Act 3

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_ ACT III

SCENE FIRST.
(A room in the house of Raoul de Frescas.)

LAFOURAILLE (alone) Would my late excellent father, who advised me to frequent none but the best society, have been satisfied with me yesterday? I spent all night with ministers' valets, attendants of the embassy, princes', dukes', peers' coachmen--none but these, all reliable men, in good luck; they steal only from their masters. My master danced with a fine chit of a girl whose hair was powdered with a million's worth of diamonds, and he had no eyes for anything but the bouquet she carried in her hand; simple young man, we sympathize with you. Old Jacques Collin--Botheration! There I trip again, I cannot reconcile myself to this common name--I mean Monsieur Vautrin, will arrange all that. In a little time diamonds and dowry will take an airing, and they have need of it; to think of them as always in the same strong boxes! 'Tis against the laws of circulation. What a joker he is!--He sets you up as a young man of means. He is so kind, he talks so finely, the heiress comes in, the trick is done, and we all cry shares! The money will have been well earned. You see we have been here six months. Haven't we put on the look of idiots! Everybody in the neighborhood takes us for good simple folk. And who would refuse to do anything for Vautrin? He said to us: "Be virtuous," and virtuous we became. I fear him as I fear the police, and yet I love him even more than money.

VAUTRIN. (calling from outside) Lafouraille!

LAFOURAILLE There he is! I haven't seen his face this morning--that means a storm; I prefer it should fall upon some one else, and will get out. (He starts to the door but encounters Vautrin.)

 

SCENE SECOND.
[Vautrin and Lafouraille. Vautrin is dressed in long white duck trousers and a waistcoat of the same material, slippers of red morocco,--the morning dress of a
business man.]

VAUTRIN. Lafouraille.

LAFOURAILLE Sir?

VAUTRIN. Where are you going?

LAFOURAILLE To get your letters.

VAUTRIN. I have them. Have you anything else to do?

LAFOURAILLE Yes, your chamber--

VAUTRIN. In so many words you want to avoid me. I have always found that restless legs never go with a quiet conscience. Stay where you are. I want to talk with you.

LAFOURAILLE I am at your service.

VAUTRIN. I hope you are. Come here. You told us, under the fair sky of Provence, a certain story which was little to your credit. A steward beat you at play; do you recollect?

LAFOURAILLE A steward? Yes, that fellow Charles Blondet, the only man who ever robbed me! Can a fellow forget that?

VAUTRIN. Had you not on one occasion sold your master to him? That's common enough.

LAFOURAILLE On one occasion? I sold him three times over.

VAUTRIN. That was better. And what business was the steward then engaged in?

LAFOURAILLE I was going to tell you. I was footman at eighteen with the De Langeacs--

VAUTRIN. I thought it was in the Duc de Montsorel's house.

LAFOURAILLE No; the duke, fortunately, has only twice set eyes on me, and has, I hope, forgotten me.

VAUTRIN. Did you rob him?

LAFOURAILLE Well, to some small extent.

VAUTRIN. Why do you want him to forget you?

LAFOURAILLE Because, after seeing him again, yesterday, at the embassy, I should then feel safe.

VAUTRIN. And it is the same man?

LAFOURAILLE We are both older by twenty-five years, and that is the only difference.

VAUTRIN. Tell me all about him. I knew I had heard you mention his name. Go on.

LAFOURAILLE The Vicomte de Langeac, one of my masters, and this Duc de Montsorel were like peas in the same pod. When I was forced to choose between the nobles and the people, I did not hesitate; from a mere footman, I became a citizen, and citizen Philip Boulard was an earnest worker. I had enthusiasm, and acquired influence in the faubourg.

VAUTRIN. And so you have been a politician, have you?

LAFOURAILLE Not for long. I did a pretty thing, and that ruined me.

VAUTRIN. Aha! My boy, pretty things are like pretty women--better light shy of them; they often bring trouble. What was this pretty thing?

LAFOURAILLE I'll tell you. In the scrimmage of the Tenth of August, the duke confided to my care the Vicomte de Langeac; I disguised and hid him, I gave him food at the risk of my popularity and my life. The duke had greatly encouraged me by such trifles as a thousand gold pieces, and that Blondet had the infamy to offer me a bigger pile to give up our young master.

VAUTRIN. Did you give him up?

LAFOURAILLE Immediately. He was jugged in the Abbaye, and I became the happy possessor of sixty good thousands of francs in gold, in real gold.

VAUTRIN. And what has this to do with the Duc de Montsorel?

LAFOURAILLE Wait a little. When the days of September came, my conduct seemed to me slightly reprehensible; and to quiet my conscience, I determined to propose to the duke, who was leaving the country that I should rescue his friend.

VAUTRIN. Did your remorse prove a good investment?

LAFOURAILLE That it did; for it was rare in those days! The duke promised me twenty thousand francs if I delivered the viscount from the hands of my comrades, and I succeeded in doing so.

VAUTRIN. Twenty thousand francs for a viscount!

LAFOURAILLE And he was all the more worth it, because he was the last. I found that out too late. The steward had disposed of all the other Langeacs, even to the poor grandmother whom he had sent to the Carmelites.

