Anna Cora Mowatt

“ Death! commit murder! Monsieur Antoine, murder poor little Blanche? Oh! how terrible! But I say nothing - what a Duke commands of course is right - but death - Oh! my poor Blanche! Rich
A seeming death may serve - so that the King shall think it real. There are drugs which produce a sleep that seems the very twin of death, yet do not harm the sleeper. Take this phial, its contents have played servants to my wish before to-day : Blanche too must prove their power. ”

“ Dear Mam'selle Blanche, to think that I should have found you at last! and through that beautiful little page! Blan
But, Armand! Oh! my best Jaqueline, my friend, thou hast seen Armand - and he knows I live - he spoke of me as in our early days - Jaq
Ay, that he did, Mam'selle, and I am sure he loves you as much as ever. Blan
Bless thee, Jaqueline! (embracing her fervently) Oh! how one hour of joy Can brighten a whole age of agony! The weary years that sundered us so long have vanished - every pang that wrung my soul is blotted out from memory! ”

“ Woman! thou shalt not brave me thus! (seizes her) No human power can save thee - thou art mine! What are thy feeble struggles in my grasp? Blan
(sinking on her knees) Spare me, my liege, spare me! King
It is thy turn to sue, and all in vain! thou hast forgot that I am King, and thou hast no protector! Blan
(starting up) I have! I have! One who for sakes me not! One whom thou darest not brave! unloose thy hold or dread his fury! Heaven protects me still! (The King releases her, awed by her manner) Thou art my sovereign - I a friendless subject - I woman, and thou man! ”

“ When love - the soul's first love and last - the love no absence changes, and which time and sorrow chastise to strengthen - is too fiercely curbed, its passion breaks all other ties - defies all chances and all perils - leaps all barriers, that hold or part it from its idol - or dragged by a chain too mighty to the earth, the iron eats its slow and silent way into the soul - and then - we die - my father! Rich
I know thy sex too well, girl, at its tears or wrath to change my purpose, - woman's grief is wind and rain one summer hour will end. ”

“ Thou and thy state, Armand, are not akin; And thy ambition wakes my fear - Yet why! - Why should he feel ambition to be great, whose nobler struggle, in a nobler strife, has made him good. Arm
My nature is not cast, sweet Blanche!, in mould so true and pure as thine ambition winds itself about the root of every vigorous mind. Ambition gives the startling impulse to its higher action! Ambition spurs it on - sustains - inspires! ”

“ Ah! when I listen to thee, Armand, I tremble lest the artizan's poor garb hould hide the warrior's danger-loving heart. Arm
Nay, Blanche, to love my country with my soul is nor to love the warrior's perils - nor his triumphs. - All men, be they high or humble, owe to the land that gives them birth a tribute! And with his talents man may pay the debt, or with his industry, or with his blood ! ”

“ Rise and listen to me, Dame, for on your implicit obedience hangs your future welfare - perhaps your life. Bab
Life! life! Oh! Surely you won't kill me? Monsieur Antoine - I mean your Grace, consider my years - Mercy! Mercy! Oh my poor neck will be stiff for a year! Rich
Be silent, and listen. You were walking last evening in these gardens with Blanche, - by what unlucky chance you came here - by what strange means obtained admission, I have not time to learn. The King saw Blanche - is enamored of her - desires that she shall be presented at court. Bab
Blessed Mary! what an honor! ”

“ My gracious liege, no King can tear the land-marks from the honest path of Truth. Marry! call'st thou that marriage which but joins two hands with iron bonds? that yokes, but not unites, two hearts whose pulses never beat in unison? ”

“ Rich
(after pausing and looking at Armand,) Armand, I hated thee - had planned thy ruin - But yet I loved my child, and would have sold myself to slavery to have shielded her from Louis. Now, all feelings merge in one,that one the last! She lives - may live for thee. Find her, and she is thine! or if, when found, thou canst not from the royal libertine, defend her, save her as a Roman would. Arm
Fear not - the King is but a man! A man with no more rights than I, when on my rights he dares to trench! ”

“ Which breathed from her pure lips - gave to her step Its springing bound - her every movement lent Its airy grace - pervaded her whole being - Impregnated the air that kissed her robe, And with an atmosphere of purity Encircled her! King. The wondrous beauty - nay! ”

