The Stepmother, A Drama in Five Acts
The General (to Vernon)
What are you muttering about?
Vernon I was saying that I was sixty-seven years old, and that I was younger than you are, and that I should wish to be loved like that. (Aside) If only I could be sure that it was love.
The General (to the doctor) I see you are dubious! (to his wife) My dear child, there is no need for me to bless the power of God on your behalf, but I think He must have lent it me, in order that I might love you sufficiently.
Vernon
You forget that I am a doctor, my dear friend. What you are saying to
Madame is only good for the burden of a ballad.
Gertrude
The burdens of some ballads, doctor, are exceedingly true.
The General Doctor, if you continue teasing my wife, we shall quarrel; to doubt on such a subject as that is an insult.
Vernon I have no doubt about it. (to the General) I would merely say, that you have loved so many women with the powers of God, that I am in an ecstasy as a doctor to see you still so good a Christian at seventy!
(Gertrude glides softly towards the sofa, where the doctor is seated.)
The General
Pshaw! The last passions, my friend, are always the strongest.
Vernon You are right. In youth, we love with all our strength which grows weaker with age, while in age we love with all our weakness which is ever on the increase.
The General
Oh, vile philosophy!
Gertrude (to Vernon) Doctor, how is it that you, who are so good, try to infuse doubts into the heart of Grandchamp? You know that he is so jealous that he would kill a man on suspicion. I have such respect for his feelings that I have concluded upon seeing no one, but you, the mayor and the cure. Do you want me also to forego your society which is so pleasant, so agreeable to us? Ah! Here is Napoleon.
Vernon (aside) I take this for a declaration of war. She has sent away everyone else, she intends to dismiss me.
Godard (to Vernon) Doctor, you are an intimate friend of the house, tell me, pray, what do you think of Mlle. Pauline?
(The doctor rises from his seat, looks at the speaker, blows his nose, and goes to the middle of the stage. The dinner bells sounds.)
SCENE SIXTH
The same persons, Napoleon and Felix.
Napoleon
Papa, papa, didn't you say I could ride Coco?
The General
Certainly.
Napoleon (to Felix)
Do you hear that?
Gertrude (wiping her son's forehead)
He is quite warm!
The General
But only on the condition that some one goes with you.
Felix You see I was right, Master Napoleon. General, the little rascal wished to go on his pony alone into the country.
Napoleon
He was frightened for me! Do you think I am afraid of anything?
(Exit Felix. Dinner bell rings.)
The General Come and let me kiss you for that word. He is a little soldier and belongs to the Young Guard.
Vernon (with a glance at Gertrude)
He takes after his father!
Gertrude (quickly) As regards courage, he is his father's counterpart; but as to physique, he resembles me.
Felix
Dinner is served.
Gertrude Very well! But do you know where Ferdinand is? He is generally so punctual. Here, Napoleon, go to the entrance of the factory and see if he is coming. Tell him to hurry; the bell has rung.
The General
We need not wait for Ferdinand. Godard, give your arm to Pauline.
(Vernon offers his arm to Gertrude.) Excuse me, Vernon, you ought to be aware that I never permit anybody but myself to take my wife's arm.
Vernon (aside)
Decidedly, he is incurable.
Napoleon (running back)
I saw Ferdinand down in the main avenue.
Vernon
Give me your hand, you little tyrant!
Napoleon
Tyrant yourself! I'll bet I could tire you out.
(Napoleon turns Vernon round and round. All leave, chatting gaily.)
SCENE SEVENTH
Ferdinand (cautiously stealing from Pauline's room) The youngster saved me, but I do not know how he happened to see me in the avenue! One more piece of carelessness like this may ruin us! I must extricate myself from this situation at any price. Here is Pauline refusing Godard's proposal. The General, and especially Gertrude, will try to find out the motives of her refusal! But I must hasten to reach the veranda, so that I may have the appearance of having come from the main avenue, as Leon said. I hope no one will catch sight of me from the dining-room. (He meets Ramel.) What, Eugene Ramel!
