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The Resources of Quinola, a play by Honore de Balzac |
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Act 4 |
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_ ACT IV SCENE FIRST (The stage setting represents a public square. In the centre stands a sheriff's officer on an auctioneer's block, around the base of which are the various pieces for the machine. A crowd is gathered on each side of the platform. To the left of the spectator are grouped together Coppolus, Carpano, the landlord of the Golden Sun, Esteban, Girone, Mathieu Magis, Don Ramon and Lothundiaz. To the right are Fontanares and Monipodio; Quinola conceals himself in a cloak behind Monipodio.) [Fontanares, Monipodio, Quinola, Coppolus, the landlord of the Golden Sun, Esteban, Girone, Mathieu Magis, Don Ramon, Lothundiaz, Sheriff's Officer, a crowd of people.]
The Landlord. Four maravedis. Sheriff's Office. Do I hear more? Come and look at it, examine it! Mathieu Magis. Six maravedis. Quinola. (to Fontanares) Senor, they will not fetch a hundred ducats. Fontanares. We must try to be resigned. Quinola. Resignation seems to me to be the fourth theological virtue omitted from the list out of consideration for women! Monipodio. Hold your tongue! Justice is on your track and you would have been arrested before this if they had not taken you for one of my people. Sheriff's Officer. This is the last lot, gentlemen. Going, going--no further bid? Gone! It is knocked down to Senor Mathieu Magis for ten ducats, six maravedis. Lothundiaz. (to Don Ramon) What do you think of that? Thus ends the sublime invention of our great man! He was right, by heaven, when he promised us a rare spectacle! Coppolus. You can laugh; he does not owe you anything. Esteban. It is we poor devils who have to pay for his folly. Lothundiaz. Did you get nothing, Master Coppolus? And what of my daughter's diamonds, which the great man's servant put into the machine? Mathieu Magis. Why, they were seized in my house. Lothundiaz. And are not the thieves in the hand of justice? I would like best of all to see Quinola, that cursed pilferer of jewels, in durance. Quinola. (aside) Oh, my young life, what lessons are you receiving! My antecedents have ruined me. Lothundiaz. But if they catch him, his goose will soon be cooked, and I shall have the pleasure of seeing him dangling from the gallows, and giving the benediction with his feet. Fontanares. (to Quinola) Our calamity stirs this dullard's wit. Quinola. You mean his brutality. Don Ramon. I sincerely regret this disaster. This young artisan had at last listened to my advice, and we were on the point of realizing the promises made by him to the king; but he blindly forfeited his opportunity; I mean to ask pardon for him at the court, for I shall tell the king how useful he will be to me. Coppolus. Here is an example of generosity extremely rare in the conduct of one learned man towards another. Lothundiaz. You are an honor to Catalonia! Fontanares. (coming forward) I have endured with tranquillity the agony of seeing a piece of workmanship, which entitles me to eternal glory, sold as so much old junk--(murmurs among the people). But this passes all endurance. Don Ramon, if you have, I do not say understood, but even guessed, at the use of all these fragments of machinery, displaced and scattered as they are, you ought to have bought them even at the sacrifice of your whole fortune. Don Ramon. Young man, I respect your misfortunes; but you know that your apparatus could not possibly go, and that my experience had become necessary to you. Fontanares. The most terrible among all the horrors of destitution is that it gives ground for calumny and the triumph of fools! Lothundiaz. Is it not disgraceful for a man in your position thus to undertake to insult a philosopher whose reputation is established? Where would I be if I had given you my daughter? You would have led me a fine dance down to beggary; for you have already wasted, for absolutely no purpose, ten thousand sequins! Really this grandee of Spain seems particularly small in his grandeur to-day. Fontanares. You make me pity you. Lothundiaz. That is possible, but you do not make me envy you; your life is at the mercy of the tribunal. Don Ramon. Let him alone; don't you see that he is crazy? Fontanares. Not quite crazy enough, senor, to believe that O plus O is a binomial.
