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Mercadet: A Comedy In Three Acts, a play by Honore de Balzac |
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_ ACT III SCENE FIRST (Another apartment in Mercadet's house, well furnished. At the back and in the centre is a mantel-piece, having instead of a mirror a clear plate of glass; side doors; a large table, surrounded by chairs, in the middle of the stage; sofa and armchairs.) [Justin, Therese and Virginie, then Mercadet.]
THERESE. Is it possible that they could pretend to conceal from us the condition of their affairs? VIRGINIE. Old Gruneau tells me that the master is soon to be arrested; I hope that what I have spent will be taken account of, for he owes me the money for these bills, besides my wages! THERESE. Oh! set your mind at rest. We are likely to lose everything, for the master is bankrupt. JUSTIN. I can't hear anything. They speak too low! They don't trust us. VIRGINIE. It is frightful! JUSTIN (with his ear to the half-open door) Wait, I think I hear something. (The door bursts open and Mercadet appears.) MERCADET (to Justin) Don't let me disturb you. JUSTIN. Sir, I--I--was just putting-- MERCADET. Really! (To Virginie, who jumps up suddenly from the sofa) Keep your seat, Mlle. Virginie, and you, M. Justin, why didn't you come in? We were talking about my business. JUSTIN. You amuse me, sir. MERCADET. I am heartily glad of it. JUSTIN. You take trouble easy, sir. MERCADET (severely) That will do, all of you. And remember that from this time forth I see all who call. Treat no one either with insolence or too much humility, for you will meet here no creditors, but such as have been paid. JUSTIN. Oh, bosh! MERCADET. Go! (The central door opens. Mme. Mercadet, Julie and Minard appear. The servants leave the room.)
[Mercadet, Mme. Mercadet, Julie and Minard.]
MME. MERCADET. Sir, you were counting on the marriage of Julie to establish your credit and reassure your creditors, but the event of yesterday has put you at their mercy-- MERCADET. Do you think so? Well, you are quite mistaken. I beg your pardon, M. MINARD, but what brings you here? MINARD. Sir--I-- JULIE. Father--it is-- MERCADET. Are you come to ask again for my daughter? MINARD. Yes, sir. MERCADET. But everybody says that I am going to fail-- MINARD. I know it, sir. MERCADET. And would you marry the daughter of a bankrupt? MINARD. Yes, for I would work to re-establish him. JULIE. That's good, Adolphe. MERCADET (aside) A fine young fellow. I will give him an interest in the first big business I do. MINARD. I have made known my attachment to the man I look upon as a father. He has informed me--that I am the possessor of a small fortune-- MERCADET. A fortune! MINARD. When I was confided to his care, a sum of money was entrusted to him, which has increased by interest, and I now possess thirty thousand francs. MERCADET. Thirty thousand francs! MINARD. On learning of the disaster that had befallen you, I realized this sum, and I bring it to you, sir; for sometimes in these cases an arrangement can be made by paying something on account-- MME. MERCADET. He has an excellent heart! JULIE (with pride) Yes, indeed, papa! MERCADET. Thirty thousand francs. (Aside) They might be tripled by buying some of Verdelin's stock and then doubled with-- No, no. (To Minard) My boy, you are at the age of self-sacrifice. If I could pay two hundred francs with thirty thousand, the fortune of France, of myself and of most people would be made. No, keep your money! MINARD. What! You refuse it? MERCADET. (aside) If with this I could keep them quiet for a month, if by some bold stoke I could revive the depression in my property, it might be all right. But the money of these poor children, it cuts me to the heart to think of it, for when they are in tears people calculate amiss; it is not well to risk the money of any but fellow-brokers--no--no (Aloud) Adolphe, you may marry my daughter. MINARD. Oh! Sir--Julie--my own Julie-- MERCADET. That is, of course, as soon as she has three hundred thousand francs as dowry. MME. MERCADET. My dear! JULIE. Papa! MINARD. Ah, sir! How long are you going to put me off? MERCADET. Put you off? She will have it in a month! Perhaps sooner-- ALL. How is that? MERCADET. Yes, by the use of my brains--and a little money. (Minard holds out his pocket-book.) But lock up those bills! And come, take away my wife and daughter. I want to be alone. MME. Mercadet (aside) Is he going to hatch some plot against his creditors? I must find out. Come, Julie. JULIE. Papa, how good you are! MERCADET. Nonsense! JULIE. I love you so much. MERCADET. Nonsense! JULIE. Adolphe, I do not thank you, I shall have all my life for that. MINARD. Dearest Julie! MERCADET (leading them out) Come, now, you had better breathe out your idyls in some more retired spot. (They go out.)