VAUTRIN. That was good!

LAFOURAILLE But then something else happened. That Blondet heard of my devotion, he traced me out and found me in the neighborhood of Mortagne, where my master was at the house of one of my uncles waiting for a chance to reach the sea. The noodle offered me as much money as he had already given me. I saw before me an honest life for the rest of my days; and I was weak. My friend Blondet caused the viscount to be shot as a spy; and my uncle and myself were imprisoned as his accomplices. We were not released until I had disgorged all my gold.

VAUTRIN. That is the way a knowledge of the human heart is acquired. You were dealing with a stronger man than yourself.

LAFOURAILLE That remains to be seen; for I am still alive.

VAUTRIN. Enough of that! There is nothing of use to me in your tale.

LAFOURAILLE Can I go now?

VAUTRIN. Come, come. You seem to experience a keen longing to be where I am not. But you went into society yesterday; did you do anything?

LAFOURAILLE The servants said such funny things about their masters, that I could not leave the antechamber.

VAUTRIN. Yet I saw you nibbling at the sideboard; what did you take?

LAFOURAILLE Nothing--but stay--I took a wineglass of Madeira.

VAUTRIN. What did you do with the dozen of gold spoons that went with the glass of Madeira?

LAFOURAILLE Gold spoons! I've searched diligently, but find nothing of that kind in my memory.

VAUTRIN. Possibly; but you will find them in your mattress. And was Philosopher also absent-minded?

LAFOURAILLE Poor Philosopher! Since morning he has been a laughing-stock below stairs. He induced a coachman who was very young to strip off his gold lace for him. It was all false on the underside. In these days masters are thieves. You cannot be sure of anything, more's the pity.

VAUTRIN. (whistles) This is no joking matter. You will make me lose the house: this must be put a stop to--Here, father Buteux, ahoy! Philosopher! Come here. Fil-de-Soie! My dear friends, let us have a clearing up. You are a pack of scoundrels.

 

SCENE THIRD.
[The same persons, Buteux, Philosopher and Fil-de-Soie.]

BUTEUX. Present! Is the house on fire?

FIL-DE-SOIE. Is it some one burning with curiosity?

BUTEUX. A fire would be better, for it can be put out.

PHILOSOPHER. But the other can be choked.

LAFOURAILLE Bah! He has had enough of this trifling.

BUTEUX. So we are to have more moralizing--thank you for that.

FIL-DE-SOIE. He cannot want me for I have not been out.

VAUTRIN. (to Fil-de-Soie) You? The evening when I bade you exchange your scullion's cap for a footman's hat--poisoner--

FIL-DE-SOIE. We will drop the extra names.

VAUTRIN. And you accompanied me as my footman to the field marshal's; while helping me on with my cloak, you stole the watch of the Cossack prince.

FIL-DE-SOIE. One of the enemies of France.

VAUTRIN. You, Buteux, you old malefactor, carried off the opera-glass of the Princesse d'Arjos the evening she set down your young master at our gate.

BUTEUX. It dropped on the carriage step.

VAUTRIN. You should have respectfully handed it back to her; but the gold and the pearls appealed to your tigerish talons.

LAFOURAILLE Now, now, surely people can have a little fun? Devil take it! Did not you, Jacques--

VAUTRIN. What do you mean?

LAFOURAILLE Did not you, Monsieur Vautrin, require thirty thousand francs that this young man might live in princely style? We succeeded in satisfying you in the fashion of foreign governments, by borrowing, and getting credit. All those who come to ask for me leave some with us. And you are not satisfied.

FIL-DE-SOIE. And if, when I am sent to buy provisions without a sou, I may not be allowed to bring back some cash with me,--I might as well send in my resignation.

PHILOSOPHER. And didn't I sell our custom to four different coach-builders--5,000 francs each clip--and the man who got the order lost all? One evening Monsieur de Frescas starts off from home with wretched screws, and we bring him back, Lafouraille and I, with a span worth ten thousand francs, which have cost him only twenty glasses of brandy.

LAFOURAILLE No, it was Kirchenwasser.

PHILOSOPHER. Yes, and yet you fly into a rage--

FIL-DE-SOIE. How are you going to keep house now?

VAUTRIN. Do you expect to do things of this kind for long? What I have permitted in order to set up our establishment, from this day forth I forbid. You wish, I suppose, to descend from robbery to swindling? If you do not understand what I say I will look out for better servants.

BUTEUX. And where will you find them?

LAFOURAILLE Let him hunt for them!

VAUTRIN. You forget, I see, that I have pledged myself to save your necks! Dear, dear, do you think I have sifted you, like seeds in a colander, through three different places of residence, to let you hover round a gibbet, like flies round a candle? I wish you to know that any imprudence that brings you to such a position, is, to men of my stamp, a crime. You ought to appear as supremely innocent as you, Philosopher, appeared to him who let you rip off his lace. Never forget the part you are playing; you are honest fellows, faithful domestics, and adore Raoul de Frescas, your master.

BUTEUX. Do you take this young man for a god? You have harnessed us to his car; but we know him no better than he knows us.

PHILOSOPHER. Tell me, is he one of our kind?

