The Lady of Lyons [17]
you, sir.
Mel. I never dared to hope it.
Pauline. But you are my husband now, and I have sworn to-- to love you, sir.
Mel. That was under a false belief, madam; Heaven and the laws will release you from your vow.
Pauline. He will drive me mad! if he were but less proud-- if he would but ask me to remain--hark, hark--I hear the wheels of the carriage--Sir--Claude, they are coming; have you no word to say ere it is loo late? Quick speak.
Mel. I can only congratulate you on your release. Behold your parents
Enter MONSIEUR and MADAME DESCHAPPELLES and COLONEL DAMAS.
M. Deschap. My child! my child!
Mme. Deschap. Oh, my poor Pauline!--what a villanous hovel this is! Old woman, get me a chair--I shall faint I certainly shall. What will the world say? Child, you have been a fool. A mother's heart is easily broken.
Damas. Ha, ha! most noble Prince--I am sorry to see a man of your quality in such a condition; I am afraid your highness will go to the House of Correction.
Mel. Taunt on, sir; I spared you when you were unarmed--I am unarmed now. A man who has no excuse for crime is indeed defenceless!
Damas. There's something fine in the rascal, after all!
M. Deschap. Where is the impostor?--Are you thus shameless, traitor? Can you brave the presence of that girl's father?
Mel. Strike me, if it please you--you are her father.
Pauline. Sir--sir, for my sake; whatever his guilt, he has acted nobly in atonement.
Mme. Deschap. Nobly! Are you mad, girl? I have no patience with you-- to disgrace all your family thus! Nobly! Oh you abominable, hardened, pitiful, mean, ugly villain!
Damas. Ugly! Why he was beautiful yesterday!
Pauline. Madame, this is his roof, and he is my husband. Respect your daughter, or let blame fall alone on her.
Mme. Deschap. You--you--Oh, I'm choking.
M. Deschap. Sir, it were idle to waste reproach upon a conscience like yours--you renounce all pretensions to the person of this lady?
Mel. I do. [Gives a paper.] Here is my consent to a divorce-- my full confession of the fraud which annuls the marriage. Your daughter has been foully wronged--I grant it, sir; but her own lips will tell you that, from the hour in which she crossed this threshold, I returned to my own station, and respected hers. Pure and inviolate, as when yestermorn you laid your hand upon her head, and blessed her, I yield her back to you. For myself-- I deliver you for ever from my presence. An outcast and a criminal, I seek some distant land, where I may mourn my sin, and pray for your daughter's peace. Farewell--farewell to you all, for ever!
Willow. Claude, Claude, you will not leave your poor old mother? She does not disown you in your sorrow no, not even in your guilt. No divorce can separate a mother from her son.
Pauline. This poor widow teaches me my duty. No, mother,--no, for you are now my mother also!--nor should any law, human or divine, separate the wife from her husband's sorrows. Claude--Claude--all is forgotten forgiven--I am. thine for ever!
Mme. Deschap. What do I hear?--Come away, or never see my face again.
M. Deschap. Pauline, we never betrayed you!--do you forsake us for him?
Pauline. [going back to her father]. Oh no--but you will forgive him too; we will live together--he shall be your son.
M. Deschap. Never! Cling to him and forsake your parents! His home shall be yours--his fortune yours--his fate yours: the wealth I have acquired by honest industry shall never enrich the dishonest man.
Pauline. And you would have a wife enjoy luxury while a husband toils! Claude, take me; thou canst not give me wealth, titles, station-- but thou canst give me a true heart I will work for thee, tend thee, bear with thee, and never, never shall these lips reproach thee for the past.
Damas. I'll be hanged if I am not going to blubber!
Mel. This is the heaviest blow of all!--What a heart I have wronged!-- Do not fear me, sir; I am not all hardened--I will not rob her of a holier love than mine. Pauline!--angel of
Mel. I never dared to hope it.
Pauline. But you are my husband now, and I have sworn to-- to love you, sir.
Mel. That was under a false belief, madam; Heaven and the laws will release you from your vow.
Pauline. He will drive me mad! if he were but less proud-- if he would but ask me to remain--hark, hark--I hear the wheels of the carriage--Sir--Claude, they are coming; have you no word to say ere it is loo late? Quick speak.
Mel. I can only congratulate you on your release. Behold your parents
Enter MONSIEUR and MADAME DESCHAPPELLES and COLONEL DAMAS.
M. Deschap. My child! my child!
Mme. Deschap. Oh, my poor Pauline!--what a villanous hovel this is! Old woman, get me a chair--I shall faint I certainly shall. What will the world say? Child, you have been a fool. A mother's heart is easily broken.
Damas. Ha, ha! most noble Prince--I am sorry to see a man of your quality in such a condition; I am afraid your highness will go to the House of Correction.
Mel. Taunt on, sir; I spared you when you were unarmed--I am unarmed now. A man who has no excuse for crime is indeed defenceless!
Damas. There's something fine in the rascal, after all!
M. Deschap. Where is the impostor?--Are you thus shameless, traitor? Can you brave the presence of that girl's father?
Mel. Strike me, if it please you--you are her father.
Pauline. Sir--sir, for my sake; whatever his guilt, he has acted nobly in atonement.
Mme. Deschap. Nobly! Are you mad, girl? I have no patience with you-- to disgrace all your family thus! Nobly! Oh you abominable, hardened, pitiful, mean, ugly villain!
Damas. Ugly! Why he was beautiful yesterday!
Pauline. Madame, this is his roof, and he is my husband. Respect your daughter, or let blame fall alone on her.
Mme. Deschap. You--you--Oh, I'm choking.
M. Deschap. Sir, it were idle to waste reproach upon a conscience like yours--you renounce all pretensions to the person of this lady?
Mel. I do. [Gives a paper.] Here is my consent to a divorce-- my full confession of the fraud which annuls the marriage. Your daughter has been foully wronged--I grant it, sir; but her own lips will tell you that, from the hour in which she crossed this threshold, I returned to my own station, and respected hers. Pure and inviolate, as when yestermorn you laid your hand upon her head, and blessed her, I yield her back to you. For myself-- I deliver you for ever from my presence. An outcast and a criminal, I seek some distant land, where I may mourn my sin, and pray for your daughter's peace. Farewell--farewell to you all, for ever!
Willow. Claude, Claude, you will not leave your poor old mother? She does not disown you in your sorrow no, not even in your guilt. No divorce can separate a mother from her son.
Pauline. This poor widow teaches me my duty. No, mother,--no, for you are now my mother also!--nor should any law, human or divine, separate the wife from her husband's sorrows. Claude--Claude--all is forgotten forgiven--I am. thine for ever!
Mme. Deschap. What do I hear?--Come away, or never see my face again.
M. Deschap. Pauline, we never betrayed you!--do you forsake us for him?
Pauline. [going back to her father]. Oh no--but you will forgive him too; we will live together--he shall be your son.
M. Deschap. Never! Cling to him and forsake your parents! His home shall be yours--his fortune yours--his fate yours: the wealth I have acquired by honest industry shall never enrich the dishonest man.
Pauline. And you would have a wife enjoy luxury while a husband toils! Claude, take me; thou canst not give me wealth, titles, station-- but thou canst give me a true heart I will work for thee, tend thee, bear with thee, and never, never shall these lips reproach thee for the past.
Damas. I'll be hanged if I am not going to blubber!
Mel. This is the heaviest blow of all!--What a heart I have wronged!-- Do not fear me, sir; I am not all hardened--I will not rob her of a holier love than mine. Pauline!--angel of