[Mercadet., then De La Brive.]
DE LA BRIVE (coming out, rubbing his eyes) Hello! What are you saying? MERCADET. Don't be frightened, I only wanted to wake you up. (Takes his seat at the table.) DE LA BRIVE (sitting at the other side of the table) Sir, an orgie acts on the mind like a storm on the country. It brings on refreshment, it clothes with verdure! And ideas spring forth and bloom! /In vino varietas/! MERCADET. Yesterday, our conversation on business matters was interrupted. DE LA BRIVE. Father-in-law, I recall it distinctly--we recognized the fact that our houses could not keep their engagements. We were on the point of bankruptcy, and you are unfortunate enough to be my creditor, while I am fortunate enough to be your debtor by the amount of forty-seven thousand, two hundred and thirty-three francs and some centimes. MERCADET. Your head is level enough. DE LA BRIVE. But my pocket and my conscience are a little out. Yet who can reproach me? By squandering my fortune I have brought profit to every trade in Paris, and even to those who do not know me. We, the useless ones! We, the idlers! Upon my soul! It is we who keep up the circulation of money-- MERCADET. By means of the money in circulation. Ah! you have all your wits about you! DE LA BRIVE. But I have nothing else. MERCADET. Our wits are our mint. Is it not so? But, considering your present situation, I shall be brief. DE LA BRIVE. That is why I take a seat. MERCADET. Listen to me. I see that you are going down the steep way which leads to that daring cleverness for which fools blame successful operators. You have tasted the piquant intoxicating fruits of Parisian pleasure. You have made luxury the inseparable companion of your life. Paris begins at the Place de l'Etoile, and ends at the Jockey Club. That is your Paris, which is the world of women who are talked about too much, or not at all. DE LA BRIVE. That is true. MERCADET. You breathe the cynical atmosphere of wits and journalists, the atmosphere of the theatre and of the ministry. It is a vast sea in which thousands are casting their nets! You must either continue this existence, or blow your brains out! DE LA BRIVE. No! For it is impossible to think that it can continue without me. MERCADET. Do you feel that you have the genius to maintain yourself in style at the height to which you aspire? To dominate men of mind by the power of capital and superiority of intellect? Do you think that you will always have skill enough to keep afloat between the two capes, which have seen the life of elegance so often founder between the cheap restaurant and the debtors' prison? DE LA BRIVE. Why! You are breaking into my conscience like a burglar--you echo my very thought! What do you want with me? MERCADET. I wish to rescue you, by launching you into the world of business. DE LA BRIVE. By what entrance? MERCADET. Let me choose the door. DE LA BRIVE. The devil! MERCADET. Show yourself a man who will compromise himself for me-- DE LA BRIVE. But men of straw may be burnt. MERCADET. You must be incombustible. DE LA BRIVE. What are the terms of our copartnership? MERCADET. You try to serve me in the desperate circumstances in which I am at present, and I will make you a present of your forty-seven thousand, two hundred and thirty-three francs, to say nothing of the centimes. Between ourselves, I may say that only address is needed. DE LA BRIVE. In the use of the pistol or the sword? MERCADET. No one is to be killed; on the contrary-- DE LA BRIVE. That will suit me. MERCADET. A man is to be brought to life again. DE LA BRIVE. That doesn't suit me at all, my dear fellow. The legacy, the chest of Harpagon, the little mule of Scapin and, indeed, all the farces which have made us laugh on the ancient stage are not well received nowadays in real life. The