The Stepmother | Page 3

by an income of forty thousand francs is accepted without
protest, and wins its way to the front. That is why you took me for a
good match. So long as there are no mortgages on the rich pasture lands
of the Auge Valley, so long as one possesses a fine chateau, well
furnished--for my wife need bring with her nothing but her trousseau,
since she will find there even the cashmeres and 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