SCENE SECOND [The same persons, Don Fregose, Faustine, Avaloros and Sarpi.]
Don Fregose. The king will regret the confidence he placed in a charlatan. Fontanares. A charlatan, my lord? In a few days, you may be able to cut my head off; kill me, but don't calumniate me; your position in the state is too high for you to descend so low. Don Fregose. Your audacity equals the extent of your downfall. Are you unaware that the magistrates of Barcelona look upon you as an accomplice of the thief who robbed Lothundiaz? The flight of your servant proves the crime, and the freedom you now enjoy is due to the intercessions of this lady. (Points to Faustine.) Fontanares. My servant, your excellency, might have been in early life a criminal, but since he has followed my fortune he has been an innocent man. I declare, on my honor, that he is guiltless of any such act as theft. The jewels which were seized at the moment he was engaged in selling them were the free gift of Marie Lothundiaz, from whom I had refused to accept them. Faustine. What pride he shows, even in adversity! Nothing can bend him. Sarpi. And how do you explain the resurrection of your grandfather, the pretended director of the Venetian arsenal? Unfortunately for you, the senora and myself were acquainted with the actual man. Fontanares. I caused my servant to put on this disguise in order that he might talk science and mathematics with Don Ramon. Senor Lothundiaz will tell you that the philosopher of Catalonia and Quinola perfectly understood each other. Monipodio. (to Quinola) He has ruined himself! Don Ramon. On this subject I appeal to my writings. Faustine. Do not be perturbed, Don Ramon; it is so natural for people of this kind, when they find themselves falling, to drag down other people with them! Lothundiaz. Such a disposition is detestable. Fontanares. Before I die I ought to speak the truth, senora, to those who have flung me into the abyss. (To Don Fregose) My lord, the king promised me the protection of his people at Barcelona, and here I have met with nothing but hatred! Oh, you grandees of the land, you rich, and all who have in your hands power and influence, why is it that you thus throw obstacles in the way of advancing thought? Is it the law of God that you should persecute and put to shame that which eventually you will be compelled to adore? Had I been pliant, abject and a flatterer, I might have succeeded! In me you have persecuted that which represents all that is noblest in man--His consciousness of his own power, the majesty of his labor, the heavenly inspiration which urges him to put his hand to enterprise, and--love, that spirit of human trust, which rekindles courage when it is on the point of expiring in the storm of mockery. Ah! If the good that you do is done amiss, you are always successful in the accomplishment of what is bad! But why should I proceed?--You are not worthy of my anger. Faustine. (aside) Oh! Another word and I must cry out that I adore him! Don Fregose. (Applause and cries of "bravo!")
SCENE THIRD [The same persons and Marie Lothundiaz.]
Marie. Lothundiaz (to the viceroy) My lord, I have just learned that in my desire to save Fontanares from the rage of his enemies I have caused his ruin. But now an opportunity is given me to vindicate the truth, and I beg to declare that I myself put into the hands of Quinola the precious stones and the money I had treasured as my own. (Lothundiaz shows some excitement.) They belonged to me, father, and God grant that you may not have cause some day to mourn your own blindness. Quinola. (throwing off his cloak) Whew! I breathe freely at last! Fontanares. (bending his knee before Marie) Thanks, radiant and spotless creature, through whose love I still am kept close to that heaven from which I draw my faith and hope; you have saved my honor. Marie. And is not your honor also mine? Your glory is yet to come. Fontanares. Alas! my work is dismembered and dispersed, held in a hundred avaricious hands, who will not give it back excepting at the price it cost to fabricate. To recover it I should double the amount of my indebtedness and fail to complete the enterprise in time. All is over! Faustine. (to Marie) Only sacrifice yourself for him and he is saved. Marie. What say you, father? And you, Count Sarpi? (Aside) It will be my death! (Aloud) Will you consent, on condition I obey you, to give Fontanares. all that is necessary for the success of his undertaking? (To Faustine) I shall devote myself to God, senora! Faustine. You are sublime, sweet angel. (Aside) And thus at last deliverance comes to me! Fontanares. Stay, Marie! I would choose the struggle and all its perils, I would choose death itself, rather than the loss of you from such a cause. Marie. Rather than glory? (To the viceroy) My lord, you will cause my gems to be restored to Quinola. I return to my convent with a happy mind; either I am his, or I must live for God alone. Lothundiaz. I believe he is a sorcerer. Quinola. This young maiden restores to me my love for womankind. Faustine. (to Sarpi, the viceroy and Avaloros) Can we not conquer him, in spite of all? Avaloros. I shall try it. Sarpi. (to Faustine) All is not lost. (To Lothundiaz) Take your daughter home; she will soon be obedient to you. Lothundiaz. God grant it! Come my daughter. (Exeunt.)