police have a way of getting mixed up with them, and since the abolition of privileges, no one can administer a drubbing with impunity. MERCADET. Well, what do you think of five years in debtors' prison? Eh? What a fate! DE LA BRIVE. As a matter of fact, my decision must depend upon what you want me to do to any one, for my honor so far is intact and is worth-- MERCADET. You must invest it well, for we shall have dire need of all that it is worth. I want you to assist me in sitting at the table which the Exchange always keeps spread, and we will gorge ourselves with the good things there offered us, for you must admit that while those who seek for millions have great difficulty in finding them, they are never found by those who do not seek. DE LA BRIVE. I think I can co-operate with you in this matter. You will return to me my forty-seven thousand francs-- MERCADET. Yes, sir. DE LA BRIVE. I am not required to be anything but be--very clever? MERCADET. Nimble, but this nimbleness will be exercised, as the English say, on the right side of the law. DE LA BRIVE. What is it you propose? MERCADET (giving him a paper) Here are your written instructions. You are to represent something like an uncle from America--in fact, my partner, who has just come back from the West Indies. DE LA BRIVE. I understand. MERCADET. Go to the Champs-Elysees, secure a post-chaise that has been much battered, have horses harnessed to it, and make your arrival here wrapped in a great pelisse, your head enveloped in a huge cap, while you shiver like a man who finds our summer icy cold. I will receive you; I will conduct you in; you will speak to my creditors; not one of them knows Godeau; you will make them give me more time. DE LA BRIVE. How much time? MERCADET. I need only two days--two days, in order that Pierquin may complete certain purchases which we have ordered. Two days in order that the stock which I know how to inflate may have time to rise. You will be my backer, my security. And as no one will recognize you-- DE LA BRIVE. I shall cease to be this personage as soon as I have paid you forty- seven thousand, two hundred and thirty-three francs and some centimes. MERCADET. That is so. But I hear some one--my wife-- MME. Mercadet (enters) My dear, there are some letters for you, and the bearer requires an answer. (Mme. Mercadet withdraws to the fireplace.) MERCADET. I suppose I must go. Good-day, my dear De La Brive. (In a low voice) Not a word to my wife; she would not understand the operation, and would misconstrue it. (Aloud) Go quickly, and forget nothing. DE LA BRIVE. You need have no fear. (Mercadet goes out by the left; De La Brive starts to go out by the centre, but Mme. Mercadet intercepts him.)
[MME. Mercadet and De La Brive.]
MME. MERCADET. Forgive me, sir! DE LA BRIVE. Kindly excuse me, madame, I must be going-- MME. MERCADET. You must not go. DE LA BRIVE. But you are not aware-- MME. MERCADET. I know all. DE LA BRIVE. How is that? MME. MERCADET. You and my husband are bent upon resorting to some very ancient expedients proper to the comic drama, and I have employed one which is more ancient still. And as I told you, I know all-- DE LA BRIVE (aside) She must have been listening. MME. MERCADET. Sir, the part which you have been induced to undertake is blameworthy and shameful, and you must give it up-- DE LA BRIVE. But after all, madame-- MME. MERCADET. Oh! I know to whom I am speaking, sir; it was only a few hours ago that I saw you for the first time, and yet--I think I know you. DE LA BRIVE. Really? I am sure I do not know what opinion you have of me. MME. MERCADET. One day has given me time to form a correct judgment of you--and at the very time that my husband was trying to discover some foible in you he might make use of, or what evil passions he