Mercadet: A Comedy in Three Acts

by Honoré de Balzac

ACT II

SCENE FIRST

(Mercadet's study, containing book-shelves, a safe, a desk, an armchair and a sofa.)

Minard and Justin, then Julie.

Minard
Did you say that M. Mercadet wished to speak with me?

Justin
Yes, sir. But mademoiselle has requested that you await her here.

Minard (aside) Her father asks to see me. She wishes to speak to me before the interview. Something extraordinary must have happened.

Justin
Mademoiselle is here.

(Enter Julie.)

Minard (going towards her)
Mlle. Julie!

Julie Justin, inform my father that the gentleman has arrived. (Exit Justin.) If you wish, Adolphe, that our love should shine as bright in the sight of all as it does in our hearts, be as courageous as I have already been.

Minard
What has taken place?

Julie A rich young suitor has presented himself, and my father is acting without any pity for us.

Minard
A rival! And you ask me if I have any courage! Tell me his name,
Julie, and you will soon know whether I have any courage.

Julie Adolphe! You make me shudder! Is this the way in which you are going to act with the hope of bending my father?

Minard (seeing Mercadet approach)
Here he comes.

SCENE SECOND

The same persons and Mercadet.

Mercadet
Sir, are you in love with my daughter?

Minard
Yes, sir.

Mercadet That is, at least, what she believes, and you seem to have had the talent to persuade her that it is so.

Minard Your manner of expressing yourself implies a doubt on your part, which in any one else would have been offensive to me. Why should I not love mademoiselle? Abandoned by my parents, it was from your daughter, sir, that I have learned for the first time the happiness of affection. Mlle. Julie is at the same time a sister and a friend to me. She is my whole family. She alone has smiled upon me and has encouraged me; and my love for her is beyond what language can express!

Julie
Must I remain here, father?

Mercadet (to his daughter) Swallow it all! (To Minard) Sir, with regard to the love of young people I have those positive ideas which are considered peculiar to old men. My distrust of such love is all the more permissible because I am not the father blinded by paternal affection. I see Julie exactly as she is; without being absolutely plain, she has none of that beauty that makes people cry out, "See!" She is quite mediocre.

Minard You are mistaken, sir; I venture to say that you do not know your daughter.

Mercadet
Permit me—

Minard
You do not know her, sir.

Mercadet
But I know her perfectly well—as if—in a word, I know her—

Minard
No, sir, you do not.

Mercadet
Do you mean to contradict me again, sir?

Minard You know the Julie that all the world sees; but love has transfigured her! Tenderness and devotion lend to her a transporting beauty that I alone have called up in her.

Julie
Father, I feel ashamed—

Mercadet
You mean you feel happy. And if you, sir, repeat these things—

Minard I shall repeat them a hundred times, a thousand times, and even then I couldn't repeat them often enough. There is no crime in repeating them before a father!

Mercadet You flatter me! I did believe myself her father; but you are the father of a Julie whose acquaintance I should very much like to make.

Minard
You have never been in love, I suppose?

Mercadet I have been very much in love! And felt the galling chain of gold like everybody else.

Minard
That was long ago. In these days we love in a better way.

Mercadet
How do you do that?

Minard
We cling to the soul, to the idea!

Mercadet
What we used to call under the Empire, having our eyes bandaged.

Minard It is love, pure and holy, which can lend a charm to all the hours of life.

Mercadet
Yes all!—except the dinner hour.

Julie Father, do not ridicule two children who love each other with a passion which is true and pure, because it is founded upon a knowledge of each other's character; on the certitude of their mutual ardor in conquering the difficulties of life; in a word, of two children who will also cherish sincere affection for you.

Minard (to Mercadet)
What an angel, sir!

Mercadet (aside) I'll angel you! (Putting an arm around each.) Happy children!—You are absolutely in love? What a fine romance! (To Minard) You desire her for your wife?

Minard
Yes, sir.

Mercadet
In spite of all obstacles?

Minard
It is mine to overcome them!

Julie Father, ought you not to be grateful to me in that by my choice I am giving you a son full of lofty sentiments, endowed with a courageous soul, and—

Minard
Mademoiselle—Julie.

Julie
Let me finish; I must have my say.

Mercadet My daughter, go and see your mother, and let me speak of matters which are a great deal more material than these.

Julie
I will go, father—

Mercadet
Come back presently with your mother, my child.

(Mercadet kisses Julie and leads her to the door.)

Minard (aside)
I feel my hopes revive.

Mercadet (returning)
Sir, I am a ruined man.

Minard
What does that mean?

Mercadet Totally ruined. And if you wish to have my Julie, you are welcome to her. She will be much better off at your house, poor as you are, than in her paternal home. Not only is she without dowry, but she is burdened with poor parents—parents who are more than poor.

Minard
More than poor! There is nothing beyond that.

Mercadet Yes, sir, we are in debt, deeply in debt, and some of these debts clamor for payment.

Minard
No, no, it is impossible!

