Pamela Giraud | Page 6

pension on me.
Justine Here is madame.
SCENE THIRD
The same persons and Madame Rousseau.
Mme. Rousseau (to Dupre) Ah! Monsieur, we have been impatiently expecting this visit. (To Antoine) Antoine! Quick, inform my husband. (To Dupre) Sir, I trust in your efforts, alone.
Dupre You may be sure, madame, that I shall employ every energy--
Mme. Rousseau Oh! Thank you! But of course Jules is not guilty. To think of him as a conspirator! Poor child, how could any one suspect him, who trembles before me at the slightest reproach--me, his mother! Ah, monsieur, promise that you will restore him to me!
Rousseau (entering the room) (To Antoine) Yes, carry the letter to General de Verby. I shall wait for him here. (To Dupre) I am glad to see you, my dear M. Dupre--
Dupre The battle will doubtless begin to-morrow; to-day preparations are being made, and the indictment drawn.
Rousseau Has my poor Jules made any admissions?
Dupre He has denied everything, and has played to perfection the part of an innocent man; but we are not able to oppose any testimony to that which is being brought against him.
Rousseau Ah! Monsieur, save my son, and the half of my fortune shall be yours!
Dupre If I had every half of a fortune that has been promised to me, I should be too rich for anything.
Rousseau Do you question the extent of my gratitude?
Dupre We will wait till the result of the trial is known, sir.
Mme. Rousseau Take pity on a poor mother!
Dupre Madame, I swear to you nothing so much excites my curiosity and my sympathy, as a genuine sentiment. And at Paris sincerity is so rare that I cannot be indifferent to the grief of a family threatened with the loss of an only son. You may therefore rely upon me.
Rousseau Ah! Monsieur!
SCENE FOURTH
The same persons, General de Verby and Madame du Brocard.
Mme. du Brocard (showing in De Verby) Come in, my dear general.
De Verby (bowing to Rousseau) Monsieur--I simply came to learn--
Rousseau (presenting Dupre to De Verby) General, M. Dupre.
(Dupre and De Verby exchange bows.)
Dupre (aside, while De Verby talks with Rousseau) He is general of the antechamber, holding the place merely through the influence of his brother, the lord chamberlain; he doesn't seem to me to have come here without some object.
De Verby (to Dupre) I understand, sir, that you are engaged for the defence of M. Jules Rousseau in this deplorable affair--
Dupre Yes, sir, it is a deplorable affair, for the real culprits are not in prison; thus it is that justice rages fiercely against the rank and file, but the chiefs are always passed by. You are General Vicomte de Verby, I presume?
De Verby Simple General Verby--I do not take the title--my opinions of course. --Doubtless you are acquainted with the evidence in this case?
Dupre I have been in communication with the accused only for the last three days.
De Verby And what do you think of the affair?
All Yes, tell us.
Dupre According to my experience of the law courts, I believe it possible to obtain important revelations by offering commutation of sentence to the condemned.
De Verby The accused are all men of honor.
Rousseau But--
Dupre Characters sometime change at the prospect of the scaffold, especially when there is much at stake.
De Verby (aside) A conspiracy ought not to be entered upon excepting with penniless accomplices.
Dupre I shall induce my client to tell everything.
Rousseau Of course.
Mme. du Brocard Certainly.
Mme. Rousseau He ought to do so.
De Verby (anxiously) I presume there is no other way of escape for him?
Dupre None whatever; it can be proved that he was of the number of those who had begun to put in execution the plot.
De Verby I would rather lose my head than my honor.
Dupre I should consider which of the two was worth more.
De Verby You have your views in the matter.
Rousseau Those are mine.
Dupre And they are the opinions of the majority. I have seen many things done by men to escape the scaffold. There are people who push others to the front, who risk nothing, and yet reap all the fruits of success. Have such men any honor? Can one feel any obligation towards them?
De Verby No, they are contemptible wretches.
Dupre (aside) He has well said it. This is the fellow who has ruined poor Jules! I must keep my eye on him.
SCENE FIFTH
The same persons, Antoine and Jules (the latter led in by police agents.)
Antoine Sir, a carriage stopped at the door. Several men got out. M. Jules is with them; they are bringing him in.
M. and Mme. Rousseau My son!
Mme. du Brocard My nephew!
Dupre Yes, I see what it is--doubtless a search-warrant. They wish to look over his papers.
Antoine Here he is.
(Jules appears in the centre, followed by the police and a magistrate; he rushes up to his mother.)
Jules O mother! My good mother!