might rouse in you, I looked in your heart and discerned that it still contained good feelings which eventually may prove your salvation. DE LA BRIVE. Prove my salvation? Excuse me, madame. MME. MERCADET. Yes, sir, prove your salvation and that of my husband; for both of you are on the way to ruin. For you must understand that debts are no disgrace to any one who admits them and toils for their payment. You have your whole life before you, and you have too much good sense to wish that it should be blighted through engaging in a business which justice is sure to punish. DE LA BRIVE. Justice! Ah! You are right, madame, and I certainly would not lend myself to this dangerous comedy, unless your husband had some notes of hand of mine-- MME. MERCADET. Which he will surrender to you, sir, I'll promise you that. DE LA BRIVE. But, madame, I cannot pay them-- MME. MERCADET. We will be satisfied with your word, and you will discharge your obligation as soon as you have honestly made your fortune. DE LA BRIVE. Honestly! That will be perhaps a long time to wait. MME. MERCADET. We will be patient. And now, sir, go and inform my husband that he must give up this attempt because he will not have your co-operation. (She goes towards the door on the left.) DE LA BRIVE. I should be rather afraid to face him-- I should prefer to write to him. MME. MERCADET (pointing out to him the door by which he entered) You will find the necessary writing materials in that room. Remain there until I come for your letter. I will hand it to him myself. DE LA BRIVE. I will do so, madame. After all I am not so worthless as I thought I was. It is you who have taught me this; you have a right to the whole credit of it. (He respectfully kisses her hand.) Thank you, madame, thank you! (He goes out.) MME. MERCADET. I have succeeded--if only I could now persuade Mercadet JUSTIN (entering from the center) Madame--madame--here they are--all of them. MME. MERCADET. Who? JUSTIN. The creditors. MME. MERCADET. Already? JUSTIN. There are a great many of them, madame. MME. MERCADET. Let them come in here. I will go and inform my husband. (Mme. Mercadet goes out by one door. Justin opens the other.)
[Pierquin, Goulard, Violette and several other creditors.]
ALL. We have, we have-- PIERQUIN. No more deluding promises. GOULARD. No more prayers and expostulations. VIOLETTE. No more pretended payments on account, thrown out as a bait to get deeper into our pockets.
[The same persons and Mercadet]
GOULARD. We shall do so, unless you find means to pay us in full this very day. MERCADET. To-day! PIERQUIN. This very day. MERCADET (standing before the fireplace) Do you think that I possess the plates for striking off Bank of France notes? VIOLETTE. You mean that you have no offer to make? MERCADET. Absolutely none! And you are going to lock me up? I warn him who is going to pay for the cab that he won't be reimbursed from any assets of mine. GOULARD. I shall add that along with all that you owe me to the debit of your account-- MERCADET. Thank you. You've all made up your mind, I suppose? The Creditors We have. MERCADET. I am touched by your unanimity! (pulling out his watch) Two o'clock. (Aside) De La Brive has had quite time enough--he ought to be on his way here. (Aloud) Gentlemen, you compel me to admit that you are men of inspiration and have chosen your time well! PIERQUIN. What does he mean? MERCADET. For months, for years, you have allowed yourselves to be humbugged by fine promises, and deceived--yes, deceived by preposterous stories; and to-day is the day you choose for showing yourselves inexorable! Upon my word and honor, it is positively amusing! By all means let us start for Clichy. GOULARD. But, sir-- PIERQUIN. He is laughing. VIOLETTE (rising from his chair) There is something in the wind. Gentlemen, there is something in the wind! PIERQUIN. Please explain to us-- GOULARD. We desire to know-- VIOLETTE (rising to his feet) M. Mercadet, if there is anything--tell us about it. MERCADET (coming to the table) Nothing! I shall say nothing, not I--I wish to be put behind the bars!