Honoré Balzac - The Stepmother, A Drama in Five Acts

The General Ah! That is the way you look at the world, is it? For my part, I try to keep up the illusions in which I have lived. To peer into the inner life of people in that way is the business of priests and magistrates; I have no love for the black robed gentlemen, and I hope to die without ever having seen them! But the sentiment which you express with regard to my house is more pleasing to me than all your fortune. Stick to that point, and you will win my esteem, something which I lightly bestow on no one.

Godard Thank you, General. (Aside) I have won over the father-in-law at any rate.

The same persons, Pauline and Gertrude.

The General (catching sight of Pauline)

Ah! Here you are, darling.

Gertrude

Doesn't she look beautiful?

Godard

Madame.

Gertrude

Forgive me, sir. I had no eyes excepting for my handiwork.

Godard

Mademoiselle is radiant!

Gertrude We have some people to dinner to-day, and I am something more than a stepmother to her; I love to deck her out, for she is to me like my own daughter.

Godard (aside)

They were evidently expecting me!

Gertrude (aside to Godard) I am going to leave you alone with her. Now is the time for your declaration. (To the General) My dear, let us go out on the veranda and see if our friend the doctor is coming.

The General

I am at your service, as usual. (To Pauline) Good-bye, my pet. (To

Godard) I shall see you later.

(Gertrude and the General go to the veranda, but Gertrude keeps her eye on Godard and Pauline. Ferdinand shows his head at the door of Pauline's chamber, but at a quick sign from her, he hurriedly withdraws it unobserved.)

Godard (at the front of the stage) Let me see, what fine and dainty speech can I make to her? Ah, I have it! (To Pauline) It is a very fine day, mademoiselle.

Pauline

It certainly is, sir.

Godard

Mademoiselle —

Pauline

Sir?

Godard

It is in your power to make the day still finer for me.

Pauline

How can I do that?

Godard Don't you understand me? Has not Madame de Grandchamp said anything to you about the subject nearest my heart?

Pauline While she was helping me to dress, an instant ago, she said a great many complimentary things about you!

Godard

And did you agree with her, even in the slightest way?

Pauline

Oh, sir, I agreed with all she said!

Godard (seating himself on a chair, aside) So far so good. (Aloud) Did she commit a pardonable breach of confidence by telling you that I was so much in love with you that I wished to see you the mistress of Rimonville?

Pauline She gave me to understand by her hints that you were coming with the intention of paying me a very great compliment.

Godard (falling on his knees)

I love you madly, mademoiselle; I prefer you to Mlle. de Blondville, to Mlle. de Clairville, to Mlle. de Verville, to Mlle. de

Pont-de-Ville – to —

Pauline Oh, that is sufficient, sir, you throw me into confusion by these proofs of a love which is quite unexpected! Your victims make up almost a hecatomb. (Godard rises.) Your father was contented with taking the victims to market! But you immolate them.

Godard (aside) I really believe she is making fun of me. But wait awhile! Wait awhile!

Pauline

I think at least we ought to wait awhile; and I must confess —

Godard You do not wish to marry yet. You are happy with your parents, and you are unwilling to leave your father.

Pauline

That is it, exactly.

Godard In that case, there are some mothers who would agree that their daughter was too young, but as your father admits that you are twenty-two I thought that you might possibly have a desire to be settled in life.

Pauline

Sir!

Godard You are, I know, quite at liberty to decide both your own destiny and mine; but in accordance with the wishes of your father and of your second mother, who imagine that your heart is free, may I be permitted still to have hope?

Pauline Sir, however flattering to me may be your intention in thus seeking me out, that does not give you any right to question me so closely.

Godard (aside) Is it possible I have a rival? (Aloud) No one, mademoiselle, gives up the prospect of happiness without a struggle.

Pauline

Do you still continue in this strain? I must leave you, sir.

Godard

Thank you, mademoiselle. (Aside) So much for your sarcasm.

Pauline Come sir, you are rich, and nature has given you a fine person; you are so well educated and so witty that you will have no difficulty in finding some young person richer and prettier than I am.

Godard

How can that be when one is in love?

Pauline

Well sir, that is the very point.

Godard (aside)

She is in love with someone; I must find out who it is. (Aloud)

Mademoiselle, will you at least permit me to feel that I am not in disgrace and that I may stay here a few days?

Pauline

My father will answer you on that score.

Gertrude (coming forward to Godard)

Well, how are things going?

Godard A blunt refusal, without even a hope of her relenting; her heart is evidently already occupied.

Gertrude (to Godard) Her heart occupied? This child has been brought up by me, and I know to the contrary; and besides that, no one ever comes here. (Aside) This youth has roused in me suspicions which pierce my heart like a dagger. (To Godard) Why don't you ask her if such is the case?

Godard How could I ask her anything? At my first word of jealous suspicion, she resented my curiosity.

Gertrude

Well, I shall have no hesitation in questioning her.

The General Ah, here comes the doctor! We shall now learn the truth concerning the death of Champagne's wife.

The same persons and Dr. Vernon.

The General

Well, how are you?

Vernon I was quite sure of it. Ladies (he bows to them), as a general rule when a man beats his wife, he takes care not to poison her; he would lose too much by that. He doesn't want to be without a victim.

The General (to Godard)

He is a charming fellow!

Godard

Charming!

The General (to the doctor, presenting Godard to him)

M. Godard.

Godard

De Rimonville.

Vernon (looking at Godard) If he kills her, it is by mistake from having hit her a little too hard; and he is overwhelmed with grief; while Champagne is innocently delighted to have been made a widower by natural causes. As a matter of fact, his wife died of cholera. It was a very rare case, but he who has once seen Asiatic cholera cannot forget it, and I am glad that I had that opportunity; for, since the campaign in Egypt, I have never met with a case. If I had been called in time I could have saved her.

Gertrude How fortunate we are, for if a crime had been committed in this establishment, which for twelve years has been so free from disturbance, I should have been horrified.

The General Here you see the effect of all this tittle-tattle. But are you quite sure, Vernon?

Vernon Am I certain? That's a fine question to put to a retired surgeon-in-chief who has attended twelve French armies, from 1793 to 1815, and has practiced in Germany, in Spain, in Italy, in Russia, in Poland, and in Egypt!

The General (poking him in the ribs) Away, you charlatan! I reckon you have killed more people than I have in those countries.

Godard

What is this talk that you are alluding to?

Gertrude This poor Champagne, our foreman, was supposed to have poisoned his wife.

Vernon Unhappily, the night before she died, they had had an altercation which ended in blows. Ah! they don't take example from their masters.

Godard Such happiness as reigns here ought to be contagious, but the virtues which are exemplified in the countess are very rare.