The Stepmother, A Drama in Five Acts

Ferdinand

What a joke! Wouldn't I have told you?

Pauline

Ah! (She sinks back on a chair, then falls upon her knees.) Holy

Virgin, what vows shall I make to thee? (She kisses Ferdinand's hand.)

And you, a thousand blessings on your head!

Ferdinand

Who could have told you such a foolish thing?

Pauline

My stepmother.

Ferdinand Why, she knows all about me, and if she did not, she would set spies to discover all; for suspicion with such women as that is certitude! Listen, Pauline, moments now are precious. It was Madame de Grandchamp who brought me into this house.

Pauline

And why?

Ferdinand

Because she is in love with me.

Pauline

How horrible! And what of my father?

Ferdinand

She was in love with me before her marriage.

Pauline

She is in love with you; but you, are you in love with her?

Ferdinand

Do you think if I were, I should have remained in this house?

Pauline

And she is still in love with you?

Ferdinand Yes, unhappily she is! I ought to tell you that she was at one time beloved by me; but to-day I hate her from the bottom of my heart, and I sometimes ask myself why. Is it because I am in love with you, and every genuine and pure love is by nature exclusive? Is it because the contrast between an angel of purity, such as you, and a devil like her excites in me just as much hatred towards her as it rouses love towards you, my joy, my bliss, my beauteous treasure? I cannot say. But I hate her, and I love you so much that I should not regret dying if your father killed me; for one talk with you, one hour spent in this chamber by your side, seems, even when it is passed away, a whole lifetime to me.

Pauline Oh, say those dear words again! For they bring back my confidence once more. After hearing you speak thus, I forgive you the wrong you have done me in telling that I am not your first and only love, as you are mine. It is but a lost illusion, that is all! Do not be vexed with me. Young girls are foolish, they have no ambition but in their love, and they would fain rule over the past as they rule over the future of their beloved! But you hate her! And in that word, you give me more proof of love than you have given me for the two years that we have loved. If only you knew with what cruelty this stepmother has put me on the rack, by her questions! But I will be avenged!

Ferdinand You must be very careful! She is a very dangerous woman! She rules your father. She is a woman who will fight to the death!

Pauline

To the death! That is as I wish it!

Ferdinand Be prudent, dear Pauline! We are going to act in harmony, are we not? Well, my love, the prosecuting attorney is of opinion that if we would triumph over the difficulties that prevent our union, we must have fortitude enough to part for some time.

Pauline

Oh! Give me two days and I will win over my father!

Ferdinand But you do not know Madame de Grandchamp. She has gone too far to leave off without ruining you, and to do that she will go to any lengths. But I will not go away without giving you what may prove most effective weapons against her.

Pauline

Oh, give them, give them to me!

Ferdinand Not yet. And you must promise me not to make use of them, unless your life is in danger; for what I am doing is certainly a breach of confidence. But it is for your sake I do it.

Pauline

Tell me what it is?

Ferdinand To-morrow I shall put into your hands the letters which she wrote to me, some of them before, some of them after her marriage. Pauline, do not read them! Swear this to me, in the name of our love, in the name of our happiness! It will be sufficient, should it ever become absolutely necessary, that she knows that they are in your possession; at that moment you will see her trembling and groveling at your feet, for all her machinations then are foiled. But do not use them excepting as a last resort, and keep them well concealed.

Pauline

What a terrible duel it will be!

Ferdinand Terrible! But, Pauline be courageous, as you have so far been, in keeping the secret of our love; do not acknowledge it, until you find it no longer possible to deny it.

Pauline Oh, why did your father betray the Emperor? If fathers knew how their children would be punished for the sins of their parents, there would be none but good men!

Ferdinand Perhaps this sad interview will prove the last moment of happiness we shall have!

Pauline (aside) I will rejoin him, if he leaves me – (Aloud) See, I no longer weep, I am full of courage! But tell me, will your friend know the place where you are hiding?

Ferdinand

Eugene will be our confidential friend.

Pauline

And the letters?