Mercadet Don't you believe it? (Aside) He is getting frightened. (Taking up a pile of papers from his desk. Aloud) Here, my would-be son-in-law, are the family papers which will show you our fortune—

Minard
Sir—

Mercadet Or rather our lack of fortune! Read— Here is a writ of attachment on our furniture.

Minard
Can it be possible?

Mercadet It is perfectly possible! Here are judgments by the score! Here is a writ of my arrest. You see in what straits we are! Here you see all my sales, the protests on my notes and the judgments classed in order— for, young man, understand well in a disordered condition of things, order is above all things necessary. When disorder is well arranged it can be relieved and controlled— What can a debtor say when he sees his debt entered up under his number? I make the government my model. All payments are made in alphabetic order. I have not yet touched the letter A. (He replaces the papers.)

Minard
You haven't yet paid anything?

Mercadet Scarcely anything. You know the condition of my expenses. You know, because you are a book-keeper. See, (picking up the papers again) the total debit is three hundred and eighty thousand.

Minard
Yes, sir. The balance is entered here.

Mercadet You can understand then how you must make me shudder when you come before my daughter with your fine protestations! Since to marry a poor girl with nothing but an income of eighteen hundred francs, is like inviting in wedlock a protested note with a writ of execution.

Minard (lost in thought)
Ruined, ruined! And without resources!

Mercadet (aside) I thought that would upset him. (Aloud) Come, now, young man, what are you going to do?

Minard
First, I thank you, sir, for the frankness of your admissions.

Mercadet
That is good! And what of the ideal, and your love for my daughter?

Minard
You have opened my eyes, sir.

Mercadet (aside)
I am glad to hear it.

Minard I thought that I already loved her with a love that was boundless, and now I love her a hundred times more.

Mercadet
The deuce you do!

Minard Have you not led me to understand that she will have need of all my courage, of all my devotion! I will render her happy by other means than my tenderness; she shall feel grateful for all my efforts, she shall love me for my vigils, and for my toils.

Mercadet
You mean to tell me that you still wish to marry her?

Minard Do I wish! When I believed that you were rich, I would not ask her of you without trembling, without feeling ashamed of my poverty; but now, sir, it is with assurance and with tranquillity of mind that I ask for her.

Mercadet (to himself)
I must admit that this is a love exceedingly true, sincere and noble!
And such as I had believed it impossible to find in the whole world!
(To Minard) Forgive me, young man, for the opinion I had of you—
forgive me, above all, for the disappointment I am about to cause you.

Minard
What do you mean?

Mercadet
M. Minard—Julie—cannot be your wife.

Minard What is this, sir? Not be my wife? In spite of our love, in spite of all you have confided to me?

Mercadet Yes, and just because of all I have confided to you. I have shown you Mercadet the rich man in his true colors. I am going to show you him as the skeptical man of business. I have frankly opened my books to you. I am now going to open my heart to you as frankly.

Minard
Speak out, sir, but remember how great my devotion to Mlle. Julie is.
Remember that my self-sacrifice and unselfishness are equal to my love
for her.

Mercadet Let it be granted that by means of night-long vigils and toils you will make a living for Julie! But who will make a living for us, her father and mother?

Minard
Ah! sir—believe in me!

Mercadet
What! Are you going to work for four, instead of working for only two?
The task will be too much for you! And the bread which you give to us,
you will have to snatch out of the hands of your children—

Minard
How wildly you talk!

Mercadet And I, in spite of your generous efforts, shall fall, crushed under the weight of disgraceful ruin. A brilliant marriage for my daughter is the only means by which I would be enabled to discharge the enormous sums I owe. It is only thus that in time I could regain confidence and credit. With the aid of a rich son-in-law I can reconquer my position, and recuperate my fortune! Why, the marriage of my daughter is our last anchor of salvation! This marriage is our hope, our wealth, the prop of our honor, sir! And since you love my daughter, it is to this very love that I make my appeal. My friend, do not condemn her to poverty; do not condemn her to a life of regret over the loss and disgrace which she has brought upon her father!

Minard (in great distress)
But what do you ask me to do?

Mercadet (taking him by the hand) I wish that this noble affection which you have for her, may arm you with more courage than I myself possess.

Minard
I will show such courage—

Mercadet
Then listen to me. If I refuse Julie to you, Julie will refuse the man
I destine for her. It will be best, therefore, that I grant your
request for her hand, and that you be the one—

Minard
I!— She will not believe it, sir—

Mercadet
She will believe you, if you tell her that you fear poverty for her.

Minard
She will accuse me of being a fortune hunter.

Mercadet
She will be indebted to you for having secured her happiness.

Minard (despairingly)
She will despise me, sir!

Mercadet That is probable! But if I have read your heart aright, your love for her is such that you will sacrifice yourself completely to the happiness of her life. But here she comes, sir, and her mother is with her. It is on their account that I make this request to you, sir; can I count on you?

Minard
You—can.

Mercadet
Very good—I thank you.

SCENE THIRD

The preceding, Julie and Mme. Mercadet.