“ Hey day! what next? Monsieur Armand, forsooth, and Mam'selle Blanche! how courteous we have grown! You're almost too polite Madame Babette! Bab
Mam'selle Blanche cannot dance upon the green to-day. Blan
Not dance, dear Dame, when I am chosen queen? And I, in turn, have chosen Armand king! Good Dame! dear Dame indeed, but I must dance! Arm
Are you possessed, my good Madame Babette? The villagers would tear your cottage down. Nonsense! Come, little queen, they wait for us. The Dame is but our subject after all! obedience is her duty, and not ours. Good-day, good Dame - good-day, Madame Babette! ”

“ Where is our Queen? our Queen! Bring us our Queen! (ARMAND and Villagers appear at window. Arm
(without) Patience, my friends, your patience while I seek her, and for an instant tarry where you are! Enter ARMAND lightly and quickly, R. D. F.
Arm
Blanche! Blanche! Queen Blanche! where are you dallying? Your subjects grow rebellious to behold you! Ah! who can wonder that they cannot live from thy sweet sight! And I, the least of all. Good-morrow Dame, they've sent me here to claim our faithless sovereign. Come, thou truant queen. ”

“ Armand, come back. 'Tis Blanche. She lives! Rich
My child! Hold, I command thee! Blan
Call me not thy child! Oh! what to me are nature's chance-knit ties To those that with rude hand thou sunderest now? It is the spirit's purer, stronger bonds through life - through death - to all eternity unchanging, holy, indestructible, - That join my soul to Armand! Part us not! ”

“ The villagers coming here! Oh dear, Oh dear, I shall be ruined if the Duke finds them. Run, tell Blanche that I want her alone, and they must not enter. Tell her my poor neck - no, no, - tell her they must not come in. Jaq
I'll tell her, hut she wont mind; I wouldn't if I were she. (Exit. c. off L. R. D. F. Bab
(music) There they come sure enough! Oh, dear, what shall I do to get rid of them! If the Duke finds them and gets angry, I shall die of fright! Oh! my poor neck - I shall never again be sure that I have it on my shoulders. Blanche! Blanche! Is Blanche coming? ”

“ The hour of her reviving must be near. Nay, at this very moment animation may to her dormant form return. - All's lost unless - Your Majesty - (approaching him. King
Ah! Richelieu, look! Rich
This vain indulgence of your sorrow, sire, is to yourself injurious. King
Richelieu - no - Look - death itself hath lost its wonted terrors, touching her beauty but to borrow it! Death, did I say? It doth not seem like death! Rich
(much agitated) Not seem like death? I pray your Majesty, permit me, sire - let me conduct you hence. ”

“ Blanche must be saved - the King must never more Behold her - to remove her secretly, would be impossible - yet at the risk of life, be it her's or mine - or both - she shall not breathe the court's contaminating air. ”

“ You know she will have her own way, and does with us all just what she pleases. She heard that the King was holding his court in Paris, and thought that her father, the Duke de Richelieu - Oh, dear, to think that the father of our little Blanche should be a Duke! what an honor, though he did shut her up in a convent, and made all the villagers believe that she was dead - well, she thought the Duke, her father, must be in Paris too, so she chose to come here. And do you know that Blanche has written twice to the Duke and told him where we are. ”

“ I know no withered leaflet falls to earth. - No blade of grass bursts from its sheath of green; - No grain of sand is swallowed by the wave - unnoted by that ruling Providence that guides the universe, yet stoops to clothe the flower with beauty! And from seeming ills works out our truest, most enduring good! ”

“ To gaze upon the sky Arched in blue glory o'er my upturned head - The forms of beauty, called by loving spring Out of the affluent bosom of the earth; The sun, beneath whose warm, resplendent light All nature teems: these simplest, daily things, Which custom cannot strip of loveliness, To look on these is to be happy! ”

“ We live in that which is, and so defy what may be. Let the unknown future bring us years - long years of unimagin'd woe.- It cannot steal the lustre from these hours, whose very memory would irradiate the darkest, time and fate can hold in store! ”

“ Arise, Armand; the King but seldom sees his subjects' hearts unveiled. I value thine because I trust it. Hence, without delay; At noon the Captain of my Guard will know my wishes - seek him at that hour thou; When next we meet, be it at Fontenoye! Arm
My liege, not with my lips, but with my sword my gratitude shall thank thee! (going, returns) Must I leave thee, Blanche? But no, I will return to take one last farewell. My liege, at Fontenoye my arm shall prove my words. At Fontenoye! (Exit L l E. King
(approaching the couch, and gazing at Blanche) How potent is the sight of thee, O death! ”

