SCENE FIRST. (Drawing-room of the Duchesse de Christoval.) The Duchesse de Christoval and Inez.
Inez If Monsieur de Frescas is of obscure birth, mother, I will at once give him up; but you, on your part, must be good enough not to insist upon my marriage with the Marquis de Montsorel.
The Duchess If I oppose this unreasonable match, it is certainly not for the purpose of making another with a designing family.
Inez Unreasonable? Who knows whether it be so or not? You believe him to be an adventurer, I believe he is a gentleman, and we have nothing to refute either view.
The Duchess We shall not have to wait long for proofs; the Montsorels are too eager to unmask him.
Inez And he, I believe, loves me too much to delay proving himself worthy of us. Was not his behavior yesterday noble in the extreme?
The Duchess Don't you see, silly child, that your happiness is identical with mine? Let Raoul satisfy the world, and I shall be ready to fight for you not only against the intrigues of the Montsorels, but in the court of Spain, itself.
Inez
Ah, mother, I perceive that you also love him.
The Duchess
Is he not the man of your choice?