SCENE II

The banks of the Loire. Night. Branching trees; between their trunks is seen the river. There is a full moon, but a drifting mist obscures the scene. In the background, upon the river bank, dimly appears a crowd of the condemned, men, women, and children, soldiers and executioners of the Company of Marat. From this throng comes a low, continued, confused sound of command, entreaty, distress, and lamentation. In the foreground the condemned form into groups or move singly to and fro.

Enter Yvette from the shadow of the trees.

A Soldier (following her)

Holà! Give us not the slip!

Yvette

Thou soldier!

There is no gold could make me flee this place!

How long dost think before they throw me in?

The Soldier

A little while!

[He returns to the river. Yvette sits upon the

earth at the foot of a tree, and with her chin upon

her hand watches those who come and go.

Yvette

He comes not yet! O Our Lady!

I would not drown till I have seen him once!

A Woman (passing with a man)

How shines the moon! Did we not always say,

We two would die by such a moon as this?

Rememberest thou—

The Man

Rememberest thou that night,

That Versailles night within the Orangerie?

The Woman

Rememberest thou—

[They pass.

A Soldier (calling to another)

To bind them hand and foot,

We need more rope!

The Second Soldier

Just thrust them in the stream

With bayonets!

A Cry from the River

Miséricorde!

[A child with flowers in her hand speaks to Yvette.

The Child

I’m tired—

Yvette

Rest here, thou little bird!

The Child

My name’s Aimée.

I did not know that flowers grew at night.

Is that the moon?

Yvette

It is the silver moon!

Aimée’s a pretty name. My name’s Yvette.

The Child

Kiss me, Yvette—I’ll look now for Ursule!

Yvette

Who is Ursule?

The Child

My bonne—Adieu, Yvette!

[The child passes on.

Voices from the River

Hélas! Hélas! Miséricorde!

[A nun advances from the shadow. She is in ecstasy,

her hands clasped, her eyes raised.

The Nun

The skies open: heaven appears!

Heaven my home!

O for the wings of the dove,

The eagle’s speed!

The gates of pearl are opening,

My harp is strung.

The Virgins come to meet me.

Sainte Agnès, Sainte Claire!

Our Lady stoops to greet me.

My father smiles.

My brothers two I see there!

Who is that one

Who kneels and to me beckons?

‘Tis he I loved!

What radiance grows, what splendour?

Who waiting stands?

Light! O Light! O Christ my Lord!

Heaven my home!

O Love! O Death, come quickly!

I would be gone!

[A soldier touches her on the arm.

The Soldier

Thy time it is!

[The nun regards him with a radiant and dazzling

smile, then turns and moves swiftly before him to the

river.

The Voices

Woe, woe! Miséricorde!

Yvette

Heaven my home! Shall I see heaven then?

Oh me! so much of ill thou’st done, Yvette!

Alas! Alas! What if I cannot win

To heaven! but must ever weeping stand

With all the lost and strain my eyes to see

The form I love move ‘neath the living trees,

And all in vain, so great the distance is!—

Not see him! O Our Lady, let me in!

The Voices

Woe, woe!—I die!—I die!—O countrymen!

Yvette

O God, and is it true I murdered her,

That lady high, that fair, so fair Clarice?

O God! I would that she were happy here,

Alive and laughing, gay of heart again!

O God! I do repent me of my sin!

The Voices

Ayez pitié!

[From a group of the condemned is heard the voice

of The Abbé.

The Abbé

Miserere mei Deus

Secundum magnam misericordiam tuam!

The Condemned (kneeling)

Have mercy, O God!

Voices from the River

Miséricorde!

[Yvette kneels.

The Abbé

In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum,

Redemisti me Domine Deus veritatis!

The Condemned

O God, receive our souls!

Voices from the River

Woe, woe! We die!

Soldiers

That one is swimming there! Your musket! Fire!—

[A musket shot.

Ha, ha! Ha, ha!

The Abbé

Dulcissime Domine Jesu Christe,

Per virtutem sanctissimae Passionis tuae

Recipe me in numerum electorum tuorum!

The Condemned

O Christ, receive our souls! O Christ who died!

The Abbé

Maria, Mater gratiae, Mater misercordiae,

Tu me ab hoste protege, et hora mortis suscipe!

The Condemned

O mother of God!

Voices

Miséricorde!

The Abbé

Omnes sancti Angeli, et omnes Sancti

Intercedite pro me, et mihi succurrite!

Voices

Miséricorde!

Soldiers

Petit-Pierre!—André!

‘Tis time for yonder folk beneath the trees!

The Abbé

Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis,

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.

Amen!

