of our marriage had birth. [_After a short silence_] You remember our return from Saint-Germain after we had dined in the Henri IV. Pavilion? GILBERTE I remember it well. JEAN My uncle and your aunt were in the front of the landau, and you and I on the rear seat, and in another carriage were your father and Leon. What a glorious spring night! But how coldly you treated me! GILBERTE I was so embarrassed! JEAN You ought to recall that I put to you that day a question which I had already asked you, because you cannot deny that I had paid you very tender attention and that you had captured my heart. GILBERTE True. Nevertheless it surprised and upset me. Oh, how often have I remembered it since! But I have never been able to recall the very words you used. Do you remember them? JEAN No; they came from my lips, issuing from the bottom of my heart like a prayer for mercy. I only know that I told you that I should never re-enter your house if you did not give me some little hope that there should be a day when you would know me better. You pondered a long time before you answered me, but you spoke in such a low tone that I was anxious to make you repeat it. GILBERTE [_takes up his sentence and speaks as if in a dream_] I said that it would pain me greatly if I should see you no more. JEAN Yes, that is what you said. GILBERTE You have forgotten nothing! JEAN Could anyone forget that? [_With deep emotion._] Do you know what I think? As we look at each other and examine our hearts, our souls, our mutual understanding, our love, I verily believe that we have set out on the true road to happiness. [_Kisses her. For a moment they are silent._] GILBERTE [_rises_] But I must leave you. [_Goes toward door_ L.] I must prepare for our journey. Meanwhile, go and find my father. JEAN [_follows her_] Yes, but tell me before you go that you love me. GILBERTE Yes--I love you. JEAN [_kisses her forehead_] My only one. [_Exit_ Gilberte L., _a second after. Enter_ M. Martinel C. _with a very agitated air, and a letter in his hand_.] MARTINEL [_perceives_ Jean, _quickly slips the letter into his pocket; then, recollecting himself_] Have you seen Leon? JEAN No, are you looking for him? MARTINEL No, no, I have just a word to say to him concerning an engagement of small importance. JEAN [_perceives_ Leon] Wait a moment. Here he comes. [_Enter_ Leon R. _Exit_ Jean. C.] SCENE VI. (Martinel _and_ Leon.) MARTINEL [_goes quickly up to_ Leon] I must have five minutes with you. Something terrible has happened. Never in the course of my life have I been placed in so awkward and so embarrassing a situation. LEON Quick! What is it? MARTINEL I had just finished my game at billiards when a servant brought me a letter addressed to M. Martinel, without any Christian name by which to identify it, but with these words on the letter "Exceedingly urgent." I thought it was addressed to me, so I tore open the envelope, and I read words intended for Jean--words which have well-nigh taken away my reason. I came to find you in order to ask advice, for this is a thing which must be decided upon the moment. LEON Tell me, what is it? MARTINEL I am responsible for my own actions, M. Leon, and I would ask advice of no one if the matter concerned myself only, but unfortunately it concerns Jean; therefore, I hesitate--the matter is so grave, and then the secret is not mine--I came upon it accidentally. LEON Tell me quickly, and do not doubt my faith. MARTINEL I do not doubt your faith. Here is the letter. It is from Dr. Pellerin, who is Jean's physician, who is his friend, our friend, a good fellow, a free liver, and a physician to many women of the world, and one who would not write such things unless necessity compelled him. [_Hands the letter to_ Leon, _who holds it close to his eyes._] LEON [_reads_] "MY DEAR FRIEND: "I am more than annoyed at having to communicate with you upon this evening, above every other evening, upon such a subject as this. But I am sure that if I did otherwise you would never forgive me. Your former mistress, Henriette Leveque, is dying and would bid you farewell. [_Throws a glance at_ Martinel _who signs to him to continue._] She will not live through the night. She dies after bringing into the world, some fifteen days ago, a child who on her deathbed she swears is yours. So long as she was in no danger, she determined to leave you in ignorance of this child's existence. But, to-day, doomed to death, she calls to you. I know how you have loved her in the past. But you must do as you think fit. She lives in the Rue Chaptal at Number 