Mary Johnston

“ The Marquise
It was a summer day when first we met,
And now we part within a prison here,
And never shall we see each other more!
De Vardes
Oh, briefer than the fairest summer day
175The little hour before we meet again!
Soon, soon I’ll follow thee, and all of these!
The reaper hath his sickle in the corn.
He is a madman, but the field is God’s,
And God will garner up the fallen ears,
And in another life we two shall meet!
The Marquise
And wilt thou love me then? Ah, no! Ah, no!
De Vardes
Thou art a lady brave and fair—
The Marquise
Alas!
Grégoire
The Nun Benôite, an Ursuline! ”

“ And saw the morning star above the Loire!
De Vardes
The morning star!
Yvette
‘Twas like the eye of God!
I used to watch it from the fields at dawn;
This morn ‘twas watching me!
190De Vardes
Rémond Lalain!
Yvette
‘Twas all in vain. She’s dead—ah, ages since!
You’ll not forgive—So fare you well again!
De Vardes
Where goest thou, Yvette?
Yvette
To Séraphine,
Beneath the Lanterne, Sign of the Hour Glass!
De Vardes
Hear and obey! It is a dying man
Speaks to thee now and with authority!—
Thy seigneur too, and head of all thy house. ”

“ O France,
Of old thou wast a pleasant land and free,
In palace and in field a courteous place!
Now thou art desolate! Come, Austria, come!
Come, D’Artois, come, Brunswick, and come, Provence!
Rend the tricolour from the breast of France
And plant the fleur-de-lis where stood the Jacobins!
Voices (from the street)
Quoi! ces cohortes étrangères
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers!
Mlle. de Château-Gui
Hast said farewell to the Marquise?
De Vardes
Not yet,
As far as Vannes I ride beside her coach.
Yvette
Oh!—
Mlle. de Château-Gui
Soon or late, she’ll draw you back to Nantes! ”

“ I’ll tell thee, farceur, what it hath achieved:
It hath achieved the death of the Gironde,
Death of Marat, and death of D’Orléans,
Death of great part of its abhorrèd brood!
It hath achieved the Company of Marat;
It hath achieved Jacques Carrier in Nantes;
It shall achieve more death and infamy!
Death! The word you are so fond of. Death!
And Infamy, the thing you can’t bestow!
It shall achieve the death of Carrier,
The death of Lambertye and of Lalain,
The death of Danton and of Robespierre!—
Nature will give a grave obscene and dark,
And Time will see that docks and darnels grow! ”

“ Grégoire (He descends the step from the choir)
The list, Citoyens!
You whom I name pass out at yonder door.
Across the square the judges sit—
De Buc
Just so!
Who leads?
Grégoire
Citoyen, you!
De Buc
Promotion, by God!—
Messieurs, mesdames, I have marching orders!
(To the Actress and Mlle. de Château-Gui.) I cannot play Dorante! Is’t not a shame?
De L’Orient there must take my part—Adieu!
(To The Marquise.) Ah, Dorimène, you’ll let me kiss your hand?
The Marquise
Monsieur, monsieur—
De Buc (to De Vardes)
I’m breaking camp. ”

“ I would forget thee quite.
Live out thy life unto its sordid close!
Live on, and in the future find the past!
But while thou treadest earth touch not again
That flower I spoke of! Touch it not, Lalain!
Lalain
Draws on the night—
212De Vardes
I’ll bathe me in the Loire!
Death has been ever called a River wide.
This ford I fear not!—Soldier of the King,
I’ll pass the stream, though cold, though cold and dark!
The bivouac lights are shining through the trees,
He waits within my tent, my General!
First Judge
Death!
Second Judge
Death!
De Vardes
Now sheath thy sword, Rémond! ”

“ Wolves were they all, the seigneurs of Morbec!
Henri, Philippe, Gil, René, Amaury—
All, all were wolves who lurked, who sprang, who tore,
No heart of lamb, but just the heart of man!
Heart of a man, heart of a woman too!
Morbec! De Vardes! No direr names in France!
Right hands of kings, priests, soldiers, cardinals,
Courtiers and lovers of the fleur-de-lis!
Passionate, proud, a whirlwind and a flame!
147Morbec! De Vardes! ‘Ware all who came between
The whirlwind and its goal, the stubble and the flame!
De Vardes
Thou lost soul!
Lalain
Thou lovely fiend!
Yvette
De Vardes! ”

“ Yvette
Beside the stream I slept and dreamed of thee!
I knew it not, but sure I dreamed of thee,
For in my sleep I thought I saw a king!
De Vardes
O love!—
Yvette
It is Morbec arises there!
The sands that stretch above the idle waves,
And all the little shells upon the shore!
De Vardes
The convent bell is ringing! Seest thou not
The fountain old, the fruit trees in the sun?
Yvette
Oh, life was never made for happiness! ”

“ Yvette takes from her hair the bonnet-rouge.
Séraphine
Psst! Little fool! Put on the cap again!
Yvette
It is too heavy!
Séraphine
Saint Yves! Put it on!
De Vardes
The duel’s o’er; the night is drawing on;
Dark is thy form against the crimson sky,
Rémond Lalain! Stand further off, my foe!
And now I think I see thee not at all,
And that is well! ”