--I would like to see the figure you all will cut to-morrow or this evening, when you find he has returned. GOULARD. (rising to his feet) He has returned? PIERQUIN. Returned from where? VIOLETTE. Who has returned? MERCADET (coming forward) Nobody has returned. Let us start for Clichy, gentlemen. GOULARD. But listen, if you are expecting any assistance-- PIERQUIN. If you have any hope that-- VIOLETTE. Or if even some considerable legacy-- GOULARD. Come, now! PIERQUIN. Answer-- VIOLETTE. Tell us-- MERCADET. Now, take care, I beg you. You are giving way, you are giving way, gentlemen, and if I wished to take the trouble, I could win you over again. Come now, act like genuine creditors! Ridicule the past, forget the brilliant strokes of business I put within the power of each of you before the sudden departure of my faithful Godeau-- GOULARD. His faithful Godeau! PIERQUIN. Ah! If there were only-- MERCADET. Forget all that preposterous past, take no account of what might induce him to return--after being waited for so long--and--let us start for Clichy, gentlemen, let us start for Clichy! VIOLETTE. Mercadet, you are expecting Godeau, aren't you? MERCADET. No! VIOLETTE (as with a sudden inspiration) Gentlemen, he is expecting Godeau! GOULARD. Can it be true? PIERQUIN. Speak. ALL Speak! Speak! MERCADET (with feeble deprecations) Why, no, no--yet I do not know--I-- Certainly, it is possible that some day or other he may return form the Indies with some-- considerable fortune-- (In a decided tone) But I give you my word of honor that I don't expect Godeau here to-day. VIOLETTE (excitedly) Then it must be to-morrow! Gentlemen, he expects him to-morrow! GOULARD (in a low voice to the others) Unless this is some fresh trick to gain time and ridicule us-- PIERQUIN (aloud) Do you think it might be? GOULARD. It is quite possible. VIOLETTE. (in a loud tone) Gentlemen, he is fooling us. MERCADET (aside) The devil he is! (Aloud) Come, gentlemen, we had better be starting. GOULARD. I swear that-- (The rumbling of carriage wheels is heard.) MERCADET (aside) At last! (Aloud) Oh, heavens! (He lays his hand upon his heart.) A Postillion (outside) A carriage at the door. MERCADET. Ah! (Falls back on a chair near the table.) GOULARD (looking through the pane of glass above the mantel) A carriage! PIERQUIN (doing the same) A post-chaise! VIOLETTE (doing the same) Gentlemen, a post-chaise is at the door. MERCADET (aside) My dear De La Brive could not have arrived at a better moment! GOULARD. See how dusty it is! VIOLETTE. And battered to the very hood! It must have come from the heart of the Indies, to be as battered as that. MERCADET (mildly) You don't know what you are talking about, Violette! Why, my good fellow, people don't arrive from the Indies by land. GOULARD. But come and see for yourself, Mercadet; a man has stepped out-- PIERQUIN. Enveloped in a large pelisse--do come-- MERCADET. No--pardon me. The joy--the excitement--I-- VIOLETTE. He carries a chest. Oh! what a huge chest! Gentlemen, it is Godeau! I recognize him by the chest. MERCADET. Yes--I was expecting Godeau. GOULARD. He has come back from Calcutta. PIERQUIN. With a fortune. MERCADET. Of incalculable extent! VIOLETTE. What have I been saying? (VIOLETTE. goes in silence to Mercadet and grasps his hand. The two others follow his example, and then all the creditors form a ring round Mercadet) MERCADET (with seeming emotion) Oh! Gentlemen--my friends--my dear comrades--my children!
[The same persons and Mme. Mercadet.]
