The Stepmother, A Drama in Five Acts Part 17

The General Here comes Ferdinand. (Aside) I shall question him at my discretion; and then perhaps the mystery will be cleared up.

SCENE SIXTH

The same persons and Ferdinand.

The General (to Ferdinand) Come here, my friend. You have been with us over three years now, and I am indebted to you for the power of sleeping soundly amid all the cares of an extensive business. You are almost as much as I am the master of my factory. You have been satisfied with a salary, pretty large it is true, but scarcely proportionate perhaps to the services rendered by you. I think at last I understand the motive of your disinterestedness.

Ferdinand It is my duty, General.

The General Granted; but does not the heart count for a good deal in this? Come now, Ferdinand, you know my way of considering the different ranks of society, and the distinctions pertaining to them. We are all the sons of our own works. I have been a soldier. You may therefore have full confidence in me. They have told me all; how you love a certain young person, here present. If you desire it, she shall be yours. My wife had pleaded your cause, and I must acknowledge that she has gained it before the tribunal of my heart.

Ferdinand General, can this be true? Madame de Grandchamp has pleaded my cause?

Ah, madame! (He falls on his knees before her.) I acknowledge in this your greatness of heart! You are sublime, you are an angel! (Rising and rus.h.i.+ng forward to Pauline.) Pauline, my Pauline!

Gertrude (to the General) I guessed aright; he is in love with Pauline.

Pauline Sir, have I ever given you the right, by a single look, or by a single word, to utter my name in this way? No one could be more astonished than I am to find that I have inspired you with sentiments which might flatter others, but which I can never reciprocate; I have a higher ambition.

The General Pauline, my child, you are more than severe. Come, tell me, is there not some misunderstanding here? Ferdinand, come here, come close to me.

Ferdinand How is it, mademoiselle, when your stepmother, and your father agree?

Pauline (in a low voice to Ferdinand) We are lost!

The General Now I am going to act the tyrant. Tell me, Ferdinand, of course your family is an honorable one?

Pauline (to Ferdinand) You hear that!

The General Your father must certainly have been a man of as honorable a profession as mine was; my father was sergeant of the watch.

Gertrude (aside) They are now separated forever.

Ferdinand Ah! (To Gertrude) I understand your move. (To the General) General, I do not deny that once in a dream, long ago, in a sweet dream, in which it was delicious for a man poor and without family to indulge in--dreams we are told are all the fortune that ever comes to the unfortunate--I do not deny that I once regarded it as a piece of overwhelming happiness to become a member of your family; but the reception which mademoiselle accords to those natural hopes of mine, and which you have been cruel enough to make me reveal, is such that at the present moment they have left my heart, never again to return!

I have been rudely awakened from that dream, General. The poor man has his pride, which it is as ungenerous in the rich man to wound, as it would be for any one to insult--mark what I say--your attachment to Napoleon. (In a low voice to Gertrude) You are playing a terrible part!

Gertrude (aside to Ferdinand) She shall marry G.o.dard.

The General Poor young man! (To Pauline) He is everything that is good! He inspires me with affection. (He takes Ferdinand aside.) If I were in your place, and at your age, I would have--No, no, what the devil am I saying?--After all she is my daughter!

Ferdinand General, I make an appeal to your honor; swear that you will keep, as the most profound secret, what I am going to confide to you; and this secrecy must extend so far even as to Madame de Grandchamp.

The General (aside) What is this? He also, like my daughter, seems to distrust my wife.

But, by heaven, I will learn what it means! (Aloud) I consent; you have the word of a man who has never once broken a promise given.

Ferdinand After having forced me to reveal that which I had buried in the recesses of my heart, and after I have been thunderstruck, for that is the only word in which to express it, by the disdain of Mademoiselle Pauline, it is impossible for me to remain here any longer. I shall therefore put my accounts in order; this evening I shall quit this place, and to-morrow will leave France for America, if I can find a s.h.i.+p sailing from Havre.

The General (aside) It is as well that he should leave, for he will be sure to return. (To Ferdinand) May I tell this to my daughter?

Ferdinand Yes, but to no one else.

The General (aside to Pauline) Pauline! My daughter, you have so cruelly humiliated this poor youth, that the factory is on the point of losing its manager; Ferdinand is to leave this evening for America.

Pauline (to the General) He is right, father. He is doing of his own accord, what you doubtless would have advised him to do.

Gertrude (to Ferdinand) She shall marry G.o.dard.

Ferdinand (to Gertrude) If I do not punish you for your atrocious conduct, G.o.d Himself will!

The General (to Pauline) America is a long way off and the climate is deadly.

Pauline (to the General) Many a fortune is made there.

The General (aside) She does not love him. (To Ferdinand) Ferdinand, you must not leave before I have put in your hands sufficient to start you on the road to fortune.

Ferdinand I thank you, General; but what is due me will be sufficient. Moreover, I shall not be missed in your factory, for I have trained Champagne so thoroughly as a foreman, that he is skillful enough to become my successor; and if you will go with me to the factory, you will see--

The General I will gladly accompany you. (Aside) Everything is in such a muddle here, that I must go and look for Vernon. The advice and clear-sightedness of my old friend, the doctor, will be of service in ferreting out what it is that disturbs this household, for there is something or other. Ferdinand, I will follow you. Ladies, we will be soon be back again. (Aside) There is something or other!

(The General follows Ferdinand out.)

SCENE SEVENTH

Gertrude and Pauline.

Pauline (locking the door) Madame, do you consider that a pure love, a love which comprises and enhances all human happiness, which makes us understand that happiness which is divine,--do you consider such a love to be dearer and more precious to us than life?

Gertrude You have been reading the _Nouvelle Heloise_, my dear. What you say is rather stilted in diction, but it is nevertheless true.

Pauline Well, madame, you have just caused me to commit suicide.

Gertrude The very act you would have been happy to see me commit; and if you had succeeded in forcing me to it, you would have felt in your heart the joy which fills mine at present.

Pauline According to my father, war between civilized nations has its laws; but the war which you wage against me, madame, is that of savages.

Gertrude You may do as I do, if you can--but you can do nothing! You shall marry G.o.dard. He is a very good match for you; you will be very happy, I a.s.sure you, for he has fine qualities.

Pauline And you think that I will quietly let you marry Ferdinand?

Gertrude After the few words which we have exchanged this evening, why should we now indulge in the language of hypocrisy? I was in love with Ferdinand, my dear Pauline, when you were but eight years old.