The Stepmother, A Drama in Five Acts

Gertrude You have been reading the Nouvelle Heloise, my dear. What you say is rather stilted in diction, but it is nevertheless true.

Pauline

Well, madame, you have just caused me to commit suicide.

Gertrude The very act you would have been happy to see me commit; and if you had succeeded in forcing me to it, you would have felt in your heart the joy which fills mine at present.

Pauline According to my father, war between civilized nations has its laws; but the war which you wage against me, madame, is that of savages.

Gertrude

You may do as I do, if you can – but you can do nothing! You shall marry Godard. He is a very good match for you; you will be very happy,

I assure you, for he has fine qualities.

Pauline

And you think that I will quietly let you marry Ferdinand?

Gertrude

After the few words which we have exchanged this evening, why should we now indulge in the language of hypocrisy? I was in love with

Ferdinand, my dear Pauline, when you were but eight years old.

Pauline But now you are more than thirty – and I am still young. Moreover, he hates you, he abhors you! He has told me so, and he wishes to have nothing to do with a woman capable of the black treachery with which you have acted towards my father.

Gertrude

In the eyes of Ferdinand, my love will serve as my vindication.

Pauline

He shares the feelings which I have for you; he despises you, madame.

Gertrude Do you really believe it? Well, if it is so, my dear, I have one more reason for the position I take, for if he refuses to become my husband, to gratify his love, Pauline, you will force me to marry him for the sake of satisfying my revenge. When he came to this house, was he not aware that I was here?

Pauline You probably caught him by some such snare as you have just set for us, and into which both of us have fallen.

Gertrude Now, my child, a single word more will put an end to everything between us. Have you not said a hundred times, a thousand times, in moments when you were all feeling, all soul, that you would make the greatest sacrifices for Ferdinand?

Pauline

Yes, madame.

Gertrude You said you would leave your father, would flee from France; you would give your life, your honor, your salvation for Ferdinand?

Pauline Yes, and if there is anything else that I can offer besides myself – this world and heaven!

Gertrude Let me tell you, then, that all that you have wished to do, I have done! It is enough therefore to assure you that nothing, not even death itself, can arrest my course.

Pauline In saying this, you give me the right to defend myself before my father. (Aside) O Ferdinand! Our love, (Gertrude takes a seat on the sofa during the soliloquy of Pauline) as she has said, is greater than life. (To Gertrude) Madame, you must repair all the evil that you have done to me; the sole difficulties which lie in the way of my marriage with Ferdinand, you must overcome. Yes, you who have complete control over my father, you must make him forego his hatred of the son of General Marcandal.

Gertrude

And do you really mean that?

Pauline

Yes, madame.

Gertrude

And what means do you possess formidable enough to compel me to do so?

Pauline

Are we not carrying on a warfare of savages?

Gertrude Say rather, of women, which is even more terrible! Savages torment the body alone; while we direct our arrows against the heart, the self-love, the pride, the soul of those whom we attack in the very midst of their happiness.

Pauline That is truly said. It is the whole woman-nature that I attack. Therefore, my dear and truly honored stepmother, you must eliminate by to-morrow, and not later, all the obstacles that stand between me and Ferdinand; or you may be sure my father shall learn from me the whole course of your conduct, both before and after your marriage.

Gertrude Ah! That is the way you are going to do it! Poor child! He will never believe you.

Pauline Oh, I know the domination you exercise over my father; but I have proofs.

Gertrude

Proofs! Proofs!

Pauline I went to Ferdinand's house – I am very inquisitive – and I found there your letters, madame; I took from among them those which would convince even the blindness of my father, for they will prove to him —

Gertrude

What will they prove?

Pauline

Everything!

Gertrude But this will be, unhappy child, both theft and murder! For think of his age.

Pauline And have not you accomplished the murder of my happiness? Have you not forced me to deny, both to my father and to Ferdinand, my love, my glory, my life?

Gertrude (aside)

This is a mere trick; she knows nothing. (Aloud) This is a clever stratagem, but I never wrote a single line. What you say is not true.