MERCADET. (aside) It is my wife. I thought that she had gone out. She is going to ruin everything! MME. MERCADET. My dear! I see that you don't know what has happened? MERCADET. I? No, I don't--if I-- MME. MERCADET. Godeau is returned. MERCADET. Ah! You say? (Aside) I wonder if she suspects-- MME. MERCADET. I have seen him--I have spoken to him. It was I who saw him first. MERCADET (aside) De La Brive has won her over! What a man he is! (To Mme. Mercadet, low) Good, my dear wife, good! You will be our salvation. MME. MERCADET. But you don't understand me, it is really he, it is-- MERCADET (in a low voice) Hush! (Aloud) I must--gentlemen--I must go and welcome him. MME. MERCADET. No--wait, wait a little, my dear; poor Godeau has overtaxed his strength--scarcely had he reached my apartment when fatigue, excitement and a nervous attack overcame him-- MERCADET. Really! (Aside) How well she does it! VIOLETTE. Poor Godeau! MME. MERCADET. "Madame," he said to me, "go and see your husband. Bring me back his pardon; I do not wish to see him face to face, until I have repaired the past." GOULARD. That was fine. PIERQUIN. It was sublime. VIOLETTE. It melts me to tears, gentlemen, it melts me to tears. MERCADET (aside) Look at that! Well! There's a woman worth calling a wife! (Taking her by the hand) My darling-- Excuse me, gentlemen. (He kisses her on both cheeks. In a low voice) Things are going on finely. MME. MERCADET (in a low voice) How lucky this is, my dear! Better than anything you could have fancied. MERCADET. I should think so. (Aside) It is very much better. (Aloud) Go and look after him, my dear. And you, gentlemen, be good enough to pass into my office. (He points to the left.) Wait there till we settle our accounts. (Mme. Mercadet goes out.) GOULARD. I am at your service, my friend-- PIERQUIN. Our excellent friend. VIOLETTE. Friend, we are at your service. MERCADET (supporting himself half-dazed against the table) What do you think? And people said that I was nothing but a sharper! GOULARD. You! You are one of the most capable men in Paris. PIERQUIN. Who is bound to make a million--as soon as he has a-- VIOLETTE. Dear M. Mercadet, we will give you as much time as you want. ALL Certainly. MERCADET. This is a little late--but gentlemen, I thank you as heartily as if you had said it yesterday morning. Good-day. (In a low voice to Goulard) Within an hour your stock shall be sold-- GOULARD. Good! MERCADET (in a low voice to Pierquin) Stay where you are. (All the others enter the office.) PIERQUIN. What can I do for you?
[MERCADET and PIERQUIN.]
PIERQUIN. And for what date, and on what collateral? MERCADET. Collateral? Nonsense! This is a cash deal; bring them to me to-day, and I will pay to-morrow. PIERQUIN. To-morrow? MERCADET. To-morrow the stock will have risen. PIERQUIN. I suppose, considering your situation, that you are buying for Godeau. MERCADET. Do you think so? PIERQUIN. I presume he gave his orders in the letter which announced his return. MERCADET. Possibly so. Ah! Master Pierquin, we are going to take a hand in business again, and I guess that you will gain from this to the end of the year something like a hundred thousand francs in brokerage from us. PIERQUIN. A hundred thousand francs! MERCADET. Let the stock be depressed below par, and then buy it in, and-- (handing him a letter) see that this letter appears in the evening paper. This evening, at Tortoni's, you will see an immediate rise in the quotations. Now be quick about this. PIERQUIN. I will fly. Good-bye. (Exit.)
[MERCADET., then JUSTIN.]
JUSTIN (from the back of the stage) Sir-- MERCADET. What is it--what do you want, JUSTIN? JUSTIN. Sir-- MERCADET. Go on! Tell me. JUSTIN. M. Violette has offered me sixty francs if I will let him speak with M. Godeau. MERCADET. Sixty francs. (Aside) He fleeced me out of them. JUSTIN. I am sure, sir, that you wouldn't like me to lose such a present. MERCADET. Let him have his way with you. JUSTIN. Ah! sir, but--M. Goulard also--and the others-- MERCADET. Do as you like--I give them over into your hands. Fleece them well! JUSTIN. I'll do my best. Thank you, sir. MERCADET. Let them all see Godeau. (Aside) De La Brive is well able to look after himself. (Aloud) But, between ourselves, keep Pierquin away. (Aside) He would recognize his dear friend, Michonnin. JUSTIN. I understand, sir. Ah! here is M. Minard. (Exit.)
[Mercadet and Minard.]
MERCADET. Well, M. Minard, and what brings you here? MINARD. Despair. MERCADET. Despair? MINARD. M. Godeau has come back; and they say that you are now a millionaire! MERCADET. Is that the cause of your despair? MINARD. Yes, sir. MERCADET. Well, you are a strange fellow! I disclose to you the fact of my ruin and you are delighted. You learn that good fortune has returned to me and you are overwhelmed with despair! And all the while you wish to enter into my family! Yet you act like my enemy-- MINARD. It is just my love that makes your good fortune so alarming to me; I fear all the while that you will now refuse me the hand-- MERCADET. Of Julie? My dear Adolphe, all men of business have not put their heart in their money-bags. Our sentiments are not always to be reckoned by debit and credit. You offered me the thirty thousand francs that you possessed--I certainly have no right to reject you on account of certain millions. (Aside) Which I do not possess! MINARD. You bring back life to me. MERCADET. Well, I suppose that is true, but so much the better, for I am very fond of you. You are simple, honorable. I am touched, I am delighted. I am even charmed. Ah! Let me once get hold of my six hundred thousand francs and--(Sees Pierquin enter) Here they come--
[The same persons, Pierquin and Verdelin.]