SCENE FOURTH [Faustine, Fregose, Avaloros, Fontanares, Quinola and Monipodio.]
Fontanares. If, in my distress, I have ever failed in respect towards you, senor, I beg you will pardon me. Don Fregose. That is quite sufficient, senor. Don Fregose does not easily take offence. Faustine. You have done well, my lord. Avaloros. Thus you see, young man, that tempest is succeeded by calm, and at present all things smile upon you. The next thing for us to do is to unite, you and I, in fulfilling your promises to the king. Fontanares. I care not for fortune excepting for one reason; shall I be enabled to wed Marie Lothundiaz? Don Fregose. Is she the only woman in the world you love? Fontanares. The only one. (Faustine and Avaloros talk together.) Don Fregose. You never told me that before. Henceforth, you may count on me, young man; I am your steadfast ally. (Exit.) Monipodio. They are coming to terms; we are ruined. I shall take myself off to France with the duplicate machine. (Exit.)
SCENE FIFTH [Quinola, Fontanares, Faustine and Avaloros.]
Fontanares. Senora, your first kindness concealed treachery. Faustine. Like all those lofty dreamers, who enrich humanity with their inventions, you know neither women, nor the world. Fontanares. (aside) I have scarcely eight days left. (To Quinola) I am going to make use of her. Quinola. Do so, as you make use of me. Fontanares. I will come to your house, senora. Faustine. I must thank Quinola for that. (She offers a purse to Quinola.) Take this. (To Fontanares) Till we meet again! (Exeunt Faustine and Avaloros.)
SCENE SIXTH [Fontanares and Quinola.]
Quinola. How is it possible, senor, to distrust a woman who sets in gold her slightest words! She loves you; that's the secret. Is your heart so very small that it cannot harbor two affections? Fontanares. Nonsense! Marie has given me hope, her words have fired my soul. Yes, I shall succeed. Quinola. (aside) Where is Monipodio? (Aloud) A reconciliation, senor, is very easy with a woman who yields so easily as Senora Brancadori. Fontanares. Quinola! Quinola. Senor, you make me desperate! Would you oppose the perfidy of a useful love with the loyalty of a love that is blind? I need the influence of Senora Brancadori in order to get rid of Monipodio, whose intentions cause me anxiety. If only I can obtain this influence I will guarantee you success, and you shall then marry your Marie. Fontanares. By what means? Quinola. My dear senor, by mounting on the shoulders of a man who sees a long distance, as you do, any one can see farther still. You are an inventor, very good; but I am inventive. You saved me from--I needn't say what! I, in turn, will deliver you from the talons of envy and from the clutches of cupidity. Here is gold for us; come dress yourself, make yourself fine, take courage; you are on the eve of triumph. But above all things, behave graciously towards Senora Brancadori. Fontanares. You must at least tell me, how are you going to effect this? Quinola. No, senor, if you knew my secret, all would be ruined; you are a man of talent, and a man of talent is always simple as a child. (Exeunt.)
SCENE SEVENTH (The setting represents the drawing-room in Senora Brancadori's palace.)
SCENE EIGHTH [Faustine and Paquita.]
Faustine. Sarpi must be here by this time. Tell him I wish to speak to him. (Exit Paquita.)
