The Stepmother, A Drama in Five Acts. Honore de Balzac
image. Pauline is a pearl, a jewel; she has never left this home; she is as pure and innocent as she was in her cradle.
Godard
General, let me admit that Mlle. Pauline is beautiful!
The General
I am quite sure of that.
Godard She is very beautiful; but there are numbers of beautiful girls in Normandy, some of them very rich, much richer than she is. Well now, you'll scarcely believe how the mothers and fathers of these heiresses run after me! It is scarcely decent. But it amuses me immensely; I visit their chateaus; they overwhelm me with attentions —
The General
I said he was conceited!
Godard Oh, I am quite aware that it is not for my sake! I don't delude myself as to that; it is for my unmortgaged pastures; for my savings, and for my habit of living within my income. Do you know what it is that makes me seek an alliance with you above all others?
The General
No.
Godard
There are certain rich would-be fathers-in-law who promise to obtain from his Majesty a decree, by which I shall be created Comte de
Rimonville and Peer of France.
The General
You?
Godard
Yes, I.
The General Have you won any battles? Have you saved your country? Have you added to its glory? This is pitiful!
Godard Pitiful? (Aside) What shall I say? (Aloud) We differ in our views on this subject, but do you know why I prefer your adorable Pauline?
The General
I suppose it is because you love her.
Godard That is a matter of course; but it is also on account of the harmony, the tranquillity, the happiness which reign here! It is so delightful to enter a family of high honor, of pure, sincere, patriarchal manners! I am a man of observation.
The General
That is to say, you are inquisitive.
Godard Curiosity, General, is the mother of observation. I know the seamy side of the whole department.
The General
Really?
Godard Yes, really! In all the families of which I have spoken to you, I have seen some shabbiness or other. The public sees the decent exterior of irreproachable mothers of family, of charming young persons, of good fathers, of model uncles; they are admitted to the sacrament without confession, they are entrusted with the investments of others. But just learn their inner side, and it is enough to startle a police magistrate.
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.
SCENE FOURTH
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