“ But one word more Of Armand. Woman may be constant - when Was man? what wouldst thou think? how wouldst thou act If Armand's troth were plighted to another? Blan
Another? Armand love and Armand wed another? No! the present could not thus belie the past! Yet is it true he thought - still thinks me dead; but death could only part, not disunite us! Armand love another - Oh wretch! to wrong his memory with the thought! Armand has not forgotten me -'tis false! ”

“ Dullness ends her weary reign. 'Tis plain this young enchantress will dethrone her. King
In sooth, she shall! Richelieu, my friend, be With speed let this new constellation shine Upon our court. - Some noble dame select, Beneath her high protection place this maid. ”

“ For she who with these warm and living lips pleads to thee here, is dead to all who loved her best. Within a village churchyard lies an humble stone that bears her name - and yet she stands before you! ”

“ Its bounds are fixed by these, Who've made so light our earnest task to please, By lenient eyes, that only beauties seek, And lenient lips, that mildest judgment speak! Who, if some passing good they chance to find, Seem to all else so kindly, gently blind! Our faces are of yours the mirrors true, Cloud 'neath your frown - grow bright at smiles from you. What fiat then to-night may we expect? Shall we your censure, or your smiles reflect?
Disposition of characters at the fall of curtain. R. King. Armand. Blanche. ”

“ But, Monsieur Victor, a word concerning the young peasant, who yesterevening- Victor
Ah! You touch us nearly when you talk of her! Our love for the "illusive sex" for such we deem them- is our Achilles' heel- our vulnerable point! His Majesty, like ourself, has been cold for a season; but once more the intoxicating effect of the tender passion has overpowered us.In a word, his Majesty is pleased with this young piece of incarnate loveliness, we may say charmed. Enter King and Richelieu. ”

“ For Heavenward as my tearful eyes I turn, A radiant vision meets them there, and bids Me guard my soul, unsullied by a deed That could divide us in that land of joy! My heart hath but one wish - my life one hope - All time one joy -that of rejoining thee! (Sinks at the head of the couch, and buries his head in his hands. Enter Victor, ushering in the King, L. D. l E. (Exit Victor, L. u.
King
A secret awe has paralyzed my limbs - I scarcely dare - (approaching the couch, perceives Armand) Ha! what is this! a youth o'erwhelmed with grief, kneeling beside her corse? ”

“ One moment he is like an angry child disappointed of its plaything, the next a very woman deluged in tears. But we can sympathize with him; we know the pangs which a passion for th' illusive sex too surely inflicts. We have suffered ourselves. ”

“ The legal crime that mocks the very name of marriage - that invades - Profanes - destroys its inner holiness? No! 'tis the spirit that alone can wed, When with spontaneous joy it seeks and finds, and with its kindred spirit blends itself! My liege, there is no other marriage tie! [Enter Victor with Blanche veiled, and Jaqueline following, L. u. E. King
This daring is beyond endurance - nay, beyond belief. Since you reject our grace, beware our wrath! retire. [Armand exits L,. 1 E.] This stubborn boy no more shall thwart our wishes! ”

“ A monarch's state that sanctions what would shame a subject, doubly shames itself! when wrong and Crime usurp the garments of that state, they grow more hideous in those glittering robes than when they wear the branded felon's garb. ”

“ Upon the loftier height the man is placed, His virtues more resplendent shine - his vices more hideous seem - the virtues of my King above the virtues of more common men - I prize for they have wider sphere of good. ”

“ Art kingly in thy deeds? The star that shines so brightly on thy breast is worthless if it shed no light within! The throne that lifts thee o'er thy fellow men should teach the virtues which alone can raise thee 'bove them! ”

“ Armand! I thought thee loyal - Arm
So I was, when loyalty was virtue - Oh! my liege, because my heart 'neath ruder vesture once hath beat, than e'er thine own hath throbbed against, think'st thou its feeling is less keen? Its sense of injury less delicate? thinkest thou it 'will not leap as readily to kindness? Will not revolt as quickly at oppression ? How then shall I be loyal, when my King would do me the worst injury that man can do to man? ”

“ Mademoiselle Blanche! there's such a handsome young man waiting to speak to you - he has a letter to deliver, and he says, he will only give it into your own hands - I hope you'll see him - I'm sure I would! ”

“ A death so sudden, so improbable, so unaccountable, excites mistrust. If the report be false, - I have my doubts, vague and unconfirmed, still I doubt her death. The King must be persuaded to visit old Babette's cottage,and himself behold the corse, if corse there be. ”