SCENE NINTH Faustine. (alone) We must baffle the plans of Monipodio. Quinola fears he has received the order to get rid of Fontanares; it is too bad that there should be ground for such a fear.
SCENE TENTH [Faustine and Don Fregose.]
Don Fregose. Say, rather, that you wish to confer one on me. Faustine. Monipodio must disappear from Barcelona--yea, and from Catalonia, within two hours; send him to Africa. Don Fregose. What has he done to you? Faustine. Nothing. Don Fregose. Well, what is your reason. Faustine. Simply because--You understand? Don Fregose. Your wish shall be obeyed. (He writes.)
SCENE ELEVENTH [The same persons and Sarpi.]
Sarpi. I have, and her good father has taken care that the contract should be ready. Faustine. That is well! Send word to the convent of the Dominicans. The rich heiress will freely consent to be wedded to you at midnight; she will accept any conditions, when she sees (whispering to Sarpi) Fontanares in the hands of justice. Sarpi. I quite understand, and the only thing now is to have him arrested. My good fortune seems invincible! And--I owe it all to you. (Aside) What instrument is there more powerful than the hatred of a woman! Don Fregose. (Exit Sarpi.)
SCENE TWELFTH [The same persons excepting Sarpi.]
Faustine. My lord, I can think of nothing at present except the coming banquet; you shall have my answer this evening. (Fontanares appears.) (Aside) Oh, there he comes! (To Fregose) If you love me, leave me a while. Don Fregose. Alone with him? Faustine. Yes, so I desire. Don Fregose. After all he loves no one but his Marie Lothundiaz. (Exit.)
SCENE THIRTEENTH [Faustine and Fontanares.]
Faustine. Listen to me, dear Fontanares. Fontanares. Dear! Ah! senora, you have taught me to distrust such words as that! Faustine. She, whom you have so cruelly insulted, will now reveal herself to you. A terrible disaster threatens you. Sarpi has persistently worked against you and in doing so has carried out the orders of an irresistible power, and this banquet will be for you, unless I intervene, the scene of a Judas' kiss. I have been told, in confidence, that on your departure from this house, perhaps without these very walls, you will be arrested, flung into prison, and your trial will begin--never to end. Is it possible that you can put into proper condition in one night the vessel which otherwise will be forfeited to you? As regards your work, you know how impossible it is to begin it over again. I wish to save you, you and your glory, you and your fortune. Fontanares. You save me? And how? Faustine. Avalores has placed at my disposal one of his ships, Monipodio has given me his best smugglers for a cruise; let us start for Venice. The republic will make you a patrician and will give you ten times as much gold as Spain has promised. (Aside) Why is it they do not arrive? Fontanares. And what of Marie? If we are to take her with us, I will believe in you. Faustine. Your thoughts are of her at the very moment when the choice between life and death is to be made. If you delay, we may be lost. Fontanares. We? Senora?
SCENE FOURTEENTH [The same persons. Guards rush in at every door. A magistrate appears. Sarpi.]
The Magistrate (to Fontanares) In the name of the king, I arrest you. Fontanares. The hour of death has come at last! Yet happily I carry my secret with me to God, and love shall be my winding sheet.
SCENE FIFTEENTH [The same persons, Marie and Lothundiaz.]