“ Command me, and the silver moon I’ll bring thee!
Yvette
With what a sudden glory shines the sun!
It gilds the streets, it gilds the running Loire!
And from them both the blood-stains fade away!
Ah, let us rest from death in Nantes to-day,
And think how falls the eve in Bethlehem!—
There is a little village that I know,
A hungry village by a hungry sea,
As worn and grey as any calvary!
The hungry shadows ate the sunshine up ”

“ Yvette
The light is growing in the east! My heart
It is so full I cannot speak to thee!
234De Vardes
Put thou thine arms about my neck, Yvette,
And lay thy head upon thy lover’s heart,
And veil thine eyes with all thy shadowy hair.
Now let them bind us with what cords they will,
The spirit moves unbound, triumphant, free,
Not through the Loire, but through a vaster stream!
Oh, it is something dimly great to die!
And then to die together, is’t not sweet?
And not through illness, age, decrepitude,
But the armed man is ready for new wars.
And thou—
Yvette
I hear the lark! ”

“ Two lives, your life and hers—and hers, I swear!
He does not leave his villa all this day,
But at the judgment bar you were to show
That paper to Lambertye or Sarlat,
And both were saved—both, both, I swear it, both!
And now she’s dead—‘Twas life you flung away
Shut in that purse! You gave it to Grégoire!
Grégoire! He serves the Revolution,
Is flint to all beside! Oh me! Oh me!
I could not come myself, I could but send.
I won it not till cockcrow of this morn!
De Vardes
Till cockcrow!
Yvette
The dawn came slowly on. ”

“ A man strikes at De Vardes with a long pike.
His sword arm falls, and the sword rattles to the
ground. A shout of triumph from the mob. The
Marquise’s cry from the pillar is not heard. The
mob moves forward.
Yvette
Back, back, I say! You’ll do no murder here!
What! One man against a score!—All Bretons!
The Mob
Death to the emigré!
De Vardes
Not emigré!
Good folk, I’ve been in prison in La Force.
Released, I journeyed home to Brittany!
A Man
Thou’lt journey farther yet, Aristocrat!
Angélique
Thy boat shall travel down the Loire! ”

“ Would I might die for thee!
The Marquise
‘Tis but a dream!
De Vardes
Clarice! Clarice!
The Marquise
A vision of the night!
De Vardes
Clarice-Marie!
The Marquise
I will awake!
De Vardes
My friend!
The Marquise
Ah, only that!
De Vardes
La belle Marquise!
The Marquise
No more!
De Vardes
How long have we been friends! And now—
The Marquise
And now!—
De Vardes
My friend, my friend!
173The Marquise
Alas! Alas, ‘tis true
We are good friends—in life and death good friends!
‘Tis much—though there are lovers too in Nantes,
And when one loves ‘tis not so hard to die! ”

“ When, stilled the jar and discord of the mind,
The all unfettered heart might speak of love!
But ah, the garden’s sealed. Thou art not there!
Thou wouldst not wait the while—
Yvette
Outside I kneel;
Outside the garden, outside Paradise!
Oh, woe! Oh, bliss!
De Vardes
Weep not!
Yvette
I love thee so!
De Vardes
Paimpont! Paimpont! I feel thy magic wind!
193Reënter Grégoire.
Grégoire
Citoyen Vardes—
Yvette
Grégoire, Grégoire! the purse—
The purse of gold!—
Grégoire
Hein?
De Vardes
Let be! ”

“ There was no moon, but Venus shone as bright;
The honeysuckle blew its tiny horn
To tell the rose a moth was coming by.
Clarice-Marie! sang all the nightingales,
Or would have sung were nightingales abroad!
Hush, hush! the little waves kept whispering.
The ivy at your window still was peeping;
You lay in dreams, that gold curl on your breast!
The Marquise
No, no! You cheat me not, monsieur! Last night
I did not sleep!
De Vardes
Nor I!
The Marquise
Miserable brigands!
De Vardes
No, not brigands! Just wretched flesh and blood.
The Marquise
You pity them? ”

“ Yvette
I see a broken fan!
De Vardes
Abide thou here
90And dream of Paimpont Wood until I come.
I too will dream, I too will dream, Yvette!
Yvette
Is not Clarice a lovely name?
De Vardes
Why, yes,
A very lovely name.—Farewell, farewell!
I’ll see thy face, be sure, this very night,
Upon the road before me as I ride.
Yvette
Oh, fare you well beneath the silver moon
As slow you ride beside a lady’s coach,
Discoursing of the dazzling, snowy heights!
I kiss your hand, monseigneur! Fare you well! ”

“ Ye sans-culottes, ye bourgeois, creeping things,
Adders and asps that slew a king and queen!
I am a courtier of the olden time
Who served le Grand Monarque, knew Mazarin,
And in a Court shall still be courtier,
Croix de Saint Louis, with the grande entrée,
While ye do prowl in filthy ways of hell,
Nor hardly see its red-lit Œil-de-bœuf
Where everlasting Terror, groaning, reigns,—
But, being lackeys, keep the lackeys’ place!
First Judge
Enough!
Second Judge
Death!
The Crowd
Death! The Loire!
205Count Louis
O Kings of France! ”

