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The Resources of Quinola, a play by Honore de Balzac |
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Act 3 |
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_ ACT III SCENE FIRST (The stage setting is the interior of a stable. Overhead are piles of hay; along the walls are wheels, tubes, shafts, a long copper chimney, a huge boiler. To the left of the spectator the Madonna is sculptured on a pillar. To the right is a table strewn with paper and mathematical instruments. Above the table hangs on the wall a blackboard covered with figures; by the side of the table is a shelf on which are onions, a water crock and a loaf. To the right of the spectator is a wide door, and to the left, a door opening on the fields. A straw bed lies by the side of the pillar at the feet of the Madonna. It is night-time.) [Fontanares and Quinola.] (Fontanares, in a black robe girded by a leathern belt, works at his table. Quinola is checking the various parts of the machine.)
SCENE SECOND [The same persons and Monipodio.]
(Monipodio beckons to Quinola from the passage; two men make their appearance.) Monipodio. Carry these away, boys, and not a sound! Vanish like spectres. This is worse than theft. (To Quinola) He is dead and buried in his work. Quinola. He suspects nothing as yet. Monipodio. Neither they nor any one else suspect us. Each piece is wrapped up like a jewel and hidden in a cellar. But we need thirty ducats. Quinola. Zounds! Monipodio. Thirty rascals built like those fellows eat as much as sixty ordinary men. Quinola. Quinola and Company have failed, and I am a fugitive! Monipodio. From protests? Quinola. Stupid! They want me bodily. Fortunately, I have two or three suits of old clothes which may serve to deliver Quinola from the clutches of the keenest sleuths, until I can make payment. Monipodio. Payment? That is folly. Quinola. Yes, I have kept a little nest-egg against our thirst. Put on that ragbag of the begging friar and go to Lothundiaz and have a talk with the duenna. Monipodio. Alas! Lopez has returned from Algeria so often that our dear duenna begins to suspect us. Quinola. I merely wish her to carry this letter to Senorita Marie Lothundiaz (handing a letter). It is a masterpiece of eloquence, inspired by that which inspires all masterpieces. See! We have been living for ten days on bread and water. Monipodio. And what could we look for? To eat ortolans? If our men had expected fine fare they would have struck long ago. Quinola. If love would only cash my note of hand, we might still get out of this hole. (Exit Monipodio.)
SCENE THIRD [Quinola and Fontanares.]
Fontanares. I am nearing the final solution-- Quinola. (whose sleeve splits up as he puts back the crock) And I have found one in the continuity of my sleeve. In this trade my clothes are becoming as uncertain as an unknown quantity in algebra. Fontanares. You are a fine fellow! Always merry, even in the depths of misfortune. Quinola. And why not, gadzooks! Fortune loves the merry almost as much as the merry love her.
SCENE FOURTH [The same persons and Mathieu Magis.]