FIL-DE-SOIE. What is he going to bring us to?

LAFOURAILLE We obey on condition that the Society of the Ten Thousand be reconstituted, so that never less than ten thousand francs at a time be assigned to us; at present we have not any funds in common.

FIL-DE-SOIE. When are we all to be capitalists?

BUTEUX. If the gang knew that for the last six months I have been disguising myself as an old porter, without any object, I should be disgraced. If I am willing to risk my neck, it is that I may give bread to my Adele, whom you have forbidden me to see, and who for six months must have been as dry as a match.

LAFOURAILLE (to the other two) She is in prison. Poor man! Let us spare his feelings.

VAUTRIN. Have you finished? Come now, you have made merry here for six months, eaten like diplomats, drunk like Poles, and have wanted nothing.

BUTEUX. Yes, we are rusting out!

VAUTRIN. Thanks to me, the police have forgotten you! You owe your good luck to me alone! I have erased the brand from your foreheads. I am the head, whose ideas you, the arms, carry out.

PHILOSOPHER. We are satisfied.

VAUTRIN. You must all obey me blindly.

LAFOURAILLE Blindly.

VAUTRIN. Without a murmur.

FIL-DE-SOIE. Without a murmur.

VAUTRIN. Or else let us break our compact, and be off with you! If I meet with ingratitude from you, to whom can I venture hereafter to do a service?

PHILOSOPHER. To no one, my emperor.

LAFOURAILLE I should rather say, our great teacher!

BUTEUX. I love you more than I love Adele.

FIL-DE-SOIE. We worship you.

VAUTRIN. If necessary, I shall even have to beat you.

PHILOSOPHER. We'll take it without a murmur.

VAUTRIN. To spit in your face; to bowl over your lives like a row of skittles.

BUTEUX. But I bowl over with a knife.

VAUTRIN. Very well--Kill me this instant.

BUTEUX. It is no use being vexed with this man. Do you wish me to restore the opera-glass? I intended it for Adele!

All (surrounding Vautrin Would you abandon us, Vautrin?

LAFOURAILLE Vautrin! Our friend.

PHILOSOPHER. Mighty Vautrin!

FIL-DE-SOIE. Our old companion, deal with us as you will.

VAUTRIN. Yes, and I can deal with you as I will. When I think what trouble you make, in your trinket-stealing, I feel inclined to send you back to the place I took you from. You are either above or below the level of society, dregs or foam; but I desire to make you enter into society. People used to hoot you as you went by. I wish them to bow to you; you were once the basest of mankind, I wish you to be more than honest men.

PHILOSOPHER. Is there such a class?

BUTEUX. There are those who are nothing at all.

VAUTRIN. There are those who decide upon the honesty of others. You will never be honest burgesses, you must belong either to the wretched or the rich; you must therefore master one-half of the world! Take a bath of gold, and you will come forth from it virtuous!

FIL-DE-SOIE. To think, that, when I have need of nothing, I shall be a good prince!

VAUTRIN. Of course. And you, Lafouraille, you can become Count of Saint Helena; and what would you like to be, Buteux?

BUTEUX. I should like to be a philanthropist, for the philanthropist always becomes a millionaire.

PHILOSOPHER. And I, a banker.

FIL-DE-SOIE. He wishes to be a licensed professional.

VAUTRIN. Show yourselves then, according as occasion demands it, blind and clear-sighted, adroit and clumsy, stupid and clever, like all those who make their fortune. Never judge me, and try to understand my meaning. You ask who Raoul de Frescas is? I will explain to you; he will soon have an income of twelve hundred thousand francs. He will be a prince. And I picked him up when he was begging on the high road, and ready to become a drummer-boy; in his twelfth year he had neither name nor family; he came from Sardinia, where he must have got into some trouble, for he was a fugitive from justice.

BUTEUX. Oh, now that we know his antecedents and his social position--

VAUTRIN. Be off to your lodge!

BUTEUX. Little Nini, daughter of Giroflee is there--

VAUTRIN. She may let a spy pass in.

BUTEUX. She! She is a little cat to whom it is not necessary to point out the stool-pigeons.

VAUTRIN. You may judge my power from what I am in process of doing for Raoul. Ought he not to be preferred before all? Raoul de Frescas is a young man who has remained pure as an angel in the midst of our mire-pit; he is our conscience; moreover, he is my creation; I am at once his father, his mother, and I desire to be his guiding providence. I, who can never know happiness, still delight in making other people happy. I breathe through his lips, I live in his life, his passions are my own; and it is impossible for me to know noble and pure emotions excepting in the heart of this being unsoiled by crime. You have your fancies, here I show you mine. In exchange for the blight which society has brought upon me, I give it a man of honor, and enter upon a struggle with destiny; do you wish to be of my party? Obey me.

