Fregose
You will do nothing of the kind, but leave the room.
(Exit Paquita.)
SCENE TENTH
The same persons, with the exception of Paquita.
Faustine As I am not yet the Marchioness of Fregose, how dare you give your orders in my house?
Fregose
I am quite aware of the fact that here it is my duty to receive them.
But is my whole fortune worth one word from you? Forgive an impulse of
despair.
Faustine One ought to be a gentleman, even in despair; and in your despair you treat Faustine as a courtesan. Ah! you wish to be adored, but the vilest Venetian woman would tell you that this costs dear.
Fregose
I have deserved this terrible outburst.
Faustine You say you love me. Love me? Love is self-devotion without the hope of recompense. Love is the wish to live in the light of a sun which the lover trembles to approach. Do not deck out your egotism in the lustre of genuine love. A married woman, Laura de Nova, said to Petrarch, "You are mine, without hope—live on without love." But when Italy crowned the poet she crowned also his sublime love, and centuries to come shall echo with admiration to the names of Laura and Petrarch.
Fregose There are very many poets whom I dislike, but the man you mention is the object of my abomination. To the end of the world women will throw him in the face of those lovers whom they wish to keep without taking.