The Princess Of Bagdad Part 19

JOHN.

Yes.

TReVELe.

With Nourvady?

JOHN.

Yes.

G.o.dLER (_after a little while_).

And you are convinced?...

JOHN.

Her hair undone, her arms bare, her dress-body opened! And such effrontery! such impudence! (_Rising, and putting his head in his hands._) I witnessed it, I witnessed it. That man has done all in his power to exonerate her, to save her. He has given his word of honour that there has never been anything between them. It was not through any gentlemanly feeling, for he who comes to your house, takes you warmly by the hand, and appropriates, steals, and buys your wife, such a one has nothing of the true gentleman in him. But I do not know why I mention that man! After all, it is not he who is guilty; he has done his work as a man, as we have all done, and as we all do. He has met a beautiful creature, coquettish, fond of luxury, ruined, heartless, dest.i.tute of womanly feeling; heedless of her good name, her husband, or her child; without the least grat.i.tude, or the least remembrance, even, of all I have done for her. He has offered to buy her, and she has consented. He has paid her a million; that is dear;--for what is a woman who sells herself really worth? As to me, I paid her with my name, with my mother's death and curse, that is still dearer. My mother saw clearly: she is avenged. I have no right to complain.

(_He sits down weeping, his head in his hands._)

G.o.dLER (_much moved_).

My poor old friend!

JOHN.

I beg your pardon. It is not to tell you all this that I have asked you to come here; but, after all, I have no one else now. Here am I, alone in the world. You are my friends--you have said so at least; and then again you did not come to my house to take her away, did you? Never mind, let us try to put my ideas a little in order. I do not know very well what I am about, you can understand that. However, you are convinced that I am an honest man? That is the reason I wanted to see you. You must tell me that you esteem me still. I may have been easily smitten, very stupid. I was so young then! Alas! I feel a hundred years old to-day. I may have been foolish to marry a creature unworthy of me; but you believe me, you know me incapable of all connivance with her; you feel certain that I have no hand in all this disgusting money affair? and when I have gone away, when I am dead, for it will certainly kill me in one way or another, you will take care to say, to affirm strongly, to swear to it even, that I was ignorant of the whole thing. I shall have lost my mother, my faith, my fortune, my life, for that woman; so be it, but at least I have preserved my honour!

G.o.dLER.

Rely on us, my dear friend, and understand that we think you the most upright man in the world; that we esteem you for your honourableness, and sympathise with you in your great misfortune.

(TReVELe, _on his part, takes John warmly by the hand_.)

TReVELe (_aside_).

Poor fellow!

JOHN.

Then, you understand why I have raised this scandal instead of provoking the man. If I had been killed, a suspicion would always have rested on me. Mr. Nourvady paid the debts of my wife; they would have said that I did not find this enough, that I had asked for more, that he had refused me, that then I had quarrelled with him, that he had killed me, and that he had done right. If, on the contrary, I had killed him, they would have said worse things still; that I had waited until he had paid all household debts and had given my wife a fortune (for she has a splendid mansion), a million for her own use; and having arranged all that, and after all these disgraceful artifices, I had killed this generous lover; and that this was my way of settling with my creditors, and setting up my establishment again. This is why I have acted in this way. I wanted to raise an unmistakable scandal, well-spread abroad, from which it would be reported that she is a wretch and I an honest man ...

and besides, before doing anything else, I must pay back his money.

G.o.dLER.

According to the light in which you place the situation, I understand now what, with the habits of our set, I did not take in directly; from the point of view in which you place the thing, you have nothing else to do,--whatever may happen.

JOHN.

What do you mean by whatever may happen?

G.o.dLER.

We never know! The human heart....

JOHN.

You believe me so weak, so much in love, and so base as to pardon this woman after what she has done! You know perfectly well that you despise me. It is my fault. My past weakness gives you the right to believe anything of me.

G.o.dLER.

I believe nothing, I suppose nothing, but the whole thing appears to me very obscure, and pa.s.sion, perhaps, has made you see things that do not exist. All I know is, that yesterday, in this house, Nourvady, before leaving us, spoke a long while in a low tone to the Countess. I heard nothing, but Trevele was relating all sorts of nonsense to me, and I was supposed to be listening to it....

TReVELe.

Continue.

G.o.dLER.

I looked unperceived at the Countess de Hun. Not only did she not listen with interest to her interlocutor, but two or three times her att.i.tude and looks were indicative of anger. She threw something violently out of this window. I do not know what--a note, a trinket, a ring perhaps; and when Nourvady took leave of her, she said,--The insolent fellow! (_To_ TReVELe.) Is it true?

TReVELe.

It is quite true....

JOHN.

She changed her mind afterwards. Night brings counsel: and she is only all the more guilty, as she knew very well what she was doing. Do not speak of her any more, I shall have to think enough about it for the rest of my life, which fortunately will not be long. At present I am going away, as I have no money, and must go and look for some.

G.o.dLER.

My dear fellow!...

JOHN.

You understand, without my telling you, that I ask you for none, and that I should accept none. I confide in you because you are the only persons that I can consider at all as friends in our station, where one has so few; and what you do not give me out of friends.h.i.+p, you give me in esteem and compa.s.sion.

(G.o.dLER _and_ TReVELe _take him warmly by the hand_.)

TReVELe.

But the Countess, where is she?

JOHN.

She is, no doubt, in her house in the Champs Elysees.

TReVELe.