ALL In life, and death--

VAUTRIN. (aside) So my savage beasts are once more brought to submission. (Aloud) Philosopher, try to put on the air, the face, the costume of an _employe_ of the lost goods bureau, and take back to the embassy the plate borrowed by Lafouraille. (To Fil-de-Soie) You, Fil-de-Soie, must prepare a sumptuous dinner, as Monsieur de Frescas is to entertain a few friends. You will afterwards dress yourself as a respectable man, and assume the air of a lawyer. You will go to number six, Rue Oblin, ring seven times at the fourth-story door, and ask for Pere Giroflee. When they ask where you come from, you will answer from a seaport in Bohemia. They will let you in. I want certain letters and papers of the Duc de Christoval; here are the text and patterns. I want an absolute fac-simile, with the briefest possible delay. Lafouraille, you must go and insert a few lines in the newspapers, notifying the arrival of . . . (He whispers into his ear.) This forms part of my plan. Now leave me.

LAFOURAILLE Well, are you satisfied?

VAUTRIN. Yes.

PHILOSOPHER. You want nothing more of us?

VAUTRIN. Nothing.

FIL-DE-SOIE. There will be no more rebellion; every one will be good.

BUTEUX. Let your mind rest easy; we are going to be not only polite, but honest.

VAUTRIN. That is right, boys; a little integrity, a great deal of address, and you will be respected.

(Exeunt all except Vautrin.)

 

SCENE FOURTH.

VAUTRIN. (alone) In order to lead them it is only necessary to let them think they have an honorable future. They have no future, no prospects! Pshaw! If generals took their soldiers seriously, not a cannon would be fired! In a few days, following upon years of subterranean labors, I shall have won for Raoul a commanding position; it must be made sure to him. Lafouraille and Philosopher will be necessary to me in the country where I am to give him a family. Ah, this love! It has put out of the question the life I had destined him to. I wished to win for him a solitary glory, to see him conquering for me and under my direction, the world which I am forbidden to enter. Raoul is not only the child of my intellect and of my malice, he is also my instrument of revenge. These fellows of mine cannot understand these sentiments; they are happy; they have never fallen, not they! They were born criminals. But I have attempted to raise myself. Yet though a man can raise himself in the eyes of God, he can never do so in the eyes of the world. People tell you to repent, and then refuse to pardon. Men possess in their dealings with each other the instincts of savage animals. Once wounded, one is down-trodden by his fellows. Moreover, to ask the protection of a world whose laws you have trampled under foot is like returning to a house which you have burnt and whose roof would fall and crush you. I have well polished and perfected the magnetic instrument of my domination. Raoul was brave, he would have sacrificed his life, like a fool; I had to make him cold and domineering, and to dispel from his mind, one by one, his exalted ideas of life; to render him suspicious and tricky as--an old bill-broker, while all the while he knew not who I was. And at this moment love has broken down the whole scaffolding. He should have been great; now, he can only be happy. I shall therefore retire to live in a corner at the height of his prosperity; his happiness will have been my work. For two days I have been asking myself whether it would not be better that the Princesse d'Arjos should die of some ailment--say brain fever. It's singular how many plans a woman can upset!

 

SCENE FIFTH.
[Vautrin and Lafouraille.]

VAUTRIN. What is the matter? Cannot I be alone one moment? Did I call?

LAFOURAILLE We are likely to feel the claws of justice scratch our shoulders.

VAUTRIN. What new blunder have you committed?

LAFOURAILLE The fact is little Nini has admitted a well-dressed gentleman who asks to see you. Buteux is whistling the air, _There's No Place Like Home_, so it must be a sleuth.

VAUTRIN. Nothing of the kind, I know who it is; tell him to wait. Everybody in arms! Vautrin must then vanish; I will be the Baron de Vieux-Chene. Speak in a German account, fool him well, until I can play the master stroke. (Exit.)

 

SCENE SIXTH.
[Lafouraille and Saint-Charles.]

LAFOURAILLE (speaking with a German accent) M. de Frescas is not at home, sir, and his steward, the Baron de Vieux-Chene, is engaged with an architect, who is to build a grand house for my master.

SAINT-CHARLES. I beg your pardon, my dear sir, you said--

LAFOURAILLE I said Baron de Vieux-Chene.

SAINT-CHARLES. Baron!

LAFOURAILLE Yes! Yes!

SAINT-CHARLES. He is a baron?

LAFOURAILLE Baron de Vieux-Chene.

SAINT-CHARLES. You are a German.

LAFOURAILLE Not I! Not I! I am an Alsatian, a very different thing.

SAINT-CHARLES. (aside) This man has certainly an accent too decidedly German to be a Parisian.

LAFOURAILLE (aside) I know this man well. Here's a go!

SAINT-CHARLES. If the baron is busy, I will wait.

LAFOURAILLE (aside) Ah! Blondet, my beauty, you can disguise your face, but not your voice; if you get out of our clutches now, you will be a wonder. (Aloud) What shall I tell the baron brings you here? (He makes as if to go out.)

SAINT-CHARLES. Stay a moment, my friend; you speak German, I speak French, we may misunderstand one another. (Puts a purse into his hand.) There can be no mistake with this for an interpreter.

LAFOURAILLE No, sir.

SAINT-CHARLES. That is merely on account.

LAFOURAILLE (aside) Yes, on account of my eighty thousand francs. (Aloud) And do you wish me to shadow my master?

SAINT-CHARLES. No, my friend, I merely ask for some information, which cannot compromise you.

LAFOURAILLE In good German we call that spying.