Julie
Come, mother, I am sure that Adolphe has triumphed over all obstacles.

Mme. Mercadet My dear, M. Minard has asked of you the hand of Julie. What answer have you given him?

Mercadet (going to the desk)
It is for him to say.

Mercadet (aside)
How can I tell her? My heart is breaking.

Julie
What have you got to say, Adolphe?

Minard
Mademoiselle—

Julie Mademoiselle! Am I no longer Julie to you? Oh, tell me quickly. You have settled everything with my father, have you not?

Minard Your father has shown great confidence in me. He has revealed to me his situation; he has told me—

Julie
Go on, please go on—

Mercadet
I have told him that we are ruined—

Julie
And this avowal has not changed your plans—your love—has it,
Adolphe?

Minard (ardently) My love! (Mercadet, without being noticed, seizes his hand.) I should be deceiving you—mademoiselle—(speaking with great effort)—if I were to say that my intentions are unaltered.

Julie
Oh! It is impossible! Can it be you who speak to me in this strain?

Mme. Mercadet
Julie—

Minard (rousing himself) There are some men to whom poverty adds energy; men capable of daily self-sacrifice, of hourly toil; men who think themselves sufficiently recompensed by a smile from a companion that they love—(checking himself). I, mademoiselle am not one of these. The thought of poverty dismays me. I—I could not endure the sight of your unhappiness.

Julie (bursting into tears and flinging herself into the arms of her
mother)
Oh! Mother! Mother! Mother!

Mme. Mercadet
My daughter—my poor Julie!

Minard (in a low voice to Mercadet)
Is this sufficient, sir?

Julie (without looking at Minard) I should have had courage for both of us. I should always have greeted you with a smile, I should have toiled without regret, and happiness would always have reigned in our home. You could never have meant this, Adolphe. You do not mean it.

Minard (in a low voice)
Let me go—let me leave the house, sir.

Mercadet
Come, then. (He retires to the back of the stage.)

Minard Good-bye—Julie. A love that would have flung you into poverty is a thoughtless love. I have preferred to show the love that sacrifices itself to your happiness—

Julie No, I trust you no longer. (In a low voice to her mother) My only happiness would have been to be his.

Justin (announcing visitors)
M. de la Brive! M. de Mericourt!

Mercadet Take your daughter away, madame. M. Minard, follow me. (To Justin) Ask them to wait here for a while. (To Minard) I am well satisfied with you.

(Mme. Mercadet and Julie, Mercadet and Minard go out in opposite directions, while Justin admits Mericourt and De la Brive.)

SCENE FOURTH

De la Brive and Mericourt.

Justin
M. Mercadet begs that the gentlemen will wait for him here. (Exit.)

Mericourt At last, my dear friend, you are on the ground, and you will be very soon officially recognized as Mlle. Mercadet's intended! Steer your bark well, for the father is a deep one.

De la Brive
That is what frightens me, for difficulties loom ahead.

Mericourt I do not believe so; Mercadet is a speculator, rich to-day, to-morrow possibly a beggar. With the little I know of his affairs from his wife, I am led to believe that he is enchanted with the prospect of depositing a part of his fortune in the name of his daughter, and of obtaining a son-in-law capable of assisting him in carrying out his financial schemes.

De la Brive That is a good idea, and suits me exactly; but suppose he wishes to find out too much about me.

Mericourt
I have given M. Mercadet an excellent account of you.

De la Brive
I have fallen upon my feet truly.

Mericourt But you are not going to lose the dandy's self-possession? I quite understand that your position is risky. A man would not marry, excepting from utter despair. Marriage is suicide for the man of the world. (In a low voice) Come, tell me—can you hold out much longer?

De la Brive If I had not two names, one for the bailiffs and one for the fashionable world, I should be banished from the Boulevard. Woman and I, as you know, have wrought each the ruin of the other, and, as fashion now goes, to find a rich Englishwoman, an amiable dowager, an amorous gold mine, would be as impossible as to find an extinct animal.

Mericourt
What of the gaming table?

De la Brive Oh! Gambling is an unreliable resource excepting for certain crooks, and I am not such a fool as to run the risk of disgrace for the sake of winnings which always have their limit. Publicity, my dear friend, has been the abolition of all those shady careers in which fortune once was to be found. So, that for a hundred thousand francs of accepted bills, the usurer gives me but ten thousand. Pierquin sent me to one of his agents, a sort of sub-Pierquin, a little old man called Violette, who said to my broker that he could not give me money on such paper at any rate! Meanwhile my tailor has refused to bank upon my prospects. My horse is living on credit; as to my tiger, the little wretch who wears such fine clothes, I do now know how he lives, or where he feeds. I dare not peer into the mystery. Now, as we are not so advanced in civilization as the Jews, who canceled all debts every half-century, a man must pay by the sacrifice of personal liberty. Horrible things will be said about me. Here is a young man of high esteem in the world of fashion, pretty lucky at cards, of a passable figure, less than twenty-eight years old, and he is going to marry the daughter of a rich speculator!