[The condemned arise from their knees.

The Soldiers

Come your ways!

[The Abbé and the condemned vanish into the mist

upon the river bank.

Voices

Ayez pitié!

[Yvette rises from her knees. She plucks the yellow

broom that grows beneath the trees.

Yvette

And if I may I will her servant be,

And I will bring her posies every day!

The Voices

We die!

Soldiers

So, two and two! Ha, ha!

[There appears in mid-stream on the river Carrier’s

festal barge. It is lit from stem to stern. There is

music aboard, singing and revelry of men and women.

Laughter from the River

Ha, ha! Ha, ha! Ha, ha!

The Voices

They laugh! They sing!

[A sound of singing from the passing barge.

A Woman’s Voice

Fair Chloris bathed her in the flood,

Young Damon watching, trembling stood,

Behind the frailest hawthorn wall!

The month was May—

A Man’s Voice

No, Prairial!

The Woman’s Voice

Her ivory limbs they gleamed and turned,

Young Damon’s heart so hotly burned,

Into the stream he leaped therefor!

It seemed July—

The Man’s Voice

No, Thermidor!

[The barge passes.

Voices from the River

O hearts so hard!

Other Voices

Oh, woe! Adieu! Adieu!

[An old woman speaks to Yvette.

The Old Woman

They’ve drowned my son, my sailor son Michel!

Oh, oh, my heart! he’s drifting out to sea!

Yvette

Poor mother!

The Old Woman

Oh, to and fro he sailed, he sailed!

The Indies knew him and the Northern Seas!

He’d bide at home a bit, then off he’d go,

Another voyage make, strange things to see!

Then home he’d come and of his travels tell.

Oh, oh, my son, my sailor son Michel!

[The old woman passes on.

Enter Séraphine.

Séraphine

I’ve sought her here, I’ve sought her there, in vain!

And perilous it is to seek one here!

Yvette

Séraphine!

Séraphine

Yvette!

Yvette

Where is monseigneur?

Séraphine (weeping)

I know not, I!—Saint Lazaire and Saint Jean!

I nursed thee ere thou wast so high!

Yvette

Poor Séraphine! Dear Séraphine!

Séraphine

Alack!

They’re watching there!

Yvette

Oh, then away!

‘Tis death to weep for one who dies! Away!

Séraphine (weeping)

Oh, oh! When thou wast but a little thing

Thou hadst the coaxing ways! Alack! Alack!

Yvette

Poor Séraphine!

Séraphine

Dost mind the sunny path

Up the steep cliff to chapel in the woods?

Yvette

I mind—I mind—To thy warm hand I clung,

A little child. Now I must walk alone!

Séraphine

Oh, oh! And thou wast Goddess yesterday,

The fairest Goddess ever seen, they say!

Yvette

Speak not of that!

A Voice (calling)

Séraphine! Séraphine!

Yvette

It warns, that voice! Adieu, adieu, adieu!

Thou must begone!

Séraphine

If I do look at thee

I’ll stay forever here! Adieu! Adieu!—

Oh well-a-day! Oh well, oh well-a-day!

[Exit Séraphine.

Yvette

So late it grows, so long I’ve waited here!

I feel the morning air!—Will he not come?

O God! what if they’ve slain him otherwhere?

Ha! Death is busy far and near to-night!

They may have shot him yonder by the sea!

He may have sunk above, below this place!

Though 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!

[Another voice sings hoarsely.

The Voice

Tremblez, tyrans! et vous perfides,

L’opprobre de tous les partis!

Tremblez, vos projets parricides

Viennent enfin recevoir leur prix!

Tout est soldat pour vous combattre—

[The voice dies.

Yvette

A soldier!

Another Voice

Diantre! A whiff of grapeshot now,

A sabre-cut, or e’en a trampling charge!

But this cold death—

[The voice dies.

Yvette

A soldier!

Another Voice

Baste! I’ll tell

The Duc de Biron—

Yvette

All soldiers!

Enter De Vardes and Grégoire.

Grégoire

I tell you truth, monsieur—

De Vardes

So dense the throng

I have looked up and down for this long hour,—

This hour so long, this hour so fatal short,

Seeing it is my latest hour of life,

And that I cannot find her whom I seek!

Grégoire

She is not dead, monsieur!

De Vardes

So many are!

Grégoire

I would have known.

De Vardes

Some æons past thou wast

A serviceable fellow! Get thee gone!

And if thou findest her, I’ll give thee thanks,

I have no gold—

Grégoire

Monsieur le Baron—

De Vardes

Go!

[Exit Grégoire.