Mathieu Magis. I am your most humble servant, my dear Senor Fontanares. Quinola. This is he, polished, dry, cold as marble. Fontanares. Good-day, Senor Magis. (Cuts himself a piece of bread.) Mathieu Magis. You are a sublime hero, and as far as I am concerned, I wish you all sorts of good luck. Fontanares. And is this the reason why you try to bring upon me all sorts of bad luck? Mathieu Magis. You snap me up very sharply; you do wrong, you forget that in me there are two men. Fontanares. I have never seen the other. Mathieu Magis. I have a heart, away from my business. Fontanares. But you are never away from your business. Mathieu Magis. I am always filled with admiration at the sight of your struggle. Fontanares. Admiration is the passion which is the most easily exhausted. Moreover, you never make any loans on sentiment. Mathieu Magis. There are sentiments which bring profit, while others cause ruin. You are animated by faith; that is very fine, but it is ruinous. We made six months ago certain little agreements; you asked of me three thousand ducats for your experiments-- Quinola. On the condition, that you were to receive five thousand in return. Fontanares. Well? Mathieu Magis. The payment was due two months ago. Fontanares. You demanded it by legal process two months ago, the very next day after it was due. Mathieu Magis. I did it without thought of annoying you, merely as a formality. Fontanares. And what do you want now? Mathieu Magis. You are to-day my debtor. Fontanares. Eight months gone already? It has passed like a dream! And I was proposing to myself this evening the solution of the problem how to introduce cold water, so as to dissolve the steam! Magis, my dear friend, assist me in this matter, be my protector, and give me a few days more? Mathieu Magis. As many as you desire. Quinola. Do you mean it? This is the first appearance of the other man. (To Fontanares) Senor, I shall make the gentleman my friend. (To Magis) I appeal to the two Magises and ask if they will give us the sight of a few doubloons! Fontanares. Ah! I begin to breathe freely. Mathieu Magis. That can easily be managed. I am to-day not merely your money-lender, I am money-lender and co-proprietor, and I wish to draw out my share in the property. Quinola. Double man, and triple dog! Mathieu Magis. Capital has nothing to do with faith-- Quinola. Or with hope and charity; crowns are not Catholics. Mathieu Magis. When a man comes and asks us to discount a bill, we cannot say: "Wait a bit; we have a man of genius at work trying to find a gold mine in a garret or a stable!" No, indeed! Why in six months I could have doubled those ducats over again. Besides, senor, I have a small family. Fontanares. (to Quinola) That creature has a wife! Quinola. Yes, and if she brings forth young they will eat up Catalonia. Mathieu Magis. I have heavy expenses. Fontanares. You see how I live. Mathieu Magis. Ah! If I were rich, I would lend you (Quinola holds out his hands) the wherewith to live better. Fontanares. Wait fifteen days longer. Mathieu Magis. (aside) This cuts me to the heart. If the matter concerned only myself I would perhaps let it go, but I must earn what has been promised me, which is to be my daughter's dowry. (Aloud) Now really, I have a great regard for you, you please me immensely-- Quinola. (aside) To think that it would be a crime to strangle him! Fontanares. You are of iron; I shall show myself as hard as steel. Mathieu Magis. What do you mean, senor? Fontanares. You shall help me, whether you would or not. Mathieu Magis. I will not! I want my capital! And would think nothing of seizing and selling all this iron work. Fontanares. You compel me to meet trick with trick. I was proceeding with my work honestly! Now, if necessary, following your example, I shall leave the straight path. I shall be of course accused, as if perfection could be expected of me. But I do not mind calumny. But to have this cup to drink is too much. You made a senseless contract with me, you now shall sign another, or you will see me dash my work to fragments, and keep my secret buried here. (He strikes his hand on his heart.) Mathieu Magis. Ah! senor, you will not do that. That would be theft, a piece of rascality of which a great man is incapable. Fontanares. You seize upon my integrity as a weapon by which you would insure the success of monstrous injustice. Mathieu Magis. Listen, I wish to have nothing to do with this matter, and if you will come to an understanding with Don Ramon, a most excellent man, I will yield all my rights to him. Fontanares. Don Ramon? Quinola. Yes, the philosopher whom all Barcelona sets up in opposition to you. Fontanares. After all, I have solved the last problem, and glory and fortune will attend the future current of my life. Quinola. Your words seem to indicate that there is still a part to be supplied in the machinery. Fontanares. A trifle--a matter of some hundred ducats. Mathieu Magis. Such a sum could not be raised from all that you have here, if it were sold by authority of government, counting the costs. Quinola. Carrion! Will you get out? Mathieu Magis. If you humor Don Ramon, he doubtless will be willing to give you the assistance of his credit. (Turns to Quinola) As for you, gallows-bird, if ever you fall into my hands, I will get even with you. (To Fontanares) Good-bye, man of genius. (Exit.)
SCENE FIFTH [Fontanares and Quinola.]