“ Monsieur le Baron de Morbec, the page
Of Madame la Marquise de Blanchefôret
Attends—
Yvette
Name of a name!
The Abbé (appearing in the door behind Sister
Benedicta)
De Vardes, De Vardes!
You gather the furze while the red rose waits!
89De Vardes
At once, my Sister!
(To Yvette.) Ah, not in anger,
Must thou and I part for this little while!
If I’m in life I will return, be sure,
To Nantes and all this garden loveliness,
Those fruit trees and this fountain!—Fare thee well.
The nuns will care for thee; I’ve ordered all.
Too fierce of aspect is the world without! ”

“ De Vardes (to Yvette)
I owe my life to thee, thou hapless child!
Ah, couldst thou make this throng depart the place!
Yvette
Monseigneur—
The Crowd
Goddess of Reason! light the torch!
Yvette
I’m faint!—The houses all are dancing there!—
Give me drink!
A Man
Here’s wine! ”

“ Or you may meet an ancient Lord of Morbec!
More loyal grow, cease all your traitorous talk,
Raise not Rebellion’s head or it will find
A soldier of the King with armèd heel!
Mistake no more! This once I pardon you.
Begone! The fields await you and the wind
Sits fair for Quiberon! Begone.
(To Yvette and Séraphine.) Stay! ”

“ De Vardes
Mon Dieu!
The Crowd
Yvette—
Yvette Charruel!
Séraphine
Saint Servan! Saint Linaire!
214Yvette
I denounce the Citoyen Rémond Lalain!
The Crowd
Ah!—
Nanon
Ah, let me get at her!
Lalain
Citoyens!
Heed her not—she’s mad!—The next prisoner!
Yvette
I denounce Carrier and Lambertye!
Chicanneau, Sarlat, Petit-Pierre, and Gaye,
The Company of Marat, the hideous deaths,
The Noyades and the Dragonades of Nantes!
I tell you that the blood you shed must stop!
One cannot sleep at night with thinking on’t.
You put to sleep, O God! too many!
The Crowd
Ah!—
A Voice
There is no God! ”

“ He may have sunk above, below this place!
226Though Grégoire swore to me it would be here,
Here where they brought me would they bring him too,
And ere the set of moon we would be gone!—
O God! The cries of drowning men I’ve heard,
But not his voice among them! No, no, no!
He’ll make no moan, he will die loftily!—
Ah, God! only to see him ere I drown!
The Voices
Miséricorde!
Soldiers
Prenez garde! Halte là!
A Man’s Voice
I die who fought for France in bloody fields;
At Lille I fought, at Bordeaux, Avignon!
Yvette
A soldier! ”

“ The lackeys gather up the stones, the sticks, the broken
and rusty tools and weapons.
Lalain
Where lives the man who doth not worship Might?
O Goddess All-in-All! make me thine own,
4As the bright moon did make Endymion;
And I will rim thy Phrygian cap with stars,
And give thee for thy cestus the tricolour!
Enter Grégoire.
Grégoire
Monsieur Lalain!
Lalain (waving his hand)
My good Grégoire!
Grégoire (to the lackeys)
Despatch! ”

“ He muses as he paces the garden walk before the
terrace.
Mirabeau is dead!
Gabriel Riquetti, dead, I salute thee,
Great gladiator! Who treads now the sand
That yesterday was trod by Mirabeau?
Barnave, Lameth, ye are too slight of frame!
There’s Lafayette. No, no, mon général!
Robespierre? Go to, thou little man!
Jean Paul Marat, dog leech and People’s Friend?
Wild beast to fight with beast! Faugh! Down, Marat!
Who stands this course, why, that man’s emperor!
Now how would purple look upon Marat?
Jacques Danton?—Danton! Hot Cordelier!
Dark Titan forging to a Titan’s end! ”

“ De Vardes! The name comes on the blast
Up from the gulf where lie the thrones of kings.
Battle, oppression, tyranny and wrong—
Miramand, Blanchefôret! on sea winds in they float
From that dim palace where that lost Ahès
Down to her emerald windows beckons man
And spreads the bridal bed in sunken Ys!
Nanon
Mon Dieu! ”

“ Séraphine!
Nanon
Our friends await us.
Séraphine
We have business with the smith upon the quai,
Where by the old dovecot he fashions pikes!
Voices
Allons, enfants de la patrie!
Nanon
Come, come away! We’ll leave the nun alone
To say her beads for black Aristocrats!
How triste to be for aye in prison here!
Yvette (angrily)
Prison! I am no prisoner, I!
Nanon
Then come with us into the merry streets!
104Séraphine
‘Twill be a heavy storm—all are within.
How easy ‘twere to slip away with us!
Yvette
No, no!
Voices
Citoyennes! Citoyennes!
Nanon
Ma’m’selle!
Yvette
Ma’m’selle! ”