Ferdinand Ah! (To Gertrude) I understand your move. (To the General) General, I do not deny that once in a dream, long ago, in a sweet dream, in which it was delicious for a man poor and without family to indulge in—dreams we are told are all the fortune that ever comes to the unfortunate—I do not deny that I once regarded it as a piece of overwhelming happiness to become a member of your family; but the reception which mademoiselle accords to those natural hopes of mine, and which you have been cruel enough to make me reveal, is such that at the present moment they have left my heart, never again to return! I have been rudely awakened from that dream, General. The poor man has his pride, which it is as ungenerous in the rich man to wound, as it would be for any one to insult—mark what I say—your attachment to Napoleon. (In a low voice to Gertrude) You are playing a terrible part!
Gertrude (aside to Ferdinand)
She shall marry Godard.
The General Poor young man! (To Pauline) He is everything that is good! He inspires me with affection. (He takes Ferdinand aside.) If I were in your place, and at your age, I would have—No, no, what the devil am I saying?—After all she is my daughter!
Ferdinand General, I make an appeal to your honor; swear that you will keep, as the most profound secret, what I am going to confide to you; and this secrecy must extend so far even as to Madame de Grandchamp.
The General (aside)
What is this? He also, like my daughter, seems to distrust my wife.
But, by heaven, I will learn what it means! (Aloud) I consent; you
have the word of a man who has never once broken a promise given.
Ferdinand After having forced me to reveal that which I had buried in the recesses of my heart, and after I have been thunderstruck, for that is the only word in which to express it, by the disdain of Mademoiselle Pauline, it is impossible for me to remain here any longer. I shall therefore put my accounts in order; this evening I shall quit this place, and to-morrow will leave France for America, if I can find a ship sailing from Havre.
The General (aside)
It is as well that he should leave, for he will be sure to return. (To
Ferdinand) May I tell this to my daughter?
Ferdinand
Yes, but to no one else.
The General (aside to Pauline) Pauline! My daughter, you have so cruelly humiliated this poor youth, that the factory is on the point of losing its manager; Ferdinand is to leave this evening for America.
Pauline (to the General) He is right, father. He is doing of his own accord, what you doubtless would have advised him to do.