SCENE EIGHTH
Ferdinand and Ramel.
Ramel
You here, Marcandal!
Ferdinand Hush! Don't pronounce that name in this place! If the General heard that my name was Marcandal, he would kill me at once as if I were a mad dog.
Ramel
And why?
Ferdinand
Because I am the son of General Marcandal.
Ramel A general to whom the Bourbons are in part indebted for their second innings.
Ferdinand In the eyes of General Grandchamp, to leave Napoleon for service under the Bourbons was treason against France. Alas! this was also my father's opinion, for he died of grief. You must therefore remember to call me by the name of Ferdinand Charny, my mother's maiden name.
Ramel
And what are you doing here?
Ferdinand
I am the manager, the cashier, the factotum of Grandchamp's factory.
Ramel
How is this? Do you do it from necessity?
Ferdinand From dire necessity! My father spent everything, even the fortune of my poor mother, who lived during her later years in Brittany on the pension she received as widow of a lieutenant-general.
Ramel How is it that your father, who had command of the Royal Guard, a most brilliant position, died without leaving you anything, not even a patron?
Ferdinand Had he never betrayed his friends, and changed sides, without any reason —
Ramel
Come, come, we won't talk any more about that.
Ferdinand My father was a gambler – that was the reason why he was so indulgent to me. But may I ask what has brought you here?
Ramel
A fortnight ago I was appointed king's attorney at Louviers.
Ferdinand I heard something about it. But the appointment was published under another name.
Ramel
De la Grandiere, I suppose.
Ferdinand
That is it.
Ramel In order that I might marry Mlle. de Boudeville, I obtained permission to assume my mother's name – as you have done. The Boudeville family have given me their protection, and in a year's time I shall doubtless be attorney-general at Rouen – a stepping-stone towards a position at Paris.
Ferdinand
And what brings you to our quiet factory?
Ramel I came to investigate a criminal case, a poisoning affair, – a fine introduction into my office.
(Felix enters.)
Felix
Monsieur, Madame is worrying about you —
Ferdinand Please ask her to excuse me for a few moments. (Exit Felix.) My dear Eugene, in case the General – who like all retired troopers is very inquisitive – should inquire how we happen to meet here, don't forget to say that we came up the main avenue. It is important for me that you should say so. But go on with your story. It is on account of the wife of Champagne, our foreman, that you have come here; but he is innocent as a new-born babe!
Ramel You believe so, do you? Well, the officers of justice are paid for being incredulous. I see that you still remain, as I left you, the noblest, the most enthusiastic fellow in the world; in short, a poet! A poet who puts the poetry into his life instead of writing it, and believes in the good and the beautiful! And that reminds me – that angel of your dreams, that Gertrude of yours, whatever has become of her?
Ferdinand Hush! Not only has the minister of justice sent you here, but some celestial influence has sent to me at Louviers the friend whose help I need in my terrible perplexity. Eugene, come here and listen to me a while. I am going to appeal to you as my college friend, as the confidant of my youth; you won't put on the airs of the prosecuting attorney to me, will you? You will see from the nature of my admissions that I impose upon you the secrecy of the confessional.
Ramel
Is it anything criminal?
Ferdinand Oh, nonsense! My faults are such as the judges themselves would be willing to commit.
Ramel
Perhaps I had better not listen to you; or, if I do listen to you —
Ferdinand
Well!
Ramel
I could demand a change of position.
Ferdinand You are always my best and kindest friend. Listen then! For over three years I have been in love with Mlle. Pauline de Grandchamp, and she —
Ramel
You needn't go on; I understand. You have been reviving Romeo andJuliet– in the heart of Normandy.
Ferdinand With this difference, that the hereditary hatred which stood between the two lovers of the play was a mere trifle in comparison with the loathing with which the Comte de Grandchamp contemplates the son of the traitor Marcandal!
Ramel Let me see! Mlle. Pauline de Grandchamp will be free in three years; she is rich in her own right – I know this from the Boudevilles. You can easily take her to Switzerland and keep her there until the General's wrath has had time to cool; and then you can make him the respectful apologies required under the circumstances.