SAINT-CHARLES. But no--that is not it--it is--

LAFOURAILLE To shadow him. And what shall I say to his lordship the baron?

SAINT-CHARLES. Announce the Chevalier de Saint-Charles.

LAFOURAILLE We understand each other. I will induce him to see you. But do not offer money to the steward; he is more honest than the rest of us. (He gives a sly wink.)

SAINT-CHARLES. That means he will cost more.

LAFOURAILLE Yes, sir. (Exit.)

 

 

SCENE SEVENTH.

SAINT-CHARLES. (alone) A bad beginning! Ten louis thrown away. To shadow him indeed! It is too stupid not to have a spice of wit in it, this habit of calling things by their right name, at the outset. If the pretended steward, for there is no steward here, if the baron is as clever as his footman, I shall have nothing to base my information on, excepting what they conceal from me. This room is very fine. There is neither portrait of the king, nor emblem of royalty here. Well, it is plain they do not frame their opinions. Is the furniture suggestive of anything? No. It is too new to have been even paid for. But for the air which the porter whistled, doubtless a signal, I should be inclined to believe in the De Frescas people.

 

SCENE EIGHTH.
[Saint-Charles, Vautrin and Lafouraille.]

(Vautrin wears a bright maroon coat, of old-fashioned cut, with large heavy buttons; his breeches are black silk, as are his stockings. His shoes have gold buckles, his waistcoat is flowered, he wears two watch-chains, his cravat belongs to the time of the Revolution; his wig is white, his face old, keen, withered, dissipated looking. He speaks low, and his voice is cracked.)

VAUTRIN. (to Lafouraille) Very good; you may go. (Exit Lafouraille. Aside) Now for the tug of war, Monsieur Blondet. (Aloud) I am at your service, sir.

SAINT-CHARLES. (aside) A worn out fox is still dangerous. (Aloud) Excuse me, baron, for disturbing you, while yet unknown to you.

VAUTRIN. I can guess what your business is.

SAINT-CHARLES. (aside) Indeed?

VAUTRIN. You are an architect, and have a proposal to make to me; but I have already received most excellent offers.

SAINT-CHARLES. Excuse me, your Dutchman must have mispronounced my name. I am the Chevalier de Saint-Charles.

VAUTRIN. (raising his spectacles) Let me see--we are old acquaintances. You were at the Congress of Vienna, and then bore the name of Count of Gorcum--a fine name!

SAINT-CHARLES. (aside) Go choke yourself, old man! (Aloud) So you were there also?

VAUTRIN. I should think so! And I am glad to have come upon you again. You were a deuced clever fellow, you know. How you fooled them all!

SAINT-CHARLES. (aside) We'll stick to Vienna, then. (Aloud) Ah, baron! I recall you perfectly now; you also steered your bark pretty cleverly there.

VAUTRIN. Of course I did, and what women we had there! Yes, indeed! And have you still your fair Italian?

SAINT-CHARLES. Did you know her? She was a woman of such tact.

VAUTRIN. My dear fellow, wasn't she, though? She actually wanted to find out who I was.

SAINT-CHARLES. And did she find out?

VAUTRIN. Well, my dear friend, I know you will be glad to hear it, she discovered nothing.

SAINT-CHARLES. Come, baron, since we are speaking freely to each other to-day, I for my part must confess that your admirable Pole--

VAUTRIN. You also had the pleasure?

SAINT-CHARLES. On my honor, yes!

VAUTRIN. (laughing) Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Saint Charles (laughing) Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

VAUTRIN. We can safely laugh now, for I suppose you left her there?

SAINT-CHARLES. Immediately, as you did. I see that we are both come to throw away our money in Paris, and we have done well; but it seems to me, baron, that you have accepted a very secondary position, though one which attracts notice.

VAUTRIN. Ah! thank you, chevalier. I hope, however, we may still be friends for many a day.

SAINT-CHARLES. Forever, I hope.

VAUTRIN. You can be extremely useful to me, I can be of immense service to you, we understand each other! Let me know what your present business is, and I will tell you mine.

SAINT-CHARLES. (aside) I should like to know whether he is being set on me, or I on him.

VAUTRIN. (aside) It is going to be a somewhat slow business.

SAINT-CHARLES. I will tell you.

VAUTRIN. I am attention!

SAINT-CHARLES. Baron, between ourselves, I admire you immensely.

VAUTRIN. What a compliment from a man like you!

SAINT-CHARLES. Not at all! To create a De Frescas in the face of all Paris shows an inventive genius which transcends by a thousand points that of our countesses at the Congress. You are angling for the dowry with rare nerve.

VAUTRIN. I angling for a dowry?

SAINT-CHARLES. But, my dear friend, you would be found out, unless I your friend had been the man chosen to watch you, for I am appointed your shadower by a very high authority. Permit me also to ask how can you dare to interfere with the family of Montsorel in their pursuit of an heiress?