Quinola. And me also! The good ideas of a genius are always caught in the webs of such spiders as he. Fontanares. Well, if only we can get a hundred ducats more, from that time forth we shall have a golden life filled with the banquets of love. (He takes a drink of water.) Quinola. I quite believe you, but confess that blooming hope, that heavenly jade, has led us on pretty deep into the mire. Fontanares. Quinola! Quinola. I do not complain for myself, I was born to trouble. The question is, how are we to get the hundred ducats. You are in debt to the workmen, to the master locksmith Carpano, to Coppolus the dealer in iron, steel and copper, and to our landlord, who after taking us in, more from fear of Monipodio than from compassion, will end by turning us out of doors; we owe him for nine months' board and lodging. Fontanares. But the work is all but finished. Quinola. But what of the hundred ducats? Fontanares. How is it that you, usually so brave and merry, begin now to speak to me in such a dolorous tone? Quinola. It is because, as a means of remaining at your side, I shall be obliged to disappear. Fontanares. And why? Quinola. Why? Pray what are we to do about the sheriff? I have incurred, for you and for myself, trade debts to the amount of a hundred doubloons; and lo! these debts take, to my mind, the figure, face and feet of tipstaves! Fontanares. How much unhappiness is comprised in the term _glory_! Quinola. Come! Do not be downcast. Did you not tell me that your grandfather went, some fifty years ago, with Cortez, to Mexico; has he ever been heard of? Fontanares. Never. Quinola. Don't forget you have a grandfather! You will be enabled to continue your work, until you reach the day of your triumph. Fontanares. Do you wish to ruin me? Quinola. Do you wish to see me go to prison and your machine to the devil? Fontanares. I do not. Quinola. Permit me then to bring about the return of this grandfather? He will be the first of his company to return from the West Indies.
SCENE SIXTH [The same persons and Monipodio.]
Monipodio. Your princess has received her letter. Fontanares. What kind of a man is this Don Ramon? Monipodio. He is an ass. Quinola. Is he envious? Monipodio. As three rejected play-writers. He makes himself out to be a wonderful man. Quinola. But does any one believe him? Monipodio. They look upon him as an oracle. He scribbles off his treatises, explaining that the snow is white because it falls from heaven, and he maintains, in contradiction to Galileo, that the earth does not move. Quinola. Do you not plainly see, senor, that I must rid you of this philosopher? (To Monipodio) You come with me; you must be my servant. (Exeunt.)
SCENE SEVENTH Fontanares. (alone) What brain, even though it be encased in bronze, could stand the strain of this search after money, while also making an inquiry into the most jealously guarded secrets of nature? How can the mind, engaged in such quests, have time for distrusting men, fighting them, and combining others against them? It is no easy thing to see at once what course had best be taken, in order to prevent Don Ramon from stealing my glory, and Don Ramons abound on every side. I at last dare to avow that my endurance is exhausted.
SCENE EIGHTH [Fontanares, Esteban, Girone and two workmen.]