31. Let me know how I can serve you, my dear fellow, and believe me, "Always yours, "PELLERIN." MARTINEL There you are. That letter came this evening. That is to say, at the one moment above all others when such a misfortune could threaten the whole future--the whole life of your sister and of Jean. What would you do if you were I? Would you keep this confounded letter, or would you give it to him? If I keep it, we may save appearances, but such an act would be unworthy of me. LEON [_energetically_] I should say so. You must give the letter to Jean. MARTINEL Well, what will he do? LEON He alone is the judge of his own actions. We have no right to hide anything from him. MARTINEL Supposing he consults me? LEON He will not do it. In such situations a man consults only his conscience. MARTINEL But he treats me like a father. If he hesitates a moment between his attention to his wife and the effacement of his happiness, what shall I tell him to do? LEON Just what you would do yourself in like case. MARTINEL My impulse would be to go to the woman. What would be yours? LEON [_resolutely_] I should go. MARTINEL But how about your sister? LEON [_sadly, seating himself by the table_] Yes, my poor little sister! What an awakening for her! MARTINEL [_after a few seconds' hesitation, crosses abruptly from_ L. _to_ R.] No; it is too hard a thing to do. I shall not give him this letter. I shall be blamed perhaps, but so much the worse. In any case, I save him. LEON You cannot do such a thing, sir. We both know my sister, poor little girl, and I am sure that if this marriage is annulled, she will die. [_Rises_.] When a man has for three years enjoyed the love of such a woman as the one who sends for him, he cannot refuse to see her on her deathbed whatever may happen. MARTINEL What will Gilberte do? LEON She worships Jean--but you know how proud she is. MARTINEL Will she accept the situation? Will she forgive it? LEON Of that I am very doubtful, especially after all that has been said about this poor girl in the family circle. But what does that matter? Jean must be warned at once. I am going to find him and bring him to you. [_Rises as if to go out_ C.] MARTINEL Well, how would you like me to tell him? LEON Simply give him the letter. [_Exit_ Leon C.] SCENE VII. MARTINEL [_alone_] Poor children! in the midst of their happiness and at the zenith of joy! And that other poor girl, who is now suffering and slowly dying! Heavens! How unjust and how cruel life is at times. SCENE VIII. (_Re-enter_ Leon _with_ Jean) JEAN [_walks briskly to_ C. _of stage_] What is it all about? MARTINEL One minute, my poor boy; read this, and forgive me for having opened your letter. I opened it because I thought it was intended for me. [_Gives letter to_ Jean, _and watches him read it._ Leon _also watches him, standing_ L.] JEAN [_after reading the letter, speaks to himself in a low tone, touched with deep but contained emotion_] I must do it! I owe it to her! [_To Martinel._] Uncle, I leave my wife in your charge. Say nothing until I return, and remain here till I come back. Wait for me. [_Turns to_ Leon.] I know you well enough to realize that you do not disapprove of what I am doing. To you I confide my future. I am going. [_Turns to the door_ R., _but after casting a glance at the door_ L., _which leads to his wife's chamber, says to_ Leon.] To you I owe the love your sister has bestowed upon me. Help me now to preserve it. [_Exit quickly_ R.] SCENE IX. (Martinel _and_ Leon.) MARTINEL [_seated_ R.] What shall we do now? What are we going to say? What explanations can we give? LEON Let me manage it. It is only right that I should do it since I brought about this marriage. MARTINEL [_rises_] Well, I'd dearly love to be forty-eight hours older. [_Rising_.] I confess I do not like these love tragedies, and moreover the fact of the child entering into the case is awful. What is going to become of that poor little mortal? We cannot send him to the foundling asylum. [_Enter_ Gilberte L.] Gilberte! SCENE X. Gilberte _has removed her marriage robes, and now wears a handsome house gown. She carries an opera cloak, which she throws over a chair neat the door_. GILBERTE Where is Jean? LEON Do not be disturbed, he will be back directly. GILBERTE [_in astonishment_] Has he gone out? LEON Yes. GILBERTE Gone out? And on this evening, above all others! LEON A sudden and grave circumstance compelled him to go out for an hour. GILBERTE [_excitedly_] What is going on? What is it that you are hiding from me? Your story is impossible. Some awful misfortune