Mericourt
What difference does it make?

De la Brive It is slightly off color! But I am tired of a sham life. I have learned at last that the only way to amass wealth is to work. But our misfortune is that we find ourselves quick at everything, but not good at anything! A man like me, capable of inspiring a passion and of maintaining it, cannot become either a clerk or a soldier! Society has provided no employment for us. Accordingly, I am going to set up business with Mercadet. He is one of the greatest of schemers. You are sure that he won't give less than a hundred and fifty thousand francs to his daughter.

Mericourt Judge yourself, my dear friend, from the style which Mme. Mercadet puts on; you see her at all the first nights, in her own box, at the opera, and her conspicuous elegance—

De la Brive
I myself am elegant enough, but—

Mericourt Look round you here—everything indicates opulence—Oh! they are well off!

De la Brive Yet, it is a sort of middle-class splendor, something substantial which promises well.

Mericourt And then the mother is a woman of principle, of irreproachable behavior. Can you possibly conclude matters to-day?

De la Brive I have taken steps to do so. I won at the club yesterday sufficient to go on with; I shall pay something on the wedding presents, and let the balance stand.

Mericourt
Without reckoning my account, what is the amount of your debts?

De la Brive A mere trifle! A hundred and fifty thousand francs, which my father- in-law will cut down to fifty thousand. I shall have a hundred thousand francs left to begin life on. I always said that I should never become rich until I hadn't a sou left.

Mericourt Mercadet is an astute man; he will question you about your fortune; are you prepared?

De la Brive Am I not the landed proprietor of La Brive? Three thousand acres in the Landes, which are worth thirty thousand francs, mortgaged for forty-five thousand and capable of being floated by a stock jobbing company for some commercial purpose or other, say, as representing a capital of a hundred thousand crowns! You cannot imagine how much this property has brought me in.

Mericourt Your name, your horse, and your lands seem to me to be on their last legs.

De la Brive
Not so loud!

Mericourt
So you have quite made up your mind?

De la Brive
Yes, and all the more decidedly in that I am going into politics.

Mericourt
Really—but you are too clever for that!

De la Brive
As a preparation I shall take to journalism.

Mericourt
And you have never written two lines in your life!

De la Brive There are journalists who write and journalists who do not write. The former are editors—and horses that drag the car; the latter, the proprietors, who furnish the funds; these give oats to their horses and keep the capital for themselves. I shall be a proprietor. You merely have to put on a lofty air and exclaim: "The Eastern question is a question of great importance and of wide influence, one about which there cannot be two opinions!" You sum up a discussion by declaiming: "England, sir, will always get the better of us!" or you make an answer to some one whom you have heard speak for a long time without paying attention to him: "We are advancing towards an abyss, we have not yet passed through all the evolutions of the evolutionary phase!" You say to a representative of labor: "Sir, I think there is something to be done in this matter." A proprietor of a journal speaks very little, rushes about and makes himself useful by doing for a man in power what the latter cannot do himself. He is supposed to inspire the articles, those I mean, which attract any notice! And then, if it is absolutely necessary he undertakes to publish a yellow-backed volume on some Utopian topic, so well written, so strong, that no one opens it, although every one declares that he has read it! Then he is looked upon as an earnest man, and ends by finding himself acknowledged as somebody, instead of something.

Mericourt
Alas! What you say is too true, in these times!

De la Brive And we ourselves are a startling proof of this! In order to claim a part in political power you must not show what good but what harm you can do. You must not alone possess talents, you must be able also to inspire fear. Accordingly, the very day after my marriage, I shall assume an air of seriousness, of profundity, of high principles! I can take my choice, for we have in France a list of principles which is as varied as a bill of fare. I elect to be a socialist! The word pleases me! At every epoch, my dear friend, there are adjectives which form the pass-words of ambition! Before 1789 a man called himself an economist; in 1815 he was a liberal; the next party will call itself the social party—perhaps because it is so unsocial. For in France you must always take the opposite sense of a word to understand its meaning.

Mericourt Let me tell you privately, that you are now talking nothing but the nonsense of masked ball chatter, which passes for wit among those who do not indulge in it. What are you going to do when a certain definite knowledge becomes necessary?

De la Brive My dear friend! In every profession, whether of art, science or literature, a man needs intellectual capital, special knowledge and capacity. But in politics, my dear fellow, a man wins everything and attains to everything by means of a single phrase—

Mericourt
What is that?

De la Brive "The principles of my friends, the party for which I stand, look for—"

Mericourt
Hush! Here comes the father-in-law!

SCENE FIFTH

The same persons and Mercadet.

Mercadet Good-day, my dear Mericourt! (To De la Brive) The ladies have kept you waiting, sir. Ah! They are putting on their finery. For myself, I was just on the point of dismissing—whom do you think?—an aspirant to the hand of Mlle. Julie. Poor young man! I was perhaps hard on him, and yet I felt for him. He worships my daughter; but what could I do? He has only ten thousand francs' income.