Fontanares. He is not hiding himself. I am he; he is merely meditating in silence. (Aside) Where is Quinola? He would know how to send them away satisfied. (Aloud) What do you want? Esteban. We want our money! We have been working without wages for three weeks; the laborer lives from day to day. Fontanares. Alas, my friends, I do not live at all! Esteban. You are alone; you can pinch your belly. But we have wives and children. At the present moment we have pawned everything. Fontanares. Have confidence in me. Esteban. Can we pay the baker with this confidence in you? Fontanares. I am a man of honor. Girone. Hark you! We also are men of honor. Esteban. Take the honor of each of us to the Lombard and you will see how much he will lend you on it. Girone. I am not a man of talent, not I, and no one will give me trust. Esteban. I am nothing but a villainous workman, but if my wife needs an iron pot, I pay for it, by heaven! Fontanares. I would like to know who it is has set you on me in this way? Girone. Set us on? Are we dogs? Esteban. The magistrates of Barcelona have given judgment in favor of Masters Coppolus. and Carpano, and have granted them a lien on your inventions; pray tell us, where is our lien? Girone. I shan't go away from this place without my money. Fontanares. Can you find any money by staying here? However, here you may remain. Good-day. (He takes up his hat and cloak.) Esteban. No! You won't go out without paying us. (The workmen prepare to bar the door.) Girone. There is a piece which I forged myself; I am going to keep it. Fontanares. What! You wretch! (He draws his sword.) The Workmen. You will not make us budge. Fontanares. (rushing upon them) Here is for you! (He stops short and throws away his sword.) Perhaps these fellows have been sent by Avaloros and Sarpi to push me to extremes. If they succeeded I might be accused of murder and thrown into prison for years. (He kneels down before the Madonna.) Oh, my God! Are genius and crime the same thing in Thy sight? What have I done to suffer such defeats, such insults and such outrages? Must I pay for my triumph in advance? (To the workmen) Every Spaniard is master in his own house. Esteban. You have no house. This place is the Golden Sun; the landlord has told us so. Girone. You haven't paid for your lodging; you pay for nothing. Fontanares. Remain where you are, my masters, I was wrong; I am in debt.
SCENE NINTH [The same persons, Coppolus and Carpano.]
Fontanares. What devil is blinding you? Without me, this machine is nothing but so much iron, steel, copper and wood; with me, it represents a fortune. Coppolus. We are not going to leave you. (The two merchants make a movement as if to hem in Fontanares.) Fontanares. What friend embraces you so closely as a creditor? Well, well, I wish the devil would take back the great thought he gave me. All. The devil! Fontanares. Ah! I must keep watch upon my tongue or one word will throw me into the clutches of the Inquisition! No glory can recompense me for such sufferings as these! Coppolus. (to Carpano) Shall we have it sold? Fontanares. But to be worth anything, the machine must be finished, and one piece of it is wanting, of which the model is before you. (Coppolus and Carpano consult together.) Two hundred sequins more would be required for its completion.
SCENE TENTH [The same persons, Quinola (disguised as a fantastic old man), Monipodio (fancifully dressed), the landlord of the Golden Sun.]
Quinola. And so you have lodged the grandson of General Fontanares in a stable! The republic of Venice will set him in a palace! My dear boy, let me embrace you. (He steps up to Fontanares.) The most noble republic has learned of your promises to the king of Spain, and I have left the arsenal at Venice, over which I preside, in order that--(aside to Fontanares) I am Quinola. Fontanares. Never was an ancestor restored to life more opportunely-- Quinola. In what a miserable condition I find you!--Is this then the antechamber of glory! Fontanares. Misery is the crucible in which God tests our strength. Quinola. Who are these people? Fontanares. Creditors and workmen clamoring for their wages. Quinola. (to the landlord) Rascal of a landlord, is this the dwelling-place of my grandson? The Landlord. Certainly, your excellency. Quinola. I have some knowledge of the laws of Catalonia, and I shall send for the magistrate to put these rogues in prison. You may call down the bailiffs upon my grandson, but keep to your own houses, you blackguards! (He fumbles in his pocket.) Stay! Now go and drink my health. (He throws money among them.) Come to me later on and you shall be paid. The Workmen. Long live his excellency! (Exeunt.) Quinola. (to Fontanares) Our last doubloon! But it was a good bluff.
SCENE ELEVENTH [The same persons, without the host and the workmen.]
Coppolus. Yes, we shall then, your excellency, be at your service. Quinola. Do I see here, my son, that famous invention about which Venice is so excited? Where is the plan, the elevation, the section, the working drawings of the machine? Coppolus. (to Carpano) He knows all about it, but we must get further information before advancing anything. Quinola. You are an amazing man, my son! Like Columbus, you will yet have your day. (He kneels.) I thank God for the honor He had done our family. (To the merchants) Two hours from this I will pay you. (Exeunt Coppolus and Carpano.)
SCENE TWELFTH [Quinola, Fontanares and Monipodio.]
