Away!
LAFFEMAS.
Is that your answer?
MARION (haughtily).
I beg you!
LAFFEMAS.
How fleeting are the whims of the fair sex!You were not always, madame, so severe!Now that 'tis question of your lover's life—
MARION (without looking at him, turning to the small door, her hands clasped).
If it would save your life, I could not goBack to that infamy. My soul's grown pureAt touch of you, my Didier; sin is shamed.Your love gives back my lost virginity.
LAFFEMAS.
Well, love him!
MARION.
Ah, he pushes me from crimeTo vice! Oh, monster, go! Let me keep pure!
LAFFEMAS.
There is but one thing left for me to do!
MARION.
What is it?
LAFFEMAS.
I can show you—let you see.It is to-night.
MARION (trembling all over).
Oh, heaven! this night!
LAFFEMAS.
This nightThe Cardinal, in litter, will attend.
[Marionis buried in a deep and painful reverie. Suddenly she passes her two hands over her brow and turns, as if wild, towardLaffemas.
MARION.
How could you manage their escape?
LAFFEMAS (low).
You mean?Two of my men could guard this place, by whichThe Cardinal passes—[He listens at the small door.I think some one comes!
[He listens at the small door.
MARION (wringing her hands).
You'll save him?
LAFFEMAS.
Yes.[Low.] To tell you in this place—The walls have echoes—elsewhere.
MARION (with despair).
Come!
[Laffemasgoes toward the large door and signs to her to follow. She falls on her knees, turned toward the grating of the prison; then she arises with a convulsive effort and disappears through the great door afterLaffemas.SavernyandDidierenter, surrounded by Guards.
Didier,Saverny.Saverny, dressed in the latest fashion, enters gayly and petulantly.Didieris in black, walks slowly, is very pale. A jailer accompanied by Halberdiers conducts them.The Jailerplaces the two Halberdiers as sentinels beside the black curtain.Didiersits, silently, on the stone bench
SAVERNY (toThe Jailer, who opens the door for him).
Thank you.The air is very good!
THE JAILER (low, and drawing him aside).
My lord, two words with you.
SAVERNY.
Four, if you like.
THE JAILER (lowering his voice still more).
Will you escape?
SAVERNY (eagerly).
Speak! How?
THE JAILER.
That's my affair.
SAVERNY.
Truly? [The Jailernods his head.Lord Cardinal,You meant to keep me from attending balls,But it appears I am to dance again.The pleasant thing that life is![ToThe Jailer.] When, my friend?
THE JAILER.
To-night, as soon as it is dark.
SAVERNY.
My faith!I shall be charmed to leave these quarters. WhenceComes this assistance?
THE JAILER.
Marquis de Nangis.
SAVERNY.
My good old uncle![ToThe Jailer.] 'Tis for both, I hope!
THE JAILER.
I can save only one!
SAVERNY.
For twice as much?
THE JAILER.
I can save only one!
SAVERNY (tossing his head).
Just one?[Low toThe Jailer.] Then listen;Good jailer, that's the one to save!
[IndicatingDidier.
THE JAILER.
You jest!
SAVERNY.
I do not! He's the one!
THE JAILER.
What an idea!Your uncle wants to save you, not save him.
SAVERNY.
It's settled? Then prepare two shrouds at once.[Turns his back onThe Jailer, who goes out, astonished.A Registrarenters.We can't be left alone an instant—strange!
[Turns his back onThe Jailer, who goes out, astonished.A Registrarenters.
REGISTRAR (saluting the prisoners).
The royal councilor of the Great ChamberIs close at hand.
[Salutes them again and exits.
SAVERNY.
'Tis well! [Laughing.Annoying luck!Twenty years old—September—and to dieBefore October!
DIDIER (motionless at front of stage, holding the portrait in his hand, and as if absorbed in a deep study of it).