VAUTRIN. To think that I innocently believed you came to propose we should work in company, and speculate, both of us, with the money of Monsieur de Frescas, of which I have entire control--and here you talk to me of something entirely different! Frescas, my good friend, is one of the legal titles of this young man, who has seven in all. Stringent reasons prevent him from revealing the name of his family, which I know, for the next twenty-four hours. Their property is vast, I have seen their estate, from which I am just returned. I do not mind being taken by you for a rogue, for there is no disgrace in the vast sums at stake; but to be taken for an imbecile, capable of dancing attendance on a sham nobleman, and so silly as to defy the Montsorels on behalf of a counterfeit--Really, my friend, it would seem that you have never been to Vienna! We are not in the same class!

SAINT-CHARLES. Do not grow angry, worthy steward! Let us leave off entangling ourselves in a web of lies more or less agreeable; you cannot expect to make me swallow any more of them. Our cash box is better furnished than yours, therefore come over to us. Your young man is as much Frescas as I am chevalier and you baron. You picked him up on the frontier of Italy; he was then a vagabond, to-day he is an adventurer, and that's the whole truth of it.

VAUTRIN. You are right. We must leave off entangling ourselves in the web of falsehoods more or less agreeable; we must speak the truth.

SAINT-CHARLES. I will pay you for it.

VAUTRIN. I will give it you for nothing. You are an infamous cur, my friend. Your name is Charles Blondet; you were steward in the household of De Langeac; twice have you bought the betrayal of the viscount, and never have you paid the money--it is shameful! You owe eighty thousand francs to one of my footmen. You caused the viscount to be shot at Mortagne in order that you might appropriate the property entrusted to you by the family. If the Duc de Montsorel, who sent you here, knew who you are, ha! ha! He would make you settle some old accounts! Take off your moustache, your whiskers, your wig, your sham decorations and your badges of foreign orders. (He tears off from him his wig, his whiskers and decorations.) Good day, you rascal! How did you manage to eat up a fortune so cleverly won? It was colossal; how did you lose it?

SAINT-CHARLES. Through ill-luck.

VAUTRIN. I understand. . . . What are you going to do now?

SAINT-CHARLES. Whoever you are, stop there; I surrender, I haven't a chance left! You are either the devil or Jacques Collin!

VAUTRIN. I am and wish to be nothing but the Baron de Vieux-Chene to you. Listen to my ultimatum. I can cause you to be buried this instant in one of my cellars, and no one will inquire for you.

SAINT-CHARLES. I know it.

VAUTRIN. It would be prudent to do so. But are you willing to do for me in Montsorel's house, what Montsorel sent you to do here?

SAINT-CHARLES. I accept the offer; but what are the profits?

VAUTRIN. All you can take.

SAINT-CHARLES. From either party?

VAUTRIN. Certainly! You will send me by the person who accompanies you back all the deeds that relate to the De Langeac family; they must still be in your possession. In case Monsieur de Frescas marries Mademoiselle de Christoval, you cannot be their steward, but you shall receive a hundred thousand francs. You are dealing with exacting masters. Walk straight, and they will not betray you.

SAINT-CHARLES. It is a bargain!

VAUTRIN. I will not ratify it until I have the documents in hand. Until then, be careful! (He rings; all the household come in.) Attend Monsieur le Chevalier home, with all the respect due his high rank. (To Saint-Charles, pointing out to him Philosopher) This man will accompany you. (To Philosopher) Do not leave him.

SAINT-CHARLES. (aside) Once I get safe and sound out of their clutches, I will come down heavy on this nest of thieves.

VAUTRIN. Monsieur le Chevalier, I am yours to command!

 

SCENE NINTH.
[Vautrin and Lafouraille.]

LAFOURAILLE M. Vautrin!

VAUTRIN. Well?

LAFOURAILLE Are you letting him go?

VAUTRIN. Unless he considers himself at liberty, what can we hope to learn from him? I have given my instructions; he will be taught not to put ropes in the way of hangmen. When Philosopher brings for me the documents which this fellow is to hand him, they will be given to me, wherever I happen to be.

LAFOURAILLE But afterwards, will you spare his life?

VAUTRIN. You are always a little premature, my dear. Have you forgotten how seriously the dead interfere with the peace of the living? Hush! I hear Raoul--leave us to ourselves.

 

SCENE TENTH.
[Vautrin and Raoul de Frescas.]

RAOUL. (soliloquizing) After a glimpse of heaven, still to remain on earth--such is my fate! I am a lost man; Vautrin, an infernal yet a kindly genius, a man who knows everything, and seems able to do everything, a man as harsh to others as he is good to me, a man who is inexplicable except by a supposition of witchcraft, a maternal providence if I may so call him, is not after all the providence divine. (Vautrin enters wearing a plain black peruke, a blue coat, gray pantaloons, a black waistcoat, the costume of a stock-broker.) Oh! I know what love is; but I did not know what revenge was, until I felt I could not die before I had wreaked my vengeance on these two Montsorels.

VAUTRIN. (aside) He is in trouble. (Aloud) Raoul, my son, what ails you?

RAOUL. Nothing ails me. Pray leave me.

VAUTRIN. Do you again repulse me? You abuse the right you have to ill-treat a friend--What are you thinking about?

RAOUL. Nothing.