must have happened. LEON AND MARTINEL [_together_] Oh, no, no! GILBERTE Then, what is it? Tell me! Speak! LEON I cannot tell you anything. Be patient for an hour. It is Jean's duty to tell you of the sudden and unexpected call which has summoned him hence at such a time. GILBERTE What curious words you use! A sudden and unexpected call? He is an orphan--his uncle is his only relative,--then what? Who? Why? Oh, God, how you frighten me! LEON There are duties of many kinds, my dear; friendship, pity, sympathy can impose many of them. But I must not say any more. Be patient for an hour, I implore you. GILBERTE [_to_ Martinel] And you, Uncle? Speak! I implore you! What is he doing? Where has he gone? I feel--oh, I feel the shadow of a terrible misfortune hovering over us; speak, I entreat. MARTINEL [_with tears in his eyes_] But I cannot tell you any more, my dear child. I cannot. Like your brother, I promised to say nothing, and I would have done just as Jean has done. Wait for an hour, I beseech you--just an hour. GILBERTE And you, too, are upset. It must be a catastrophe. MARTINEL No, no! The fact that you are so distressed agitates me, because you know I love you with my whole heart. [_Embraces her_.] GILBERTE [_to_ Leon] You have spoken of friendship, of pity, and of sympathy, but if it were any of these reasons you could tell me so; meanwhile, as I look at you two, I feel that here is some unspoken reason, some mystery which appalls me. LEON [_resolutely_] My dear little sister, won't you trust in me? GILBERTE Yes, you ought to know all. LEON Will you trust me absolutely? GILBERTE Absolutely. LEON I swear to you, on my faith as a gentleman, that I would have done just as Jean has done; that his absolute fidelity to you, his fidelity, which perhaps is even exaggerated by love for you, is the only reason which had led him to forget at this very moment the very thing that he has gone to learn anew. GILBERTE [_looks_ Leon _straight in the eyes_] I believe you, Leon, and I thank you. Nevertheless, I tremble yet and I shall tremble until he returns. If you swear to me that my husband was entirely ignorant of the cause which has made him leave me at this supreme moment, I will content myself as well as I can, trusting in you two. [_She stretches both hands to the two men_.] SCENE XI. (_The same, with_ M. de Petitpre _and_ Mme. de Ronchard, _who enters quickly_ C.) PETITPRE What is this I hear? Jean Martinel gone out? MARTINEL He is coming back very soon, sir. PETITPRE But why on earth did he go out on such an evening as this without a word of explanation to his wife? [_Turns to_ Gilberte] You know nothing about it, do you? GILBERTE [_seated_ L. _of table_] Father, I know nothing at all about it. MME. DE RONCHARD And without a word of explanation to the family! That is indeed a lack of courtesy. PETITPRE [_to_ Martinel] And why has he acted in this way, sir? MARTINEL Your son knows as much as I do, sir; but neither of us can reveal it to you. Moreover, your daughter has consented to wait until she can learn all about it from her husband on his return. PETITPRE My daughter has consented--but I do not consent! Besides, it seems that you alone were forewarned of this sudden departure. MME. DE RONCHARD [_in agitation to_ Martinel] It was to you they brought the letter, and you were the one who read it first. MARTINEL You are correctly informed, Madame; a letter was delivered here, but I would not shoulder the responsibility of this matter, and I showed the letter to your son, sir [_turns to_ Petitpre], and asked his advice with the intention of following it. LEON The advice that I gave is exactly what my brother-in-law has done of his own volition, and I esteem him all the more for it. PETITPRE [_turns to_ Leon] It is I who should have been consulted, not you. If Jean's action is indeed excusable, his want of courtesy is absolutely unpardonable. MME. DE RONCHARD It is scandalous! LEON [_to_ M. Petitpre] Yes, it would have been better to consult you, but the urgency of the matter did not allow it. You would have discussed the matter; my aunt would have discussed the matter; we should all have discussed the matter the whole night long, and you know there are times when one cannot afford to lose even seconds. Silence was necessary until Jean's return. When he does return he will hide nothing from you, and I feel sure that you will judge him as I myself have judged him. MME. DE RONCHARD [_turns to_ Martinel] But this letter, from whom did it come? MARTINEL Oh, I can tell you that. It came from a physician. MME. DE