Come, look at me well!Eyes in my eyes: thus. You are beautiful!What radiant grace! Hardly a woman, you!No: much more like an angel. God HimselfWhen He formed that divinely honest lookPut much fire in it but more chastity.That childish mouth, pushed open by sweet hopes,Throbs with its innocence.[Throwing the portrait violently to the ground.Why did that peasantTake me unto her breast? Why not have dashedMy head against the stones? What did I doUnto my mother to be cursed with birth?Why, in that misery, it may be crime,Which forced her to abandon her own blood,Had she not motherhood enough to chokeMe in her arms?
[Throwing the portrait violently to the ground.
SAVERNY (returning from back of court).
The swallows fly quite low;'Twill rain to-night.
DIDIER (without hearing him).
A faithless, a mad thing,A woman is: inconstant, cruel, deep,And turbulent as is the ocean. Ah,Upon that sea I trusted all my fortune!In all the vast horizon saw one star!Well! I am shipwrecked! Nothing's left but death.Yet I was born good-hearted: might have foundThe spark divine within me by-and-by.Fair looked the future! Oh, remorseless woman,Did you not shrink in face of such a lie,Since to your mercy I trusted my soul?
SAVERNY.
Forever Marion! You've strange ideasAbout her!
DIDIER (without heeding him, picks up the picture and fixes his eyes upon it).
Down 'mongst the degraded thingsI must throw you, oh, woman who betrays!A demon, with eyes touched by angels' wings.[Puts it back into his breast.Come back; here is your place![ApproachingSaverny.] A curious thing!That portrait is alive; I do not jest.While you were sleeping there so peacefullyIt gnawed my heart all night.
[Puts it back into his breast.
SAVERNY.
Alas! poor friend.We'll talk of death.[Aside.] It comforts him, althoughI find it rather sad.
DIDIER.
What did you say?I have not listened. Since I heard that nameI have been stupefied. I cannot think:I can't remember, cannot hear nor see!
SAVERNY (taking hold of his arm).
Death, friend!
DIDIER (joyfully).
Oh, yes!
SAVERNY.
Let's talk about it.
DIDIER.
Yes!
SAVERNY.
What is it, after all?
DIDIER.
Did you sleep wellLast night?
SAVERNY.
No, badly, for my bed was hard.
DIDIER.
When you are dead, your bed will be much harder,But you will sleep extremely well—that's all.They've made hell splendidly; but by the sideOf life, it's nothing.
SAVERNY.
Good! My fears are gone!But to be hanged! That certainly is bad.
DIDIER.
You're getting death; don't be an egotist.
SAVERNY.
You can be satisfied; but I am not.I'm not afraid of death—that is no boast—When death is death, but on the gallows!
DIDIER.
Well,Death has a thousand forms—gallows are one.That moment is not pleasant when the ropePuts out your life as one puts out a flame,Choking your throat to let your soul fly up;But, after all, what matter? If all's dark,If only all this earth is hidden well,What matter if a tomb lies on one's breast?What matter if the night-winds howl and blowAbout the strings of flesh crows tore from youWhen you were on the gibbet? What care you?
SAVERNY.
You're a philosopher.
DIDIER.
Yes, let them rave.Let vultures tear my flesh, let worms consume,As they consume all, even kings; my bodyIs what's concerned, not I. What do I care?When sepulchers shut down our mortal eye,The soul lifts up the mighty mass of stoneAnd flies away—
[A Councilor enters, preceded and followed by Halberdiers in black.
The same.Councilor of the Great Chamber, in full dress,The Jailer, Guards
THE JAILER (announcing).
The Councilor of the King!
COUNCILOR (salutingSavernyandDidierin turn).
My mission's painful and the law severe—
SAVERNY.
I understand: there is no hope! Speak, sir!
COUNCILOR (unfolds a parchment and reads).
"We, Louis, King of France and of Navarre,Reject appeals made by these men condemned,But moved by pity, change the punishmentAnd order them beheaded."
SAVERNY (joyfully).
God be praised!
COUNCILOR (saluting them once more).
You are to hold yourselves in readiness;It will take place to-day.
[He salutes and prepares to exit.
DIDIER (who has remained in the same thoughtful attitude, toSaverny).