De la Brive
That wouldn't go very far!

Mercadet
A mere subsistence!

De la Brive
You're not the man to give a rich and clever girl to the first comer—

Mericourt
Certainly not.

Mercadet Before the ladies come in, gentlemen, we must talk a little serious business.

De la Brive (to Mericourt)
Now comes the tug of war!

(They all sit down.)

Mercadet (on the sofa)
Are you seriously in love with my daughter?

De la Brive
I love her passionately!

Mercadet
Passionately?

Mericourt (to his friend)
You are over-doing it.

De la Brive (to Mericourt) Wait a moment. (Aloud) Sir, I am ambitious—and I saw in Mlle. Julie a lady at once distinguished, full of intellect, possessed of charming manners, who would never be out of place in the position in which my fortune puts me; and such a wife is essential to the success of a politician.

Mercadet I understand! It is easy to find a woman, but it is very rare that a man who wishes to be a minister or ambassador finds a wife. You are a man of wit, sir. May I ask your political leaning?

De la Brive
Sir, I am a socialist.

Mercadet
That is a new move! But now let us talk of money matters.

Mericourt
It seems to me that the notary might attend to that.

De la Brive No! M. Mercadet is right; it is best that we should attend to these things ourselves.

Mercadet
True, sir.

De la Brive Sir, my whole fortune consists in the estate which bears my name; it has been in my family for a hundred and fifty years, and I hope will never pass from us.

Mercadet The possession of capital is perhaps more valuable in these days. Capital is in your own hand. If a revolution breaks out, and we have had many revolutions lately, capital follows us everywhere. Landed property, on the contrary, must furnish funds for every one. There it stands stock still like a fool to pay the taxes, while capital dodges out of the way. But this is not real obstacle. What is the amount of your land?

De la Brive
Three thousand acres, without a break.

Mercadet
Without a break?

Mericourt
Did I not tell you as much?

Mercadet
I never doubted it.

De la Brive
A chateau—

Mercadet
Good—

De la Brive And salt marshes, which can be worked as soon as the administration gives permission. They would yield enormous returns!

Mercadet Ah, sir, why have we been so late in becoming acquainted! Your land, then, must be on the seashore.

De la Brive
Without half a league of it.

Mercadet
And it is situated?

De la Brive
Near Bordeaux.

Mercadet
You have vineyards, then?

De la Brive No! fortunately not, for the disposal of wines is a troublesome matter, and, moreover, the cultivation of the vine is exceedingly expensive. My estate was planted with pine trees by my grandfather, a man of genius, who was wise enough to sacrifice himself to the welfare of his descendants. Besides, I have furniture, which you know—

Mercadet
Sir, one moment, a man of business is always careful to dot his i's.

De la Brive (under his voice)
Now we're in for it!

Mercadet With regard to your estate and your marshes,—I see all that can be got out of these marshes. The best way of utilizing them would be to form a company for the exploitation of the marshes of the Brive! There is more than a million in it!

De la Brive I quite understand that, sir. They need only to be thrown upon the market.

Mercadet (aside)
These words indicate a certain intelligence in this young man. (Aloud)
Have you any debts? Is your estate mortgaged?

Mericourt
You would not think much of my friend if he had not debts.

De la Brive I will be frank, sir, there is a mortgage of forty-five thousand francs on my estate.

Mercadet (aside)
An innocent young man! he might easily— (Rising from his seat. Aloud)
You have my consent; you shall be my son-in-law, and are the very man
I would choose for my daughter's husband. You do not realize what a
fortune you possess.

De la Brive (to Mericourt)
This is almost too good to be true.

Mericourt (to De la Brive)
He is dazzled by the good speculation which he sees ahead.

Mercadet (aside) With government protection, which can be purchased, salt pits may be established. I am saved! (Aloud) Allow me to shake hands with you, after the English fashion. You fulfill all that I expected in a son- in-law. I plainly see you have none of the narrowness of provincial land-holders; we shall understand each other thoroughly.

De la Brive
You must not take it in bad part, sir, if I, on my part, ask you—

Mercadet The amount of my daughter's fortune? I should have distrusted you if you hadn't asked! My daughter has independent means; her mother settles on her her own fortune, consisting of a small property—a farm of two hundred acres, but in the very heart of Brie, and provided with good buildings. Besides this, I shall give her two hundred thousand francs, the interest of which will be for your use, until you find a suitable investment for it. So you see, young man, we do not wish to deceive you, we wish to keep the money moving; I like you, you please me, for I see you have ambition.

De la Brive
Yes, sir.

Mercadet
You love luxury, extravagance; you wish to shine at Paris—

De la Brive
Yes, sir.

Mercadet You see that I am already an old man, obliged to lay the load of my ambition upon some congenial co-operator, and you shall be the one to play the brilliant part.

De la Brive
Sir, had I been obliged to take my choice of all the fathers-in-law in
Paris, I should have given the preference to you. You are a man after
my own heart! Allow me to shake hands, after the English fashion!
(They shake hands for the second time.)