Quinola. You were tottering on the brink of an abyss, and I rescued you. Monipodio. It was well impersonated! But the Venetians have abundance of money, and in order to obtain three months' credit, we must throw dust into the eyes of the creditors, and this is the most expensive kind of dust. Quinola. Didn't I tell you that there was a treasure coming? Well it's here now. Monipodio. Coming of its own accord? (Quinola assents with a nod.) Fontanares. His effrontery terrifies me.
SCENE THIRTEENTH [The same persons, Mathieu Magis and Don Ramon.]
Don Ramon. (to Fontanares) Senor, I am delighted at this opportunity of sharing the work of so eminent a man of science. We two will be enabled to bring your invention to the highest perfection. Quinola. Senor knows mechanics, ballistics, mathematics, dioptrics, catoptrics, statistics? Don Ramon. Indeed I do. I have purchased many valuable treatises. Quinola. In Latin? Don Ramon. No, in Spanish. Quinola. No true philosopher, senor, writes in anything but Latin. There is a danger that science may be vulgarized. Do you know Latin? Don Ramon. Yes, senor. Quinola. So much the better for you. Fontanares. Senor, I respect the name which you have made; but I cannot accept your offer, because of the dangers attendant on my enterprise; I am risking my head in this work and yours is too precious to be exposed. Don Ramon. Do you think, senor, that you can afford to slight Don Ramon, the great scientific authority? Quinola. Don Ramon! The famous Don Ramon, who has expounded the causes of so many natural phenomena, which hitherto had been thought to happen without cause? Don Ramon. The very man. Quinola. I am Fontanaresi, director of the arsenal of the Venetian Republic, and grandfather of our inventor. My son, you may have full confidence in Don Ramon; a man of his position can have no designs upon you; let us tell him everything. Don Ramon. (aside) Ah! I am going to learn everything about the machine. Fontanares. (aside to Quinola) What is all this about? Quinola. (aside to Fontanares) Let me give him a lesson in mathematics; it will do him no good, and us no harm. (To Don Ramon) Will you come here? (He points out the parts of the machine) All this is meaningless; for philosophers, the great thing-- Don Ramon. The great thing? Quinola. Is the problem itself! You know the reason why clouds mount upwards? Don Ramon. I believe it is because they are lighter than the air. Quinola. Not at all! They are heavy as well as light, for the water that is in them ends by falling as flat as a fool. I don't like water, do you? Don Ramon. I have a great respect for it. Quinola. I see that we are made for each other. The clouds rise to such a height, because they are vapor, and are also attracted by the force of the cold upper air. Don Ramon. That may be true. I will write a treatise on the subject. Quinola. My grandson states this in the formula R plus O. And as there is much water in the air, we simply say O plus O, which is a new binomial. Don Ramon. A new binomial! Quinola. Yes, an X, if you like it better. Don Ramon. X, ah yes, I understand! Fontanares. (aside) What a donkey! Quinola. The rest is a mere trifle. The tube receives the water which by some means or other, has been changed to cloud. This cloud is bound to rise and the resulting force is immense. Don Ramon. Immense, why immense? Quinola. Immense--in that it is natural, since man--pay particular attention to this--does not create force-- Don Ramon. Very good, then how--? Quinola. He borrows it from nature; to invent, is to borrow. Then--by means of certain pistons--for in mechanics--you know-- Don Ramon. Yes, senor, I know mechanics. Quinola. Very good! The method of applying a force is child's play, a trifle, a matter of detail, as in the turnspit-- Don Ramon. Ah! He employs the turnspit then? Quinola. There are two here, and the force is such that it raises the mountains, which skip like rams--as was predicted by King David. Don Ramon. Senor, you are perfectly right, the clouds, that is, the water-- Quinola. Water, senor? Why! It is the world. Without water, you could not--That is plain. Well now! This is the point on which my grandson's invention is based; water will subdue water. X equals O plus O, that is the complete formula. Don Ramon. (aside) The terms he employs are incomprehensible. Quinola. Do you understand me? Don Ramon. Perfectly. Quinola. (aside) This man is a driveling dotard. (Aloud) I have spoken to you in the language of genuine philosophy-- Mathieu Magis. (to Monipodio) Can you tell me who this remarkably learned man is? Monipodio. He is a very great man, to whom I am indebted for my knowledge of ballistics; he is the director of the Venetian arsenal, and purposes this evening to make us a contribution on behalf of the republic. Mathieu Magis. I must go and tell Senora Brancadori, she comes from Venice. (Exit.)