Sarpi. Senorita! Lothundiaz. My daughter! Marie. For one moment you have left me free, for the last time in my life! I shall keep my promise, you must not be unfaithful to yours. O sublime discoverer, you will have to discharge the obligations that belong to greatness, and to fight the battle of your lawful ambition! This struggle will be the great interest of your life; while the Countess Sarpi will die by inches and in obscurity, imprisoned in the four walls of her house. And now let me remind you, father, and you, count, that it was clearly agreed, as the condition of my obedience, that Senor Fontanares should be granted by the viceroy of Catalonia a further extension of time, for the completion of his experiment. Fontanares. Marie, how can I live without you? Marie. How could you live in the hands of your executioner? Fontanares. Farewell! I am ready to die. Marie. Did you not make a solemn promise to the King of Spain, yes, to all the world? (Speaks low to Fontanares) Oh! seize your triumph; after that we can die! Fontanares. I will accept, if only you refuse to be his. Marie. Father, fulfill your promise. Faustine. I have triumphed. Lothundiaz. (in a low voice to Fontanares) You contemptible seducer! (Aloud) Here I give you ten thousand sequins. (In a low voice) Atrocious wretch! (Aloud) My daughter's income for one year. (In a low voice) May the plague choke you! (Aloud) Upon the presentation of this check, Senor Avaloros will count out to you ten thousand sequins. Fontanares. But does the viceroy consent to this arrangement? Sarpi. You have publicly accused the viceroy of Catalonia of belying the promises of the king; here is his answer: (he draws forth a document) By this ordinance, he puts a stay on the lawsuits of all your creditors, and grants you a year to complete your experiment. Fontanares. I am ready to do so. Lothundiaz. He has made up his mind! Come, my daughter; they are expecting us at the Dominican convent, and the viceroy has promised to honor us with his presence at the ceremony. Marie. So soon? (Exeunt the whole party.) Faustine. (to Paquita) Run, Paquita, and bring me word when the ceremony is ended, and they are man and wife.
SCENE SIXTEENTH [Faustine and Fontanares.]
Fontanares. What! Do you think that a man can pluck from his heart a love like mine, as easily as he draws the sword from his scabbard? Faustine. I can well conceive that a woman should love you and do you service. But, according to your idea, love is self-abdication. All that the greatest men have ever wished for: glory, honor, fortune, and more than that, a triumphant dominion which genius alone can establish --this you have gained, conquering a world as Caesar, Lucullus and Luther conquered before you! And yet, you have put between yourself and this splendid existence an obstacle, which is none other than a love worthy of some student of Alcala. By birth you are a giant, and of your own will you are dwindling into a dwarf. But a man of genius can always find, among women, one woman especially created for him. And such a woman, while in the eyes of men she is a queen, for him is but a servant, adapting herself with marvelous suppleness to the chances of life, cheerful in suffering and as far-sighted in misfortune as in prosperity; above all, indulgent to his caprices and knowing well the world and its perilous changes; in a word, capable of occupying a seat in his triumphal car after having helped it up the steepest grades-- Fontanares. You have drawn her portrait. Faustine. Whose? Fontanares. Marie's! Faustine. What! Did that child have skill to protect you? Did she divine the person and presence of her rival? And was she, who had suffered you to be overcome, worthy of possessing you for her own--she--the child who has permitted herself to be drawn, step by step, to the altar where at this moment she bestows herself upon another? If it had been I, ere this I should have lain dead at your feet! And on whom has she bestowed herself? On your deadliest enemy, who had accepted the command to secure the shipwreck of your hopes. Fontanares. How could I be false to that inextinguishable love, which has thrice come to my succor, which has eventually saved me, which, having no sacrifice but itself to offer on the altar of misfortune, accomplishes the immolation with one hand, and, with the other, offers to me in this (he shows the letter) the restoration of my honor, the esteem of my king, the admiration of the universe. (Enter Paquita, who makes a sign to Faustine, then goes out.) Faustine. (aside) Ah! Sarpi has now his countess. (To Fontanares) Your life, your glory, your fortune, your honor, are at last in my hands alone! Marie no longer stands between us! Fontanares. Us! Us! Faustine. Contradict me not, Alfonso! I have conquered all that is yours; do not refuse me your heart! You will never gain