Vautrin It may be so. Let me come to the point; the senorita is young and beautiful, she is rich and noble born; she probably has four times as many suitors as any other lady. Her hand is the object of rivalry. Well, her father has charged me to find whether she has singled out any one in particular.
The Duchess With a frank man, general, I will be frank. Your question is so strange that I cannot answer it.
Vautrin Take care, for we diplomats, in our fear of being deceived, always put the worst interpretation on silence.
The Duchess
Sir, you forget that we are talking of Inez de Christoval!
Vautrin She is in love with no one. That is good; she will be able then to carry out the wishes of her father.
The Duchess
How has Monsieur de Christoval disposed of his daughter's hand?
Vautrin You see my meaning, and your anxiety tells me that she has made her choice. I tremble to ask further, as much as you do to answer. Ah! if only the young man whom your daughter loves were a foreigner, rich, apparently without family, and bent on concealing the name of his native land!
The Duchess The name, Frescas, which you lately uttered, is that of a young man who seeks the hand of Inez.
Vautrin
Does he call himself also Raoul?
The Duchess
Yes, Raoul de Frescas.