Ferdinand Do you think I would have asked your advice if the only difficulty lay in the attainment of this trite and easy solution of the problem?
Ramel
Ah! I see, my dear friend. You have already married your
Gertrude – your angel – who has become to you like all other angels, after their metamorphoses into a lawful wives.
Ferdinand
'Tis a hundred times worse than that! Gertrude, my dear sir, is now
Madame de Grandchamp.
Ramel
Oh, dear! How is it you've thrust yourself into such a hornets' nest?
Ferdinand In the same way that people always thrust themselves into hornets' nests; that is, with the hope of finding honey there.
Ramel Oh, oh! This is a very serious matter! Now, really, you must conceal nothing from me.
Ferdinand Mlle. Gertrude de Meilhac, educated at St. Denis, without doubt loved me first of all through ambition; she was glad to know that I was rich, and did all she could to gain my attachment with a view to marriage.
Ramel
Such is the game of all these intriguing orphan girls.
Ferdinand But how came it about that Gertrude has ended by loving me so sincerely? For her passion may be judged by its effects. I call it a passion, but with her it is first love, sole and undivided love, which dominates her whole life, and seems to consume her. When she found that I was a ruined man, towards the close of the year 1816, and knowing that I was like you, a poet, fond of luxury and art, of a soft and happy life, in short, a mere spoilt child, she formed a plan at once base and sublime, such a plan as disappointed passion suggests to women who, for the sake of their love, do all that despots do for the sake of their power; for them, the supreme law is that of their love —
Ramel The facts, my dear fellow, give me the facts! You are making your defence, recollect, and I am prosecuting attorney.
Ferdinand While I was settling my mother in Brittany, Gertrude met General de Grandchamp, who was seeking a governess for his daughter. She saw nothing in this battered warrior, then fifty-eight years old, but a money-box. She expected that she would soon be left a widow, wealthy and in circumstances to claim her lover and her slave. She said to herself that her marriage would be merely a bad dream, followed quickly by a happy awakening. You see the dream has lasted twelve years! But you know how women reason.
Ramel
They have a special jurisprudence of their own.
Ferdinand Gertrude is a woman of the fiercest jealousy. She wishes for fidelity in her lover to recompense her for her infidelity to her husband, and as she has suffered martyrdom, she says, she wishes —
Ramel To have you in the same house with her, that she may keep watch over you herself.
Ferdinand She has been successful in getting me here. For the last three years I have been living in a small house near the factory. I should have left the first week after my arrival, but that two days' acquaintance with Pauline convinced me that I could not live without her.
Ramel Your love for Pauline, it seems to me as a magistrate, makes your position here somewhat less distasteful.
Ferdinand My position? I assure you, it is intolerable, among the three characters with whom I am cast. Pauline is daring, like all young persons who are innocent, to whom love is a wholly ideal thing, and who see no evil in anything, so long as it concerns a man whom they intend to marry. The penetration of Gertrude is very acute, but we manage to elude it through Pauline's terror lest my name should be divulged; the sense of this danger gives her strength to dissemble! But now Pauline has just refused Godard, and I do not know what may be the consequences.
Ramel I know Godard; under a somewhat dull exterior he conceals great sagacity, and he is the most inquisitive man in the department. Is he here now?
Ferdinand
He dines here to-day.
Ramel
Do not trust him.
Ferdinand If two women, between whom there is no love lost, make the discovery that they are rivals, one of them, I can't say which, is capable of killing the other, for one is strong in innocence and lawful love; the other, furious to see the fruit of so much dissimulation, so many sacrifices, even crimes lost to her forever.
(Enter Napoleon.)
Ramel You alarm me – me, the prosecuting attorney! Upon my word and honor, women often cost more than they are worth.
Napoleon Dear friend! Papa and mamma are impatient about you; they send word that you must leave your business, and Vernon says that your stomach requires it.
Ferdinand
You little rogue! You are come eavesdropping!