VAUTRIN. Nothing? Come, sir, do you think that he who has taught you that English coldness, under the veil of which men of worth would conceal their feelings, was not aware of the transparency which belongs to this cuirass of pride? Try concealment with others, but not with me. Dissimulation is more than a blunder, for in friendship a blunder is a crime.

RAOUL. To game no more, to come home tipsy no more, to shun the menagerie of the opera, to become serious, to study, to desire a position in life, this you call dissimulation.

VAUTRIN. You are as yet but a poor diplomatist. You will be a great one, when you can deceive me. Raoul, you have made the mistake which I have taken most pains to save you from. My son, why did you not take women for what they are, creatures of inconsequence, made to enslave without being their slave, like a sentimental shepherd? But instead, my Lovelace has been conquered by a Clarissa. Ah, young people will strike against these idols a great many times, before they discover them to be hollow!

RAOUL. Is this a sermon?

VAUTRIN. What? Do you take me, who have trained your hand to the pistol, who have shown you how to draw the sword, have taught you not to dread the strongest laborer of the faubourg, who have done for your brains what I have done for your body, have set you above all men, and anointed you my king, do you take me for a dolt? Come, now, let us have a little more frankness.

RAOUL. Do you wish me to tell you what I was thinking?--But no, that would be to accuse my benefactor.

VAUTRIN. Your benefactor! You insult me. Do you think I have devoted to you my life, my blood, shown myself ready to kill, to assassinate your enemy, in order that I may receive that exorbitant interest called gratitude? Have I become an usurer of this kind? There are some men who would hang the weight of a benefit around your heart like a cannon-ball attached to the feet of----, but let that pass! Such men I would crush as I would a worm, without thinking that I had committed homicide! No! I have asked you to adopt me as your father, that my heart may be to you what heaven is to the angels, a space where all is happiness and confidence; that you may tell me all your thoughts, even those which are evil. Speak, I shall understand everything, even an act of cowardice.

RAOUL. God and Satan must have conspired to cast this man of bronze.

VAUTRIN. It is quite possible.

RAOUL. I will tell you all.

VAUTRIN. Very good, my son; let us sit down.

RAOUL. You have been the cause to me of opprobrium and despair.

VAUTRIN. Where? When? Blood of a man! Who has wounded you? Who has proved false to you? Tell me the place, name the people--the wrath of Vautrin shall descend upon them!

RAOUL. You can do nothing.

VAUTRIN. Child, there are two kinds of men who can do anything.

RAOUL. And who are they?

VAUTRIN. Kings, who are, or who ought to be, above the law; and--this will give you pain--criminals, who are below it.

RAOUL. But since you are not king--

VAUTRIN. Well! I reign in the region below.

RAOUL. What horrible mockery is this, Vautrin?

VAUTRIN. Did you not say that God and the devil hobnobbed to cast me?

RAOUL. Heavens, sir, you make me shudder!

VAUTRIN. Return to your seat! Calm yourself, my son. You must not be astonished at anything, if you wish to escape being an ordinary man.

RAOUL. Am I in the hands of a demon, or of an angel? You have brought me up without debauching the generous instincts I feel within me; you have enlightened without dazzling me; you have given me the experience of the old, without depriving me of the graces of youth; but it is not with impunity that you have whetted the edge of my intellect, expanded my view, roused my perspicacity. Tell me, what is the source of your wealth, is it an honorable one? Why do you forbid me to confess to you the sufferings of my childhood? Why have you given me the name of the village where you found me? Why do you prevent me from searching out my father and mother? Why do you bow me down under a load of falsehoods? An orphan may rouse the interest of people; an imposter, never. I live in a style which makes me a equal to the son of a duke or a peer; you have educated me well, without expense to the state; you have launched me into the empyrean of the world, and now they fling into my face the declaration, that there are no longer such people as De Frescas in existence. I have been asked who my family are, and you have forbidden me to answer. I am at once a great nobleman and a pariah. I must swallow insults which would drive me to rend alive marquises and dukes; rage fills my heart; I should like to fight twenty duels, and to die. Do you wish me to suffer any further insults? No more secrets for me! Prometheus of hell, either finish your work, or shatter it to pieces!

VAUTRIN. Who could fail to respond with a glow of sympathy to this burst of youthful generosity? What flashes of courage blaze forth! It is inspiring to see sentiment at its full tide! You must be the son of a noble race. But, Raoul, let us come down to what I call plain reason.

RAOUL. Ah! At last!

VAUTRIN. You ask me for an account of my guardianship. Here it is.

RAOUL. But have I any right to ask this? Could I live without you?

VAUTRIN. Silence, you had nothing, I made you rich. You knew nothing, I have given you a good education. Oh! I have not yet done all for you. A father--all fathers give their life to their children, and as for me, happiness is a debt which I owe you. But is this really the cause of your gloom? There are here--in this casket (he points to a casket) a portrait, and certain letters. Often while reading the letters you sign as if--

RAOUL. Then you know all--?

VAUTRIN. I know all.--Are you not touched to the heart?

RAOUL. To the heart.

VAUTRIN. O fool! Love lives by treachery, friendship by confidence.--And you --you must seek happiness in your own way.

RAOUL. But have I the power? I will become a soldier, and--wherever the cannot oars, I will win a glorious name, or die.