As I was saying,After this death, although the corpse be mangled,Though every limb be stamped with hideous wounds,Though arms be twisted, broken every bone,Though through the mire the body has been dragged,From out that putrid, bleeding, awful fleshThe soul shall rise, unstained, untouched, and pure.
COUNCILOR (coming back, toDidier).
'Tis well to occupy yourselves with suchGreat thoughts.
DIDIER (gently).
Please do not interrupt me, sir.
SAVERNY (gayly toDidier).
No gallows!
DIDIER.
Order of the fête is changed,I know. The Cardinal travels with his headsman,And he must be employed; the ax will rust.
SAVERNY.
You're cool about it, yet the stake is great.[ToThe Councilor.] Thank you for such good news.
COUNCILOR.
I wish 'twere better!Good sir, my zeal—
SAVERNY.
Excuse me. What's the hour?
COUNCILOR.
At nine o'clock to-night.
DIDIER.
I hope the skyWill be as dark as is my soul.
SAVERNY.
The place?
COUNCILOR (indicating the neighboring court).
Here in the court. The Cardinal will come.
[Councilorexits with his escort. The two prisoners remain alone. Day begins to fade. The halberds of the two sentinels, who silently promenade before the breach, are all that can be seen.
DIDIER (solemnly, after a pause).
At this portentous hour we must reflectUpon the fate awaiting us. Our yearsAre equal, though I'm older far than you.It is but just, therefore, that mine should beThe voice to cheer and to exhort you, sinceI am the cause of all your misery.'Twas I who challenged you. You were contentAnd happy: 'twas enough for me to passAcross your life to ruin it. My fatePressed down upon yours 'til it crushed it. Now,Together, we are soon to face the tomb.We'll take each other's hand—
[Sound of hammering.
SAVERNY.
What is that noise?
DIDIER.
It is our scaffold which they're building, orOur coffins they are nailing.[Savernysits on the stone bench.When the hourHas tolled, sometimes the heart of man gives way.Life holds us in a thousand secret ways.[A bell strikes.I think a voice is calling to us. Hark!
[Savernysits on the stone bench.
[A bell strikes.
[Another bell.
SAVERNY.
The hour is striking.
[A third bell.
DIDIER.
Yes, the hour!
[A fourth bell.
SAVERNY.
In chapel!
[Four more bells.
DIDIER.
It is a voice that calls us, just the same.
SAVERNY.
Another hour!
[He leans his elbows on the stone table and drops his head on his hands. The Guard is changed.
DIDIER.
My friend, do not give way!Don't falter on this threshold we must cross.The tomb they're fitting up for us is low,And won't permit the entrance of a head.Let's go to meet them with a fearless tread.The scaffold can afford to shake, not we.They claim our heads; and since no fault is ours,We'll bear them proudly to the fatal block.[ApproachesSaverny, who is motionless.Courage![Touches his arm and finds he is asleep.Asleep! While I've been preaching courageThis man has slept! What is my braveryCompared to his? Sleep on, you who can sleep.My turn will come—provided all things die,That nothing of the heart survives withinThe tomb, to hate what it has loved too much.
[ApproachesSaverny, who is motionless.
[Touches his arm and finds he is asleep.
[It is night. WhileDidierhas become absorbed in his thoughts,MarionandThe Jailerenter through the opening in the wall;The Jailerprecedes her. He carries a dark-lantern and a bundle, both of which he places on the ground, then advances cautiously towardMarion, who has remained standing on the threshold, pale, motionless, half-wild.
[The scenes are mis-numbered in the book and skip from the number IV to the number VI in Act V. (note of etext transcriber)]
The same.Marion,The Jailer
THE JAILER (toMarion.)
Be sure to come at the appointed hour.
[Goes up stage; during the rest of this scene he continues to walk up and down at the back.
MARION (advances with tottering steps as if absorbed in some desperate thought. Every now and then she draws her hand across her face as if to rub off something).
His lips, like red-hot iron, have branded me![Suddenly she discoversDidier, gives a cry, runs and throws herself breathless at his feet.Didier—Didier!