Mercadet (aside)
It seems too good to be true.

De la Brive (aside)
He fell head-first into my salt marshes!

Mercadet (aside)
He accepts an income from me!

(Mercadet retires towards the door on the left side.)

Mericourt (to De la Brive)
Are you satisfied?

De la Brive (to Mericourt)
I don't see the money for my debts.

Mericourt (to De la Brive) Wait a moment. (To Mercadet) My friend does not dare to tell you of it, but he is too honest for concealment. He has a few debts.

Mercadet Oh, please tell me. I understand perfectly—I suppose it is about fifty thousand you owe?

Mericourt
Very nearly—

De la Brive
Very nearly—

Mercadet
A mere trifle.

De la Brive (laughing)
Yes, a mere trifle!

Mercadet They will serve as a subject of discussion between your wife and you; yes, let her have the pleasure of— But, we will pay them all. (Aside) In shares of the La Brive salt pits. (Aloud) It is so small an amount. (Aside) We will put up the capital of the salt marsh a hundred thousand francs more. (Aloud) The matter is settled, son-in-law.

De la Brive
We will consider it settled, father-in-law.

Mercadet (aside)
I am saved!

De la Brive (aside)
I am saved!

SCENE SIXTH

The same persons, Mme. Mercadet and Julie.

Mercadet
Here are my wife and daughter.

Mericourt Madame, allow me to present to you my friend, M. de la Brive, who regards your daughter with—

De la Brive
With passionate admiration.

Mercadet
My daughter is exactly the woman to suit a politician.

De la Brive (to Mericourt. Gazing at Julie through his eyeglass)
A fine girl. (To Madame Mercadet) Like mother, like daughter. Madame,
I place my hopes under your protection.

Mme. Mercadet
Anyone introduced by M. Mericourt would be welcome here.

Julie (to her father)
What a coxcomb!

Mercadet (to his daughter) He is enormously rich. We shall all be millionaires! He is an excessively clever fellow. Now, do try and be amiable, as you ought to be.

Julie (answering him) What would you wish me to say to a dandy whom I have just seen for the first time, and whom you destine for my husband?

De la Brive May I be permitted to hope, mademoiselle, that you will look favorably upon me?

Julie
My duty is to obey my father.

De la Brive
Young people are not always aware of the feelings which they inspire.
For two months I have been longing for the happiness of paying my
respects to you.

Julie Who can be more flattered than I am, sir, to find that I have attracted your attention?

Mme. Mercadet (to Mericourt)
He is a fine fellow. (Aloud) We hope that you and your friend M. de la
Brive will do us the pleasure of accepting our invitation to dine
without ceremony?

Mercadet To take pot-luck with us. (To De la Brive) You must excuse our simplicity.

Justin (entering, in a low voice to Mercadet)
M. Pierquin wishes to speak to you, monsieur.

Mercadet (low)
Pierquin?

Justin
He says it is concerning an important and urgent matter.

Mercadet What can he want with me? Let him come in. (Justin goes out. Aloud) My dear, these gentlemen must be tired. Won't you take them into the drawing-room? M. de la Brive, give my daughter you arm.

De la Brive
Mademoiselle— (offers her his arm)

Julie (aside)
He is handsome, he is rich—why does he choose me?

Mme. Mercadet M. de Mericourt, will you come and see the picture which we are going to raffle off for the benefit of the poor orphans?

Mericourt
With pleasure, madame.

Mercadet
Go on. I shall be with you in a moment.

SCENE SEVENTH

Mercadet (alone) Well, after all, this time I have really secured fortune and the happiness of Julie and the rest of us. For a son-in-law like this is a veritable gold mine! Three thousand acres! A chateau! Salt marshes! (He sits down at his desk.)

Pierquin (entering)
Good-day, Mercadet. I have come—

Mercadet
Rather inopportunely. But what do you wish?

Pierquin I sha'n't detain you long. The bills of exchange I gave you this morning, signed by a man called Michonnin, are absolutely valueless. I told you this beforehand.

Mercadet
I know that.

Pierquin
I now offer you a thousand crowns for them.

Mercadet That is either too much or too little! Anything for which you will give that sum must be worth infinitely more. Some one is waiting for me in the other room. I will bid you good-evening.

Pierquin
I will give you four thousand francs.

Mercadet
No!

Pierquin
Five—six thousand.

Mercadet If you wish to play cards, keep to the gambling table. Why do you wish to recover this paper?

Pierquin Michonnin has insulted me. I wish to take vengeance on him; to send him to jail.

Mercadet (rising) Six thousand francs worth of vengeance! You are not a man to indulge in luxuries of that kind.

Pierquin
I assure you—

Mercadet Come, now, my friend, consider that for a satisfactory defamation of character the code won't charge you more than five or six hundred francs, and the tax on a blow is only fifty francs—

Pierquin
I swear to you—

Mercadet Has this Michonnin come into a legacy? And are the forty-seven thousand francs of these vouchers actually worth forty-seven thousand francs? You should post me on this subject and then we'll cry halves!

