Vautrin | Page 5

head; for since that time it has constantly occurred to me that the duke would never have carried out his threats. In making the sacrifice I did, I knew that Fernand would be poor and destitute, without a name, and dwelling in an unknown land; but I knew also that his life would be safe, and that some day I should recover him, even if I had to search the whole world over! I felt so cheerful as I came in that I forgot to give you the certificate of Fernand's birth, which the Spanish ambassador's wife has at last obtained for me; carry it about with you until you can place it in the hands of your confessor.
Mademoiselle de Vaudrey The duke must certainly have learnt the measures you have taken in this matter, and woe be to your son! Since his return he has been very busy, and is still busy about something.
The Duchess If I shake off the disgrace with which he has tried to cover me, if I give up shedding tears in silence, be assured that nothing can bend me from my purpose. I am no longer in Spain or England, at the mercy of a diplomat crafty as a tiger, who during the whole time of our emigration was reading the thoughts of my heart's inmost recesses, and with invisible spies surrounding my life as by a network of steel; turning my secrets into jailers, and keeping me prisoner in the most horrible of prisons, an open house! I am in France, I have found you once more, I hold my place at court, I can speak my mind there; I shall learn what has become of the Vicomte de Langeac, I should prove that since the Tenth of August[*] we have never met, I shall inform the king of the crime committed by a father against a son who is the heir of two noble houses. I am a woman, I am Duchesse de Montsorel, I am a mother! We are rich, we have a virtuous priest for an adviser; right is on our side, and if I have demanded the certificate of my son's birth--
[*] A noteworthy date in French history, August 10, 1792; the day of the storming of the Tuileries.--J. W. M.
SCENE NINTH. The same persons, and the Duc de Montsorel (who enters as the duchess pronounces the last sentence).
The Duke It is only for the purpose of handing it to me.
The Duchess Since when have you ventured to enter my apartment without previously sending me word and asking my leave?
The Duke Since you broke the agreement we made. You swore to take no steps to find this--your son. This was the sole condition on which I promised to let him live.
The Duchess And is it not much more honorable to violate such an oath, than to remain faithful to all others?
The Duke We are henceforth both of us released from our engagements.
The Duchess Have you, up to the present day, respected yours?
The Duke I have, madame.
The Duchess Listen to him, aunt, and bear witness to this declaration.
Mademoiselle de Vaudrey But has it never occurred to you, my dear sir, that Louise is innocent?
The Duke Of course you think so, Mademoiselle de Vaudrey. And what would not I give to share your opinion! The duchess has had twenty years in which to prove to me her innocence.
The Duchess For twenty years you have wrung my heart without pity and without intermission.
The Duke Madame, unless you hand me this certificate, your Fernand will have serious cause for alarm. As soon as you returned to France you secured the document, and are trying to employ it as a weapon against me. You desire to obtain for your son a fortune and a name which do not belong to him; to secure his admission into a family, whose race has up to my time been kept pure by wives of stainless reputation, a family which has never formed a single mesalliance--
The Duchess And which will be worthily represented by your son Albert.
The Duke Be careful what you say, for you waken in me terrible memories. And your last word shows me that you will not shrink from causing a scandal that will overwhelm all of us with shame. Shall we air in public courts past occurrences which will show that I am not free from reproach, while you are infamous? (He turns to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey) She cannot have told you everything, dear aunt? She was in love with Viscount Langeac; I knew it, and respected her love; I was so young! The viscount came to me; being without hope of inheriting a fortune, and the last representative of his house, he unselfishly offered to give up Louise de Vaudrey. I trusted in