PIERQUIN. (in some embarrassment) It is all right. The stock is ours. MERCADET. (joyfully) Bravo! VERDELIN. (approaching Mercadet) Good-day! MERCADET. What! Verdelin-- VERDELIN. I find out that you have bought the stock before me, and that now I shall have to pay very much higher than I expected; but it is all right, it was well managed, and I am compelled to cry, "Hail to the King of the Exchange, Hail to the Napoleon of Finance!" (He laughs derisively.) MERCADET. (somewhat abashed) What does he mean? VERDELIN. I'm only repeating what you said yesterday-- MERCADET. What I said? PIERQUIN. The fact of it is, Verdelin does not believe in the return of Godeau-- MINARD. Ah, sir! MERCADET. Is there any doubt about it? VERDELIN. (ironically) Doubt about it! There is more than doubt about it. I at once concluded that this so-called return was the bold stroke that you spoke of yesterday. MERCADET. I--(Aside) Stupid of me! VERDELIN. I concluded that, relying upon the presence of this fictitious Godeau, you made purchases with the idea of paying on the rise, which would follow to-morrow, and that to-day you have actually not a single sou-- MERCADET. You had imagined all that? VERDELIN. (approaching the fireplace) Yes, but when I saw outside that triumphal post-chaise--that model of Indian manufacture, and I realized that it was impossible to find such a vehicle in the Champs-Elysees, all my doubts disappeared and-- But hand him over the bonds, M. Pierquin! PIERQUIN. The--bonds--it happens that-- MERCADET (aside) I must bluff, or I am lost! (Aloud) Certainly, produce the bonds. PIERQUIN. One moment--if what this gentleman has said is true-- MERCADET (haughtily) M. Pierquin! MINARD. But, gentlemen--M. Godeau is here--I have seen him--I have talked with him. MERCADET (to Pierquin) He has talked with him, sir. PIERQUIN (to Verdelin) The fact of it is, I have seen him myself. VERDELIN. I don't doubt it! By the bye, on what vessel did our friend Godeau say he arrived? MERCADET. By what vessel? It was by the--by the /Triton/-- VERDELIN. How careless the English newspapers are. They have published the arrival of no other English mail packet but the /Halcyon/. PIERQUIN. Really! MERCADET. Let us end this discussion. M. Pierquin--those bonds-- PIERQUIN. Pardon me, but as you have offered no collateral, I would wish--I do wish to speak with Godeau. MERCADET. You shall not speak with him, sir. I cannot permit you to doubt my word. VERDELIN. This is superb. MERCADET. M. Minard, go to Godeau-- Tell him that I have obtained an option on three hundred thousand francs' worth of stock, and ask him to send me --(with emphasis)--thirty thousand francs for use as a margin. A man in his position always has such a sum about him. (In a low voice) Do not fail to bring me the thirty thousand. MINARD. Yes, sir. (Goes out, through the right.) MERCADET (haughtily) Will that satisfy you, M. Pierquin? PIERQUIN. Certainly, certainly. (To Verdelin) It will be all right when he comes back. VERDELIN (rising from his seat) And you expect that he will bring thirty thousand francs? MERCADET. I have a perfect right to be offended by your insulting doubt; but I am still your debtor-- VERDELIN. Bosh! You have enough in Godeau's pocket-book wherewith to liquidate; besides, to-morrow the Basse-Indre will rise above par. It will go up, up, till you don't know how far it will go. Your letter worked wonders, and we were obliged to publish on the Exchange the results of our explorations by boring. The mines will become as valuable as those of Mons--and--your fortune is made--when I thought I was going to make mine. MERCADET. I now understand your rage. (To Pierquin) And this is the origin of all the doubtful rumors. VERDELIN. Rumors which can only vanish before the appearance of Godeau's cash.