[Suddenly she discoversDidier, gives a cry, runs and throws herself breathless at his feet.
DIDIER (roused with a start).
Here, Marion! My God![Coldly.] 'Tis you?
MARION.
Who should it be? Oh, leave me here—Here at your feet! It is the place I love!Your hands, your dear loved hands, give them—your hands!Oh, they are wounded! Those harsh chains did that.The wretched creatures! But I'm here—you know—Oh, it is terrible! [She weeps; her sobs are audible.
DIDIER.
Why do you weep?
MARION.
Why? Didier, I'm not weeping! No, I laugh![She laughs.We'll soon escape from here! I laugh. I'm happy.You will live; the danger's passed.[She falls again atDidier'sfeet and sobs.My God!All this is killing me! I'm broken—crushed.
[She laughs.
[She falls again atDidier'sfeet and sobs.
DIDIER.
Madame—
MARION (rises, without hearing him, and gets the bundle and brings it to him).
Now hurry! We have not much time!Take this disguise. I've bribed the sentinels.We'll leave Beaugency without being seen.Go down that street, at the wall's end, out there!The Cardinal will come to see them executeHis orders; we can't lose an instant now.The cannon will be fired when he arrives,And we'll be lost if we should still be here.
DIDIER.
'Tis well!
MARION.
Quick! hurry! Didier, you are saved!To be free! Didier, how I love you—God!
DIDIER.
You say a street where the wall ends?
MARION.
I do.I saw it. I've been there. It is quite safe.I saw them close up the last window, too.It may be we shall meet some women, butThey'll think you're just a passer-by. Come, love;When you are far off—please put on these things—We'll laugh to see you thus disguised. Come, dear!
DIDIER (pushing the clothes aside with his foot).
There is no hurry.
MARION.
Death waits at the door.Fly! Didier! Since I've come!
DIDIER.
Why did you come?
MARION.
To save you! What a question to ask me!Why such a freezing tone?
DIDIER (with a sad smile).
Ah, well! We menAre often senseless.
MARION.
We are losing time.The horses wait. What you have in your mind,You'll tell me afterward. We must fly now.
DIDIER.
Who is that man there watching us?
MARION.
The jailer.He's safe; I bribed him, as I did the guard.Do you suspect them? You have such an air.
DIDIER.
It's nothing. We're so easily deceived.
MARION.
Come! Each lost moment chills me to the heart.I seem to hear the tread of that great crowd.Hasten, my Didier—on my knees—oh, fly!
DIDIER (indicatingSaverny, asleep).
Tell me which one of us you want to save.
MARION (overcome for a moment).
[Aside.] Gaspard is generous: he would not tell.[Aloud.] Does Didier speak to his beloved thus?My Didier, what have you against me?
DIDIER.
Naught.Lift up your face and look me in the eyes.[Marion, trembling, fixes her eyes on him.It is a perfect likeness! Yes.
[Marion, trembling, fixes her eyes on him.
MARION.
My love,I worship you, but come!
DIDIER.
Don't turn away![He looks at her fixedly.
[He looks at her fixedly.
MARION (terrified at his look).
[Aside.] The kisses of that man, he sees them! God![Aloud.] You have a secret, something against me!It hurts you! Tell me all about it, dear.You know we often make things worse by thinking,And too late find it out; then we regret.I had my share in all your thoughts, love, once!Speak, are those days for evermore gone by?Do you not love me now? Have you forgotMy little room at Blois? Forgotten howWe loved each other, till the world was lost?Sometimes you grew uneasy; then I said,"If any one should see him!" Oh, 'twas fine!But one day has destroyed it all. You've saidA thousand times, in words that burned my soul,I was your love, I knew your secrets, ICould make you anything I chose. What haveI ever asked? I've always thought with you!This time, oh, yield to me! It is your lifeI'm pleading for. My Didier, hark to me.Alive or dead, I swear to follow you.All things with you, love, will be sweet to me—To fly, or die upon the scaffold. What!You push me back? You shall not! Leave your hand,I want it. My poor brow, it does no harmTo rest it on your knees. I am so tired;I ran so fast to come! What would they say,The people I knew once, to see me now?I was so gay, so merry; now I weep!What is it that you have against me? Speak!Oh, shame! You must let me lie at your feet.It's very cruel of you not to sayOne single word. When we have thoughts, we speak!'Twould be more merciful to stab me, love!See, I have dried my tears, and I am smiling.You smile too. Oh, if you don't smile at me,I will not love you! I have always doneJust what you wanted; now it is your turn.These chains are what have chilled your soul. Love, smileAnd speak to me, and say "Marie."