Pierquin
Very well, I agree. The fact of it is, Michonnin is to be married.

Mercadet
What next! And with whom, pray?

Pierquin With the daughter of some nabob—an idiot who is giving her an enormous dowry.

Mercadet
Where does Michonnin live?

Pierquin Do you want to issue a writ? He is without a fixed abode in Paris. His furniture is held under the name of a friend; but his legal domicile must be in the neighborhood of Bordeaux, in the village of Ermont.

Mercadet Stay a while. I have some one here from that region. I can get exact information in a moment—and then we can begin proceedings.

Pierquin
Send me the paper, and leave the business to me—

Mercadet I shall be very glad to do so. They shall be put into your hands in return for a signed agreement as to the sharing of the money. I am at present altogether taken up with the marriage of my daughter.

Pierquin
I hope everything is going on well.

Mercadet Wonderfully well. My son-in-law is a gentleman and, in spite of that, he is rich. And, although both rich and a gentleman, he is clever into the bargain.

Pierquin
I congratulate you.

Mercadet One word with you before you go. You said, Michonnin, of Ermont, in the neighborhood of Bordeaux?

Pierquin Yes, he has an old aunt somewhere about there! A good woman called Bourdillac, who scrapes along on some six hundred francs a year, but to whom he gives the title of Marchioness of Bourdillac. He pretends that her health is delicate and that she has a yearly income of forty thousand francs.

Mercadet
Thank you. Good-evening—

Pierquin
Good-evening. (goes out)

Mercadet (ringing)
Justin!

Justin
Did you call, sir?

Mercadet
Ask M. de la Brive to speak with me for a moment. (Justin goes out.)

Mercadet Here is a windfall of twenty-three thousand francs! We shall be able to arrange things famously for Julie's marriage.

SCENE EIGHTH

Mercadet, De la Brive and Justin.

De la Brive (to Justin, handing him a letter)
Here, deliver this letter. And this is for yourself.

Justin (aside)
A louis! Mademoiselle will be sure to have a happy home. (Exit.)

De la Brive
You wish to speak with me, my dear father-in-law?

Mercadet Yes. You see I already treat you without ceremony. Please to take a seat.

De la Brive (sitting on a sofa)
I am grateful for your confidence.

Mercadet I am seeking information with regard to a debtor, who, like you, lives in the neighborhood of Bordeaux.

De la Brive
I know every one in that district.

Mercadet
It is said he has relations there.

De la Brive
Relations! I have none but an old aunt.

Mercadet (pricking up his ears)
An—old aunt—?

De la Brive
Whose health—

Mercadet (trembling)
Is—is—delicate?

De la Brive
And her income is forty thousand francs.

Mercadet (quite overcome)
Good Lord! The very figure!

De la Brive The Marchioness, you see, will be a good woman to have on hand. I mean the Marchioness—

Mercadet (vehemently rushing at him)
Of Bourdillac, sir!

De la Brive
How is this? Do you know her name?

Mercadet
Yes, and yours too!

De la Brive
The devil you do!

Mercadet You are head over ears in debt; your furniture is held in another man's name; your old aunt has a pittance of six hundred francs; Pierquin, who is one of your smallest creditors, has forty-seven thousand francs in notes of hand from you. You are Michonnin, and I am the idiotic nabob!

De la Brive (stretching himself at full length on the sofa)
By heavens! You know just as much about it as I do!

Mercadet
Well—I see that once more the devil has taken a hand in my game.

De la Brive (aside, rising to his feet) The marriage is over! I am no longer a socialist; I shall become a communist.

Mercadet
And I have been just as easily deceived, as if I had been on the
Exchange.

De la Brive
Show yourself worthy of your reputation.

Mercadet
M. Michonnin, your conduct is more than blameworthy!

De la Brive
In what particular? Did I not say that I had debts?

Mercadet We'll let that pass, for any one may have debts; but where is your estate situated.

De la Brive
In the Landes.

Mercadet
And of what does it consist?

De la Brive
Of sand wastes, planted with firs.

Mercadet
Good to make toothpicks.

De la Brive
That's about it.

Mercadet
And it is worth?

De la Brive
Thirty thousand francs.

Mercadet
And mortgaged for—

De la Brive
Forty-five thousand!

Mercadet
And you had the skill to effect that?

De la Brive
Why, yes—

Mercadet
Damnation! But that was pretty clever! And your marshes, sir?

De la Brive
They border on the sea—

Mercadet
They are part of the ocean!

De la Brive The people of that country are evil-minded enough to say so. That is what hinders my loans!

Mercadet It would be very difficult to issue ocean shares! Sir, I may tell you, between ourselves, that your morality seems to me—

De la Brive
Somewhat—

Mercadet
Risky.

De la Brive (in anger)
Sir! (calming himself) Let this be merely between ourselves!