SCENE FOURTEENTH [The same persons, with the exception of Mathieu Magis. Lothundiaz and Marie.]
Quinola. (aside) Hurrah! Here comes our treasure. (Lothundiaz and Don Ramon exchange greetings and examine the pieces of machinery in the centre of the stage.) Fontanares. What! Is Marie here? Marie. My father brought me. Ah! my dear friend, your servant told me of your distress-- Fontanares. (to Quinola) You scoundrel! Quinola. What, grandson! Marie. And he brought all my agonies to an end. Fontanares. Tell me, pray, what was it troubled you? Marie. You cannot imagine the persecutions I have endured since your arrival, and especially since your quarrel with Madame Brancadori. What could I do against the authority of my father? It is absolute. While I remained at home, I doubted my power to help you; my heart was yours in spite of everything, but my bodily presence-- Fontanares. And so you are another martyr! Marie. By delaying the day of your triumph, you have made my position intolerable. Alas! when I see you here, I perceive that you yourself at the same time have been enduring incredible hardships. In order that I might be with you for a moment, I have feigned an intention of vowing myself to God; this evening I enter a convent. Fontanares. A convent? Is that the way they would separate us? These tortures make one curse the day of his birth. And you, Marie, you, who are the mainspring and the glory of my discovery, the star that protected my destiny, I have forced you to seek refuge in heaven! I cannot stand up against that. (He weeps.) Marie. But by promising to enter a convent, I obtained my father's permission to come here. I wish in bidding you farewell to bring you hope. Here are the savings of a young girl, of your sister, which I have kept against the day when all would forsake you. Fontanares. And what care I for glory, for fortune, for life itself, without you? Marie. Accept the gift which is all that the woman who intends to be your wife can and ought to offer. If I feel that you are unhappy and in distress, hope will forsake me in my retirement, and I shall die, uttering a last prayer for you! Quinola. (to Marie) Let him play the proud man, we may save him in spite of himself. Do you know it is for this purpose that I am passing myself off as his grandfather? (Marie gives her purse to Quinola.) Lothundiaz. (to Don Ramon) So you do not think much of him? Don Ramon. Oh, no, he is an artisan, who knows nothing and who doubtless stole his secret in Italy. Lothundiaz. I have always doubted him, and it seems I was right in refusing him my daughter in marriage. Don Ramon. He would bring her to beggary. He has squandered five thousand sequins, and has gone into debt three thousand in eight months, without attaining any result! Ah! He is a contrast with his grandfather. There's a philosopher of the first rank for you! Fontanares will have to work hard to catch up with him. (He points to Quinola.) Lothundiaz. His grandfather? Quinola. Yes, senor, my name of Fontanares was changed to that of Fontanaresi. Lothundiaz. And you are Pablo Fontanaresi? Quinola. Yes, Pablo himself. Lothundiaz. And you are rich? Quinola. Opulent. Lothundiaz. That delights me, senor. I suppose that now you will pay me the two thousand sequins which you borrowed from my father? Quinola. Certainly, if you can show me my signature, I am ready to pay the bond. Marie. (after a conversation with Fontanares) You will accept this--will you not--as a means of securing your triumph, for is not our happiness staked on that? Fontanares. To think that I am dragging down this pearl into the gulf which is yawning to receive me. (Quinola and Monipodio depart.)