VAUTRIN. Indeed! Why should you? You talk nonsense.

RAOUL. You are too old to possess the power of understanding me, and it is no use trying to explain.

VAUTRIN. Well, I will explain to you. You are in love with Inez de Christoval, Princesse d'Arjos in her own right, daughter of a duke banished by King Ferdinand--an Andalusian who loves you and pleases me, not as a woman, but as a ravishing money-box, whose eyes are the finest in the world, whose dowry is captivating, and who is the most delightful piece of cash, graceful and elegant as some black corvette with white sails which convoys the long-expected galleons of America, and yields all the joys of life, exactly like the Fortune which is painted over the entrance of the lottery agencies. I approve of you here. You did wrong to fall in love, love will involve you in a thousand follies --but I understand.

RAOUL. Do not score me with such frightful sarcasms.

VAUTRIN. See how quickly he feels his ardor damped, and his hat wreathed in crepe!

RAOUL. Yes. For it is impossible for the child flung by accident into the bosom of a fisher family at Alghero to become Prince of Arjos, while to lose Inez is for me to die of grief.

VAUTRIN. An income of twelve thousand francs, the title of prince, grandeur, and amassed wealth are not things to be contemplated with melancholy.

RAOUL. If you love me, why do you mock me thus in the hour of my despair?

VAUTRIN. And what is the cause of your despair?

RAOUL. The duke and The Marquis have insulted me, in their own house, in her presence, and I have seen then all my hopes extinguished. The door of the Christoval mansion is closed upon me. I do not know why the Duchesse de Montsorel made me come and see her. For the last few days she has manifested an interest in me which I do not understand.

VAUTRIN. And what brought you to the house of your rival?

RAOUL. It seems you know all about it.

VAUTRIN. Yes, and many other things besides. Is it true you desire Inez de Christoval? Then you can get over this present despondency.

RAOUL. You are trifling with me.

VAUTRIN. Look here, Raoul! The Christovals have shut their doors upon you. Well--to-morrow you shall be the accepted lover of the princess, and the Montsorels shall be turned away, Montsorels though they be.

RAOUL. The sight of my distress has crazed you.

VAUTRIN. What reason have you ever had for doubting my word? Did I not give you an Arabian horse, to drive mad with envy the foreign and native dandies of the Bois de Boulogne? Who paid your gambling debts? Who made provision for your excesses? Who gave you boots, you who once went barefoot?

RAOUL. You, my friend, my father, my family!

VAUTRIN. Many, many thanks. In those words is a recompense for all my sacrifices. But, alas! when once you become rich, a grandee of Spain, a part of the great world, you will forget me; a change of atmosphere brings a change of ideas; you will despise me, and--you will be right in doing so.

RAOUL. Do I see before me a genie, a spirit materialized from the Arabian Nights? I question my own existence. But, my friend, my protector, I have no family.

VAUTRIN. Well, we are making up a family for you at this very moment. The Louvre could not contain the portraits of your ancestors, they would overcrowd the quays.

RAOUL. You rekindle all my hopes.

VAUTRIN. Do you wish to obtain Inez?

RAOUL. By any means possible.

VAUTRIN. You will shrink from nothing? Magic and hell will not intimidate you?

RAOUL. Hell is nothing, if it yields me paradise.

VAUTRIN. What is hell but the hulks and the convicts decorated by justice and the police with brandings and manacles, and driven on their course by that wretchedness from which they have no escape? Paradise is a fine house, sumptuous carriages, delightful women, and the prestige of rank. In this world there exist two worlds. I put you in the fairest of them, I remain myself in the foulest, and if you remember me, it is all I ask of you.

RAOUL. While you make me shudder with horror, you fill me with the frenzy of delight.

VAUTRIN. (slapping him on the shoulder) You are a child! (Aside) Have I not said too much to him? (He rings.)

RAOUL. (aside) There are moments when my inmost nature revolts from the acceptance of his benefits. When he put his hand on my shoulder it was like a red-hot iron; and yet he has never done anything but good to me! He conceals from me the means, but the ends are all for me.

VAUTRIN. What are you saying there?

RAOUL. I am resolved to accept nothing, unless my honor--

VAUTRIN. We will cake care of your honor! Is it not I who have fostered your sense of honor? Have I ever compromised it?

RAOUL. You must explain to me--

VAUTRIN. I will explain nothing.

RAOUL. Nothing?

VAUTRIN. Did you not say, "By any possible means"? When Inez is once yours, does it matter what I have done, or who I am? You will take Inez away; you will travel. The Christoval family will protect the Prince of Arjos. (To Lafouraille) Put some bottles of champagne on ice; your master is to be married, he bids farewell to bachelor life. His friends are invited. Go and seek his mistresses, if there are any left! All shall attend the wedding--a general turn-out in full dress.

RAOUL. (aside) His confidence terrifies me, but he is always right.

VAUTRIN. Now for the dinner!

ALL. Now for the dinner!

VAUTRIN. Do not take your pleasure gloomily; laugh for the last time, while liberty is still yours; I will order none but Spanish wines, for they are in fashion to-day.

[Curtain to the Third Act.] _

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