Mercadet
You gave a friend a bill of sale of your furniture, you sign your
notes of hand with the name of Michonnin, and you call yourself merely
De la Brive—

De la Brive
Well, sir, what are you going to do about it?

Mercadet
Do about it? I am going to lead you a pretty dance—

De la Brive Sir, I am your guest! Moreover, I may deny everything— What proofs have you?

Mercadet What proofs! I have in my hands forty-seven thousand francs' worth of your notes.

De la Brive
Are they signed to the order of Pierquin?

Mercadet
Precisely so.

De la Brive
And you have had them since this morning?

Mercadet
Since this morning.

De la Brive
I see. You have given worthless stock in exchange for valueless notes.

Mercadet
Sir!

De la Brive And, in order to seal the bargain, Pierquin, one of the least important of your creditors, has given you a delay of three months.

Mercadet
Who told you that?

De la Brive Who? Who? Pierquin himself, of course, as soon as he learned I was going to make an arrangement—

Mercadet
The devil he did!

De la Brive Ah! You were going to give two hundred thousand francs as a dowry to your daughter, and you had debts to the amount of three hundred and fifty thousand! Between ourselves it looks like you who had been trying to swindle the son-in-law, sir—

Mercadet (angrily)
Sir! (calming himself) This is merely between ourselves, sir.

De la Brive
You took advantage of my inexperience!

Mercadet Of course I did! The inexperience of a man who raises a loan on his sand wastes fifty per cent above their value.

De la Brive
Glass can be made out of sand!

Mercadet
That's a good idea!

De la Brive
Therefore, sir—

Mercadet Silence! Promise me that this broken marriage-contract shall be kept secret.

De la Brive I swear it shall— Ah! excepting to Pierquin. I have just written to him to set his mind at rest.

Mercadet
Is that the letter you sent by Justin?

De la Brive
The very one.

Mercadet
And what have you told him?

De la Brive
The name of my father-in-law. Confound it!—I thought you were rich.

Mercadet (despairingly) And you have written that to Pierquin? It's all up! This fresh defeat will be known on the Exchange! But, any way, I am ruined! Suppose I write to him— Suppose I ask him— (He goes to the table to write.)

SCENE NINTH

The same persons, Mme. Mercadet, Julie and Verdelin.

Mme. Mercadet
My friend, M. Verdelin.

Julie (to Verdelin)
Here is my father, sir.

Mercadet
Ah! It is you, is it, Verdelin—and you are come to dinner?

Verdelin
No, I am not come to dinner.

Mercadet (aside)
He knows all. He is furious!

Verdelin
And this gentleman is your son-in-law? (Verdelin bows to De la Brive.)
This is a fine marriage you are going to make!

Mercadet
The marriage, my dear sir, is not going to take place.

Julie
How happy I feel!

(De la Brive bows to Julie. She casts down her eyes.)

Mme. Mercadet (seizing her hand)
My dear daughter!

Mercadet
I have been deceived by Mericourt.

Verdelin And you have played on me one of your tricks this morning, for the purpose of getting a thousand crowns; but the whole incident has been made public on the Exchange, and they think it a huge joke!

Mercadet
They have been informed, I suppose—

Verdelin That your pocket-book is full of the notes of hand signed by your son- in-law. And Pierquin tells me that your creditors are exasperated, and are to meet to-night at the house of Goulard to conclude measures for united action against you to-morrow!

Mercadet
To-night! To-morrow! Ah! I hear the knell of bankruptcy sound!

Verdelin
Yes, to-morrow they are going to send a prison cab for you.

Mme. Mercadet and Julie
God help us!

Mercadet
I see the carriage, the hearse of the speculator, carrying me to
Clichy!

Verdelin
They wish, as far as possible, to rid the Exchange of all sharpers!

Mercadet They are fools, for in that case they will turn it into a desert! And so I am ruined! Expelled from the Exchange with all the sequelae of bankruptcy,—shame, beggary! I cannot believe it—it is impossible!

De la Brive
Believe me, sir, that I regret having been in some degree—

Mercadet (looking him in the face) You! (in a low voice to him) Listen to me: you have hurried on my destruction, but you have it in your power to help me to escape.

De la Brive
On what conditions?

Mercadet I will make you a good offer! (Aloud, as they start toward opposite doors) True, the idea is a bold one! But to-morrow, the 'Change will recognize in me one of its master spirits.

Verdelin
What is he talking about?

Mercadet To-morrow, all my debts will be paid, and the house of Mercadet will be turning over millions! I shall be acknowledged as the Napoleon of finance.

Verdelin
What a man he is!

Mercadet
And a Napoleon who meets no Waterloo!

Verdelin
But where are your troops?

Mercadet My army is cash in hand! What answer can be made to a business man who says, "Take your money!" Come let us dine now.

Verdelin
Certainly. I shall be delighted to dine with you.

Mercadet (while they all move towards the dining-room, aside) They are all glad of it! To-morrow I will either command millions, or rest in the damp winding-sheet of the Seine!

Curtain to the Second Act.