a love more devoted, more submissive, more full of sympathy than mine; for at last you shall become the great man that you deserve to be. Fontanares. Your audacity astounds me. (He shows the letter.) With a sum of money guaranteed me here I am once more the sole arbiter of my destiny. When the king sees the character and the results of my work, he will cancel that marriage, which has been obtained by violence. And my love for Marie is such that I can wait till then. Faustine. Fontanares, if I love you distractedly, it is perhaps because of that delightful simplicity, which is the badge of genius-- Fontanares. (aside) Her smile freezes me to the heart. Faustine. That gold you speak of--is it already in your possession? Fontanares. It is here. Faustine. And would I have let them give that to you, if I thought you would ever receive it? To-morrow you will find all your creditors standing between you and the possession of that sum, which you owe to them. What can you accomplish without gold? Your struggle will begin over again! But your work, O great, but simple man, has not been dispersed in fragments; it is all mine; my instrument, Mathieu Magis, has acquired possession of it. I hold it at my feet, in my palace. I am the only one who would not rob you either of your glory, or of your fortune, for what would this be, but to rob myself? Fontanares. It is you, then, cursed Venetian woman! Faustine. Yes--since the moment you insulted me, upon this spot, I have directed everything; it is at my bidding that Magis, and Sarpi, and your creditors, and the landlord of the Golden Sun, and the workmen have acted! But ah! How great a love underlay this simulated hatred. Tell me, have you never been roused from your slumber by a falling teardrop, the pearl of my repentance, while I was gazing at you with admiration--you--the martyr that I worshiped? Fontanares. No! you are not a woman-- Faustine. Ah! There is more than woman, in a woman who loves as I do. Fontanares. And, as you are not a woman, I could kill you. Faustine. What of that, provided it were your hand that did it? (Aside) He hates me! Fontanares. I am seeking for-- Faustine. Is it anything I can find for you? Fontanares. --A punishment great enough for your crime. Faustine. Can there be any punishment which a woman who loves can feel? Come, try me. Fontanares. You love me, Faustine. Am I all of life to you? Do you really make my grief your own? Faustine. One pang of yours becomes a thousand pangs to me! Fontanares. If then I die, you will die also. 'Tis plain, therefore, although your life is not worthy to be set against the love that I have lost, my course is taken. Faustine. Ah! Fontanares. With crossed arms I will await the day of my arrest. At the same stroke the soul of Marie and my soul shall rise to heaven. Faustine. (flinging herself at the feet of Fontanares) O Alfonso! Here, at your feet, I will remain till you have promised me-- Fontanares. Leave me, shameless courtesan! (He spurns her.) Faustine. You have spoken this openly and in public; but remember, men oftentimes insult that which they are destined eventually to adore.
SCENE SEVENTEENTH [The same persons and Don Fregose.]
Faustine. Don Fregose! I love this man; whether he makes of me his slave or his wife, my love shall be the aegis of his life. Fontanares. Am I to be the victim of fresh persecutions, my lord? I am overwhelmed with joy. Deal me a thousand blows; they will be multiplied a thousand fold, she says, in her heart. I am ready!
SCENE EIGHTEENTH [The same persons and Quinola.]
Fontanares. And you also have betrayed me; you! Quinola. Off goes Monipodio, wafted towards Africa with recommendations on his hands and feet. Fontanares. What of that? Quinola. Under the pretext of robbing you, I have concealed in a cellar a second machine, for I took care that two should be made, while we only paid for one. Fontanares. Thus it is that a true friend renders despair impossible. (He embraces Quinola.) (To Fregose) My lord, write to the king and build, overlooking the harbor, an amphitheatre for two hundred thousand spectators; in ten days I will fulfill my promise, and Spain shall behold a ship propelled by steam in the face of wind and waves. I will wait until there is a storm that I may show how I can prevail against it. Faustine. (to Quinola) You have manufactured a machine-- Quinola. No, I have manufactured two, as a provision against ill-luck. Faustine. What devils have you called in to assist you? Quinola. The three children of Job: Silence, Patience and Perseverance. (Exeunt Fontanares and Quinola.)
SCENE NINETEENTH [Faustine and Don Fregose.]
Faustine. I must have my revenge. Will you assist me? Don Fregose. Yes, and we will yet succeed in bringing him to ruin. Faustine. Ah! you love me in spite of all, don't you?
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