DIDIER.
"Marie"Or "Marion"?
MARION (falls annihilated at his feet).
Didier, be merciful!
DIDIER (with terrible tone).
Here, no one finds an entrance easily.Prisons of state are guarded night and day,The doors are iron, walls twenty cubits high;To open these remorseless doors, madame,To whom here did you prostitute yourself?
MARION.
Who told you?
DIDIER.
No one; but I understand.
MARION.
Didier, I swear by every hope divineIt was to save you, tear you from this place;To melt the executioner—to save you—Don't you hear?
DIDIER (folding his arms).
I thank you! To descendAs low as that! To have no shame, no soul!Oh, madame! can one be so infamous?[Crossing the court with a great cry of rage.Who is this trader in disgrace and vice,Who puts a price like that upon my head?Where is the jailer, where the judge, the man?—That I may crush him as I crush this thing.[He is about to break the portrait in his hands, but he stops, and beside himself, continues.The judge? Yes, gentlemen, make laws and judge!What matters it to me if the false weightWhich swings your vile scales to this side or thatBe made of woman's honor or man's life?[ToMarion.] Go to your lover!
[Crossing the court with a great cry of rage.
[He is about to break the portrait in his hands, but he stops, and beside himself, continues.
MARION.
Do not treat me thus!Another word of scorn and I fall deadHere at your feet. If ever love was trueAnd strong and pure, mine was. If any manWas ever worshiped by a woman, youHave been by me.
DIDIER.
Hush! Do not speak! I might,For sorrow, have been born a woman too.I might have been as infamous as you.I might have sold myself, have given my breastTo any passer-by, as place for rest.But if there came to me, in his frank way,An honest man, filled with the love of truth,If I had met a heart insane enoughTo keep its vain illusions all these years,Oh, sooner than not tell that honest man"I'm this," sooner than charm and dazzle him,Sooner than fail to warn him that my eyesSo candid and my lips so pure were lies,Sooner than be perfidious and base like that,I'd want to dig my grave with my own hands.
MARION.
O God!
DIDIER.
How you would laugh if you could seeThe picture that my heart painted of you!How wise you were to shatter it, madame!There you were chaste and beautiful and pure!What injury has this poor man done you,Who loved you on his bended knees?[Presenting portrait to her.PerhapsThis is a fitting time to give you backThis pledge of love ardent and true.
[Presenting portrait to her.
MARION (turning away with a cry).
Oh, shame!
DIDIER.
Did you not have it painted just for me?
[He laughs, and dashes the locket to the ground.
MARION.
Will some one, out of pity, kill me now?
THE JAILER.
Time's passing.
MARION.
Yes, it flies; and we are lost.Didier, I've not the right to say a single word.I am a woman to whom naught is due.You have rebuked and cursed me: you did well!I merit still more hate and shame. You've beenToo kind; my broken, bruised heart is grateful.But the remorseless hour draws near. Away!The headsman you forget, remembers you.I've planned it all. You can escape. Now, listen—My God! do not refuse. You know how muchIt costs me. Hate me, strike me, curse me, leaveMe to my shame, disown me, walk uponMy bleeding heart—but fly!
DIDIER.
Fly where? From whom?There's naught but you to fly from in this world;And I escape you, for the grave is deep.
THE JAILER.
The hour is passing.
MARION.
O my Didier, fly!
DIDIER.
I will not!
MARION.
Just for pity!
DIDIER.
Pity! why?
MARION.