RONCHARD From a physician--a physician--then he must have a sick patient--and it is on account of this patient that he made Jean come to him. But who is the patient? Oh, ho! I surmise that it is a woman--that woman--his former mistress, who has played this card today. Sick! I suppose she has made a pretense of poisoning herself in order to show him that she loves him still and will always love him. Oh, the little wretch! [_To_ Leon.] This is the kind of people you stand up for! Yes, you! LEON It would be only reasonable, my dear Aunt, not to air all these revolting theories of yours in Gilberte's presence, especially when you really know nothing at all. GILBERTE [_rises_] Do not speak any more about it, I pray you. Everything that I have heard just now distresses me beyond measure. I will wait for my husband; I do not wish to know anything except from his lips, as I have absolute confidence in him. If misfortune has threatened us, I will not hear such things talked of. [_Exit_ L, _accompanied by_ Petitpre. _Short silence_.] MME. DE RONCHARD [_turns to_ Leon] Well, Leon, do you always win? You see what charming fellows these husbands are--every one of them! ACT II. SCENE I. Musotte's _bedroom, neatly furnished, but without luxury. Disordered bed stands_ L. _A screen stands_ L. I. E., _almost hiding_ Musotte, _who lies stretched at length upon a steamer-chair. Beside the bed is a cradle, the head of which is turned up stage. On the mantelpiece and on small tables at_ R. _and_ L. _are vials of medicine, cups, chafing-dish, etc. A table stands_, R. I. E. Musotte _is sleeping_. La Babin _and_ Mme. Flache _stand_ C. _looking at her_. LA BABIN [_in low tones_] How she sleeps! MME. FLACHE [_in the same voice_] But she will not sleep long now, unless she is going into her last sleep. LA BABIN Oh, there is no chance of that. That is enough to give one the horrors. Fancy losing one's life for a child! MME. FLACHE But how can you prevent it? Death is as necessary as birth, or the world would become too small for us all. LA BABIN [_sits_ R. _of table_] All people ought to die in the same way and at the same age--every one of us; then one would know what to expect. MME. FLACHE [_pours out some tea_] What simple ideas you have, Madame Babin! Personally, I would rather not know the hour of my death. I would sooner finish my life while sleeping in the middle of the night--during slumber--without suffering--by a sudden failure of the heart. LA BABIN Look at the sick woman. How silly of her to wish to rest upon that steamer-chair as she has done. The doctor told her plainly that such an effort would probably finish her. MME. FLACHE [_sits_ L. _of table_] Oh, I understand her motive. When a girl like her has a lover she commits every kind of folly, and more especially, nurse, when they are at all coquettish; but you country people do not know anything about such things. They are coquettish through and through. That is the reason she wished to look her prettiest. She was afraid of being thought ugly, don't you understand? So I had to put on her _peignoir_, and tidy her up, and arrange her hair just as I have done. LA BABIN Oh, these Parisians! It is necessary that they should have a hairdresser even to the last gasp! [_A short silence_.] But will this gentleman of hers come? MME. FLACHE I do not think so. Men are not overfond of obeying the calls of their former mistresses at such times, and then, this lover of hers was married to-day, poor fellow! LA BABIN Well, that is a joke. MME. FLACHE I should say so. LA BABIN Certainly, then, he won't come. In such a case would _you_ go to see a man? MME. FLACHE Oh, if I loved him very much I should go. LA BABIN Even if you were marrying another the same day? MME. FLACHE Just the same. For such a combination of circumstances would pierce my heart; would penetrate me with a strong emotion,--and, oh, I am so fond of such emotions! LA BABIN Well, so far as I am concerned, I certainly would not go. I should be too much afraid of the shock. MME. FLACHE But Doctor Pellerin asserts that the man will come. LA BABIN Do you know this physician well? MME. FLACHE Who, Doctor Pellerin? LA BABIN Yes; he has the air of a charming man of the world. MME. FLACHE Oh, yes; he is all that, but he is also a good physician. Then he is such good company, and has such a smooth tongue. And you know he is not physician to the Opera for nothing. LA BABIN That little puppy of a-- MME. FLACHE A puppy! You don't very often find puppies among men of his caliber, and then,-oh, how he used to love the girls! Oh, oh