The Forfeiture | Page 8

liberal with you because you are charming.
BELISE: Alas, I never irritated you about anything. Except about
marriage and that was for your good. If boredom at being a maiden
made you do it, I would be compassionate, like a tender sister--for a
weakness.
ARAMINTE: You will never have such a weakness. If you come to
that-- and the wisest have--far from condemning you I would be
complaisant about it.
BELISE: Ah, be sure of my condescension.
ARAMINTE: Sometimes, we must be humane to each other.
BELISE: Alas, I, in getting married would authorize you to do so,
without wishing you ill for it.
ARAMINTE: Yes, marry quickly, yes. I would be ravished, for then I
could--
BELISE: What? Why?
ARAMINTE: But, sister--
BELISE: Could you have been capable of letting your heart be
surprised?
ARAMINTE: And you?
BELISE: But you--
ARAMINTE: But you--
BELISE: Eh!
ARAMINTE: But yes.
BELISE: Me, too.
ARAMINTE: Embrace me, sis.
BELISE: Sis, how I love you. Yes, we are truly sisters today.
ARAMINTE: You know, good hearts are always made for love. You
would have stayed a maid. What folly!
BELISE: Like you, I wonder how we made that imprudent vow thirty
years ago.
ARAMINTE: The one you love, you have freely. Without doubt, dear
sister, wise as you are, you have meditated over the choice that you've
made.
BELISE: You whose taste is so fine, so exquisite, undoubtedly you

made your choice with discernment.
ARAMINTE: Lively, playful, humorous. He's an amiable young man.
BELISE: The one that I love is young and yet respectable; wise, grave,
self possessed.
ARAMINTE: Mine always has the air--
BELISE: A solidity--
ARAMINTE: Brilliant like a flash of lightning.
BELISE: Who rarely speaks but with weight and measure.
ARAMINTE: Mine talks ceaselessly and about everything. But always
well.
BELISE: Like you, I see you and I have chosen our spouses according
to our characters.
ARAMINTE: It's prudent.
BELISE: It's wisdom. Mine has wealth, birth, esteem. He's the
Senechal Groux.
ARAMINTE: That's a man who is known. Like you, I have found a
noble spouse. But of ancient nobility. A distinguished man. He's the
Chevalier Cique.
BELISE: They speak well of him. Your vote, sister, and the voice of
the people honor him.
ARAMINTE: The public ought to praise us for our choices, But, in
other respects, we've had strange obstacles. This forfeiture, for
example--
BELISE: Yes, this forfeit, right.
ARAMINTE: Our promissory notes.
BELISE: Our promissory notes.
ARAMINTE: We've suffered a great wrong. To promise this nephew a
hundred thousand francs each.
BELISE: I have just refused this importunate demand and I believe he's
unaware of our plans. For a little money he will return our notes to us.
ARAMINTE: But to discharge them, what trick can we employ?
(Enter Geronte, Valere, Isabelle)
VALERE: (to Geronte) Take advantage of the opportunity. Better not
wait. They are pushing their explanation a long way. (aloud) Isabelle
didn't leave my aunts happily. And I've learned some good news.
GERONTE: I come to rejoice for the sake of Isabelle's love.
ISABELLE: I come with all my heart to congratulate you and I saw

immediately it was in joking that you always declaimed against
marriage, for you yourselves--
ARAMINTE: We ourselves--
BELISE: Ah, sis, what language--
VALERE: You are both going to get married.
ARAMINTE: (low) So as not to pay out, sister, we must deny it.
BELISE: The rumor is false.
ARAMINTE: Very false.
VALERE: Aunties, I believe it's true.
BELISE: What? You takes us for some extravagants? Us, marry! Us!
ARAMINTE: We, no, no. It's no longer time.
BELISE: No, don't think it. I am past forty.
VALERE: You're not.
ARAMINTE: And I am more than fifty.
VALERE: No.
BELISE: We are--
ISABELLE: No.
ARAMINTE: The dispute is funny. I believe we know our age better
than you. He's joking. And, sister, the notes he has from us are
worthless. Worth nothing. It's a vain hope.
BELISE: They are worth nothing. But, sister, Isabelle and Valere have
a tender feeling for each other. Their legitimate flames make me pity
them. Can they, like we, hate marriage? No. We must do something to
their advantage. They move me.
ARAMINTE: Yes, we are moved.
VALERE: You will be moved. Your notes will be fine.
BELISE: Let's not joke further. We will give Valere 10,000 ecus in all.
ARAMINTE: Yes. That's what we must do.
VALERE: No, no. We will wait for it all.
BELISE: Huh?
ISABELLE: Nothing presses us.
ARAMINTE: Take advantage of the opportunity.
VALERE: We will wait for you.
ARAMINTE: Because I am generous: Fifty thousand franks.
BELISE: That's too much. But I will equal it from generosity.
VALERE: Fifty thousand ecus. We shall wait.
BELISE: Oh, I won't keep more for you.

ARAMINTE: My nephew, my nephew,
ISABELLE: Manage them Valere, because fifty