And if I find her not, if time shall fail,

Then through thy labyrinth, Eternity,

Love’s silken clue shall lead me safe at last—

Yvette

Monseigneur!

[De Vardes turns.

De Vardes

Yvette!

[Two soldiers of the Company of Marat pass beneath

the trees.

The First Soldier

‘Tis near the cockcrow!

What devil’s work we’ve had, and have!

The Second Soldier

Courage!

There are not so many now! Then home and sleep!

[They pass.

De Vardes

Oh, rest thee on thy lover’s breast, my heart!

My life, my love, my dear, my Duchess Jeanne!

Oh, ‘neath the moon thou’rt like a lily flower!

Yvette

René, René!

De Vardes

Thy lips!

[They kiss.

No, no, thou’rt not

That Vivien whom I did call thee once.

She was an evil fay; thou’rt pure and good!

Nor art thou that fair piteous Duchess Jeanne

Who died for love, whose look thou wearest now!

Thou never wast that woman star-begirt,

Whom they did hail as Goddess here in Nantes.

No Goddess thou, thou wan and broken flower!—

This is green Morbec, thou’rt the herd girl there

And I thy fisher, home from out the west.

My heart, my love, my silver rose, my douce!

Yvette

The flowers drifting from the fragrant trees!

Unearthly light—

[They kiss.

De Vardes

Now come, Eternity!

Voices from the River

It is so sad to die!—No, no, ‘tis sweet!

Adieu, adieu!

Soldiers

So, down! Ha, ha! Les Noces

Républicaines!

De Vardes

Les Noces Républicaines!

Yvette

‘Tis what they call this death—

Soldiers

So near the dawn!

Here are the tricoteuses.

Voices of Women

Not yet they’ve done!

Diantre! So many weddings in one night!

Here are the girls from Carrier’s barge at last!

Other Voices

Petit-Pierre! André!

Soldiers

Céleste—Nanon!

Zephine, ‘Toinette!

The Women

Vive le son! vive le son!

Dansons la Carmagnole!

A Tricoteuse

‘Tis light enough to knit! I’ll sit me down.

Fi! how the grass is trampled here!

A Soldier

Lalain and Lambertye—

A Woman

We left them there

Upon the barge, Lalain and Lambertye;

And they were drinking deep, and dicing too,

And Lalain had his arm round Angélique!

[They laugh.

De Vardes

Seest thou not through yonder trees the stone,

The Druid Stone where I did see thee first

When thou didst lie asleep upon the grass?

How long I stood and looked, thou dost not know!

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!

The hour’s too short, the wine spills from the cup,

The blossom’s shaken ere we know ‘tis sweet!

Voices from the River

Miséricorde!

A Soldier

Those two have waited long!

Hi! Petit-Pierre, ‘tis time to marry them—

De Vardes

This Saint John’s Eve we’ll walk in other woods!

And we will find and name a castle fair,

And rose and heartsease we will plant thereby!

Here ends this road, but we must onward go.

There is a longer hour, a deeper cup!

The blossom’s gone, but we shall see the fruit.

And life was made for happiness, my douce!

A Voice from the River

Mourir pour la patrie,

Mourir pour la France.

De Vardes

It is a hymn of Chénier’s.—France! France!

Not since the days of Clovis hast thou lacked

Strong sons to die for thee, thou Lioness!

But now thy own brood hast thou eaten up,

And in the desert shalt thou roar alone,

Seeing the hunters nearer, nearer creep!

They’ll snare thee fast, they’ll make of thee a show!

France, France!—and yet thy sons shall ransom thee!

A Soldier

A length of rope, André!

Another

Petit-Pierre—

Yvette

They come!

De Vardes

I will go first.

Yvette

‘Tis not their way!

They’ll bind us fast together, throw us in

Bound fast together—

De Vardes

Is it so? Why, then

We are together still, my heart, my life!

We will not struggle as we sink to rest.

A Soldier

Man and woman, come your ways!

Second Soldier

The river

Waits, your marriage bed is spread!

[The knitting women sing from the river bank.

The Women

We are the tricoteuses!

Our wool we knit beneath the sun and moon!

Knit! knit! knitting every one!

We are the tricoteuses!

The skein we knit is ravelled out full soon!

Knit! knit! the knitting now is done!

Yvette

The light is growing in the east! My heart

It is so full I cannot speak to thee!

De 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!

A Soldier

Come, come away!

[Yvette and De Vardes move together towards

the river, into the mist and the shadow of the trees.

A Voice from the River

Vive la République!

CURTAIN

The Riverside Press

CAMBRIDGE · MASSACHUSETTS

U · S · A

By Mary Johnston

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN & CO.

Boston and New York.