Napoleon
Mamma whispered in my ear: "Go and see what your friend is doing."
Ferdinand Run away, you little scamp! Be off! I am coming. (To Ramel) You see she makes this innocent child a spy over me.
(Exit Napoleon.)
Ramel
Is this the General's child?
Ferdinand
Yes.
Ramel
He is twelve years old?
Ferdinand
About.
Ramel
Have you anything more to tell me?
Ferdinand
Really, I think I have told you enough.
Ramel Very well! Go and get your dinner. Say nothing of my arrival, nor of my purpose here. Let them finish their dinner in peace. Now go at once.
(Exit Ferdinand.)
SCENE NINTH
Ramel (alone) Poor fellow! If all young people had studied the annals of the court, as I have done in seven years of a magistrate's work, they would come to the conclusion that marriage must be accepted as the sole romance which is possible in life. But if passion could control itself it would be virtue.
Curtain to First Act.
ACT II
SCENE FIRST
(Stage setting remains as in Act I.)
Ramel and Marguerite; later, Felix.
(Ramel is buried in his reflections, reclining on the sofa in such a way as to be almost out of sight. Marguerite brings in lights and cards. Night is approaching.)
Marguerite Four card tables – that will be enough, even though the cure, the mayor and his assistant come. (Felix lights the candles.) I'll wager anything that my poor Pauline will not be married this time. Dear child! If her late mother were to see that she was not queen of the house, she would weep in her coffin! I only remain here in order to comfort and to wait upon her.
Felix (aside) What is this old woman grumbling about? (Aloud) Whom are you complaining of now, Marguerite? I'll bet it is the mistress.
Marguerite
No, it is not; I am blaming the master.
Felix The General? You had better mind your own business. He is a saint, is that man.
Marguerite
Yes, a stone saint, for he is blind.
Felix
You had better say that he has been blinded.
Marguerite
You hit the nail on the head there.
Felix
The General has but one fault – he is jealous.
Marguerite
Yes, and obstinate, too.
Felix Yes, obstinate; it is the same thing. When once he suspects anything he comes down like a hammer. That was the way he laid two men lifeless at a blow. Between ourselves, there is only one way to treat a trooper of that sort; you must stuff him with flattery. And the mistress certainly does stuff him. Besides, she is clever enough to put blinders on him, such as they put on shying horses; he can see neither to the right nor to the left, and she says to him, "My dear, look straight ahead!" So she does!
Marguerite Ah! You think with me that a woman of thirty-two does not love a man of seventy without some object. She is scheming something.
Ramel (aside)
Oh, these servants! whom we pay to spy over us!
Felix What can be her scheme? She never leaves the house, she never sees anyone.
Marguerite She would skin a flint! She has taken away the keys from me – from me who always had the confidence of the former mistress; do you know why she did so?
Felix
I suppose she is saving up her pile.
Marguerite Yes, out of the fortune of Mlle. Pauline, and the profits of the factory. That is the reason why she puts off the marriage of the dear child as long as she can, for she has to give up her fortune when she marries her.
Felix
Yes, that's the law.
Marguerite I would forgive her everything, if only she made Mademoiselle happy; but I sometimes catch my pet in tears, and I ask her what is the matter, and she says nothing but "Good Marguerite!" (Exit Felix.) Let me see, have I done everything? Yes, here are the card tables – the candles – the cards – Ah! the sofa. (She catches sight of Ramel) Good Lord! A stranger!
Ramel
Don't be startled, Marguerite.
Marguerite
You must have heard all we said.
Ramel Don't be alarmed. My business is to keep secrets. I am the state's attorney.
Marguerite
Oh!
SCENE SECOND
The same persons, Pauline, Godard, Vernon, Napoleon, Ferdinand, the
General, Madame de Grandchamp.
(Gertrude rushes to Marguerite and snatches the cushions from her hands.)
Gertrude Marguerite, you know very well what pain you give me, by not allowing me to do everything for your master; besides, I am the only one who knows how to arrange the cushions to his liking.
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