SCENE FIFTEENTH [The same persons and Sarpi.]
Lothundiaz. I promised that she should come her to say farewell on condition that she would not refuse to retire to a convent afterwards. Sarpi. The assembly here is so numerous that I am not surprised, nor in the least offended, by your complaisance towards her. Fontanares. Ah! Here comes the fiercest of my persecutors. How are you, senor; are you come to put my constancy to a fresh test? Sarpi. I represent the viceroy of Catalonia, senor, and I have a right to your respectful treatment. (To Don Ramon) Are you satisfied with him? Don Ramon. If he takes my advice, we are sure of success. Sarpi. The viceroy has great hopes from your learned co-operation. Fontanares. Surely I am dreaming! Is it possible they are raising up a rival to me? Sarpi. No! senor; but a guide who is able to save you from failure. Fontanares. Who told you I needed one? Marie. O Alfonso! But suppose that Don Ramon could insure your success? Fontanares. Ah! Even she has lost confidence in me! Marie. They say he is so learned! Lothundiaz. Presumptuous man! He thinks that he knows more than all the learned in the world. Sarpi. I was induced to come here on account of a question which has been raised and has filled the viceroy with anxiety; you have had in your possession for nearly ten months a ship belonging to the state, and you must now render an account of the loan. Fontanares. The king fixed no term for the time of my experiments. Sarpi. The administration of Catalonia has the right to demand an account, and we have received a decree of the ministers to this effect. (Fontanares appears thunderstruck.) Oh! you can take your time; we do not wish to embarrass a man like you. Nor are we inclined to think that you wish to elude the stipulation with regard to your life by keeping the ship for an indefinite period. Marie. His life? Fontanares. Yes, I am staking my life in these experiments. Marie. And yet, you refuse my help? Fontanares. In three months, Count Sarpi, I shall have completed, without the counsel of another, the work I am engaged upon. You will then see one of the greatest spectacles that a man can produce for his age to witness. Sarpi. Here, then, is a bond to that effect; sign it. (Fontanares signs it.) Marie. Farewell, my friend! If you are vanquished in this struggle I believe that I shall love you more than ever! Lothundiaz. Come, my daughter; the man is mad. Don Ramon. Young man! be sure to read my treatises. Sarpi. Farewell, future grandee of Spain. (Exeunt all except Fontanares.)
SCENE SIXTEENTH Fontanares. (alone in the front of the stage) While Marie is in a convent the sunlight cannot warm me. I am bearing up a world, yet fear I am no Titian. No, I shall never succeed; all is against me. And this work which cost me three years of thought and ten months of toil will never cleave the ocean! But now, I am heavy with sleep. (He lies down on the straw.)
SCENE SEVENTEENTH [Fontanares (asleep), Quinola and Monipodio (entering by the Postern).]
Monipodio. Don't forget. The Brancadori is from Venice. Quinola. Then I'd better be getting back there. Send me the landlord; I wish to re-establish our credit. Monipodio. He is here.
SCENE EIGHTEENTH [The same persons and the Landlord of the Golden Sun.]
The Landlord. A hostelry, senor, is not a banking house. Quinola. No, but you should not, for charity's sake, have refused him bread. The most noble republic of Venice sent me to bring him to that city, but he is too fond of Spain! I return, as I arrived, secretly. I have nothing with me that I can dispose of excepting this diamond. A month from this time I will remit to you through the bank. Will you arrange with my grandson's servant for the sale of this jewel? The Landlord. Your people here, senor, shall be treated like princes of wealth. Quinola. You may go. (Exit landlord.)
SCENE NINETEENTH [The same persons, excepting the landlord.]
(Exeunt.)
SCENE TWENTIETH [Fontanares (sleeping), Faustine and Mathieu Magis.]
Faustine. To what a plight have I reduced him! From the depth of the wounds which I have thus inflicted upon myself, I realize the depth of my love! Oh! how much happiness do I owe him in compensation for so much suffering!
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