The Stepmother | Page 3

laces of my late mother--when a man has all that, General, he has got all the courage he need have. Besides, I am now Monsieur de Rimonville.
The General No, you're only Godard.
Godard Godard de Rimonville.
The General Godard for short.
Godard General, you are trying my patience.
The General As for me, it would try my patience to see a man, even if he were my son-in-law, deny his father; and your father, a right honest man, used himself to drive his beeves from Caen to Poissy, and all along the road was known as Godard--Father Godard.
Godard He was highly thought of.
The General He was, in his own class. But I see what's the matter; as his cattle provided you with an income of forty thousand francs, you are counting upon other animals to give you the name of De Rimonville.
Godard Now come, General, you had better consult Mlle. Pauline; she belongs to her own epoch--that she does. We are now in the year 1829 and Charles X. is king. She would sooner hear the valet call out, as she left a ballroom, "the carriage of Madame de Rimonville," than, "the carriage of Madame Godard."
The General Well, if such silliness as this pleases my daughter, it makes no difference to me. For, after all, you would be the one they'd poke fun at, my dear Godard.
Godard De Rimonville.
The General Godard, you are a good fellow, you are young, you are rich, you say that you won't pay your court to women, but that your wife shall be the queen of your house. Well, if you gain her consent you can have mine; for bear in mind, Pauline will only marry the man she loves, rich or poor. There may be one exception, but that doesn't concern you. I would prefer to attend her funeral rather than take her to the registry office to marry a man who was a son, grandson, brother, nephew, cousin or connection of one of the four or five wretches who betrayed--you know what my religion is--
Godard Betrayed the Emperor. Yes, everyone knows your creed, General.
The General God, first of all; then France or the Emperor--It is all the same to me. Lastly, my wife and children! Whoever meddles with my gods becomes my enemy; I would kill him like a hare, remorselessly. My catechism is short, but it is good. Do you know why, in the year 1816, after their cursed disbanding of the army of the Loire, I took my little motherless child and came here, I, colonel of the Young Guard, wounded at Waterloo, and became a cloth manufacturer of Louviers?
Godard I suppose you didn't wish to hold office under them.
The General No, because I did not wish to die as a murderer on the scaffold.
Godard What do you mean?
The General If I had met one of those traitors, I should have finished his business for him. Even to-day, after some fifteen years, my blood boils if I read their names in the newspaper or anyone mentions them in my presence. And indeed, if I should meet one of them, nothing would prevent me from springing at his throat, tearing him to pieces, strangling him--
Godard You would do right. (Aside) I must humor him.
The General Yes, sir, I would strangle him! And if my son-in-law were to ill-treat my dear child, I would do the same to him.
Godard Ah!
The General I shouldn't wish him to be altogether under her thumb. A man ought to be king in his own house, as I am here.
Godard (aside) Poor man! How he deceives himself!
The General Did you speak?
Godard I said, General, that your threat had no terrors for me! When one has nothing but a wife to love, he loves her well.
The General Quite right, my dear Godard. And now with regard to the marriage settlement?
Godard Oh, yes!
The General My daughter's portion consists of--
Godard Consists of--
The General It comprises her mother's fortune and the inheritance of her uncle Boncoeur. It will be undivided, for I give up my rights to it. This will amount to three hundred and fifty thousand francs and a year's interest, for Pauline is twenty-two.
Godard This will make up three hundred and sixty-seven thousand five hundred francs.
The General No.
Godard Why not?
The General It will be more!
Godard More?
The General Four hundred thousand francs. (Godard seems astonished.) I make up the difference! But when I die there will be nothing more coming to her. Do you understand?
Godard I do not understand.
The General I am very much attached to little Napoleon.
Godard You mean the young Duke of Reichstadt?
The General No, my son whom they would enter in the register only under the name of Leon; but I had inscribed here (he places his hand upon his heart) the name of Napoleon! Do you see I must provide for