The Stepmother | Page 8

doubtless be attorney-general at Rouen--a stepping-stone towards
a position at Paris.
Ferdinand And what brings you to our quiet factory?
Ramel I came to investigate a criminal case, a poisoning affair,--a fine
introduction into my office.
(Felix enters.)
Felix Monsieur, Madame is worrying about you--
Ferdinand Please ask her to excuse me for a few moments. (Exit Felix.)
My dear Eugene, in case the General--who like all retired troopers is
very inquisitive--should inquire how we happen to meet here, don't
forget to say that we came up the main avenue. It is important for me
that you should say so. But go on with your story. It is on account of
the wife of Champagne, our foreman, that you have come here; but he
is innocent as a new-born babe!
Ramel You believe so, do you? Well, the officers of justice are paid for
being incredulous. I see that you still remain, as I left you, the noblest,
the most enthusiastic fellow in the world; in short, a poet! A poet who
puts the poetry into his life instead of writing it, and believes in the
good and the beautiful! And that reminds me--that angel of your
dreams, that Gertrude of yours, whatever has become of her?
Ferdinand Hush! Not only has the minister of justice sent you here, but
some celestial influence has sent to me at Louviers the friend whose
help I need in my terrible perplexity. Eugene, come here and listen to
me a while. I am going to appeal to you as my college friend, as the
confidant of my youth; you won't put on the airs of the prosecuting
attorney to me, will you? You will see from the nature of my

admissions that I impose upon you the secrecy of the confessional.
Ramel Is it anything criminal?
Ferdinand Oh, nonsense! My faults are such as the judges themselves
would be willing to commit.
Ramel Perhaps I had better not listen to you; or, if I do listen to you--
Ferdinand Well!
Ramel I could demand a change of position.
Ferdinand You are always my best and kindest friend. Listen then! For
over three years I have been in love with Mlle. Pauline de Grandchamp,
and she--
Ramel You needn't go on; I understand. You have been reviving
/Romeo and Juliet/--in the heart of Normandy.
Ferdinand With this difference, that the hereditary hatred which stood
between the two lovers of the play was a mere trifle in comparison with
the loathing with which the Comte de Grandchamp contemplates the
son of the traitor Marcandal!
Ramel Let me see! Mlle. Pauline de Grandchamp will be free in three
years; she is rich in her own right--I know this from the Boudevilles.
You can easily take her to Switzerland and keep her there until the
General's wrath has had time to cool; and then you can make him the
respectful apologies required under the circumstances.
Ferdinand Do you think I would have asked your advice if the only
difficulty lay in the attainment of this trite and easy solution of the
problem?
Ramel Ah! I see, my dear friend. You have already married your
Gertrude--your angel--who has become to you like all other angels,
after their metamorphoses into a lawful wives.

Ferdinand 'Tis a hundred times worse than that! Gertrude, my dear sir,
is now Madame de Grandchamp.
Ramel Oh, dear! How is it you've thrust yourself into such a hornets'
nest?
Ferdinand In the same way that people always thrust themselves into
hornets' nests; that is, with the hope of finding honey there.
Ramel Oh, oh! This is a very serious matter! Now, really, you must
conceal nothing from me.
Ferdinand Mlle. Gertrude de Meilhac, educated at St. Denis, without
doubt loved me first of all through ambition; she was glad to know that
I was rich, and did all she could to gain my attachment with a view to
marriage.
Ramel Such is the game of all these intriguing orphan girls.
Ferdinand But how came it about that Gertrude has ended by loving me
so sincerely? For her passion may be judged by its effects. I call it a
passion, but with her it is first love, sole and undivided love, which
dominates her whole life, and seems to consume her. When she found
that I was a ruined man, towards the close of the year 1816, and
knowing that I was like you, a poet, fond of luxury and art, of a soft
and happy life, in short, a mere spoilt child, she formed a plan at once
base and sublime, such a plan as disappointed passion suggests to
women who, for the sake of their love, do all that despots do for the
sake of their power; for them, the supreme law is that of