[The same persons, VIOLETTE and GOULARD.]
VIOLETTE (following him) My dear Mercadet! GOULARD. What a man this Godeau is! MERCADET (aside) Fine! VIOLETTE. What high sense of honor he has! MERCADET (aside) That's pretty good! GOULARD. What magnanimity! MERCADET (aside) Prodigious! VERDELIN. Have you seen him? VIOLETTE. Of course, I have! PIERQUIN. Have you spoken to him? GOULARD. Just as I speak to you. And I have been paid. ALL. Paid! MERCADET. Paid? How--how have you been paid? GOULARD. In full. Fifty thousand in drafts. MERCADET (aside) That I can understand. GOULARD. And eight thousand francs net, in notes. MERCADET. In bank-notes? GOULARD. Bank-notes. MERCADET (aside) It is past my understanding. Ah! Eight thousand! Minard might have given them, so that now he'll bring me only twenty-two thousand. VIOLETTE. And I--I, who would have been willing to make some reduction--I have been paid in full! MERCADET. All! (in a low voice to him) I suppose in drafts? VIOLETTE. In first-class drafts to the amount of eighteen thousand francs. MERCADET (aside) What a fellow this De La Brive is! VIOLETTE. And the balance, the other twelve thousand-- VERDELIN. Yes--the balance? VIOLETTE. In cash. Here it is. (He shows the bank-notes.) MERCADET (aside) Minard won't bring me more than ten. GOULARD (taking a seat at the table) And this very moment he is paying in the same way all your creditors. MERCADET. In the same way? VIOLETTE (taking a seat at the table) Yes, in drafts, in specie, and in bank-notes. MERCADET (forgetting himself) Lord, have mercy upon me! (Aside) Minard will bring me nothing at all. VERDELIN. What is the matter with you? MERCADET. Me! Nothing--I--
[The same persons and Minard, followed by creditors.]
MERCADET (trembling) And you--have brought me--a few--bank-notes? MINARD. A few bank-notes? Of course. M. Godeau wouldn't let me even mention the thirty thousand francs. (Goulard and Violette rise. Minard stands before the table, surrounded by creditors.) MERCADET. I can quite understand that. MINARD. "You mean," he said, "a hundred thousand crowns; here are a hundred thousand crowns, with my compliments!" (He pulls out a large roll of bank-notes, which he places on the table.) MERCADET (rushing to the table) What the devil! (Looking at the notes) What is all this about? MINARD. The three hundred thousand francs. PIERQUIN. My three hundred thousand francs! VERDELIN. The truth for once! MERCADET (astounded) Three hundred thousand francs! I see them! I touch them! I grasp them! Three hundred thousand--where did you get them? MINARD. I told you he gave them to me. MERCADET (with vehemence) He!-- He--! Who is he? MINARD. Did not I say, M. Godeau? MERCADET. What Godeau? Which Godeau? MINARD. Why the Godeau who has come back from the Indies. MERCADET. From the Indies? VIOLETTE. And who is paying all your debts. MERCADET. What is this? I never expected to strike a Godeau of this kind. PIERQUIN. He has gone crazy! (All the other creditors gather at the back of the stage. Verdelin approaches them, and speaks in a low voice.) VERDELIN (returning to Mercadet) It's true enough! All are paid in full! MERCADET. Paid? Every one of them? (Goes from one to the other and looks at the bank-notes and the drafts they have.) Yes, all settled with--settled in full! Ah! I see blue, red, violet! A rainbow seems to surround me.
MERCADET. Come, daughter, wife, Adolphe, and my other friends, gather round me, look at me. I know you would not deceive me. JULIE. What is the matter, father? MERCADET. Tell me (seeing De La Brive come in) Michonnin, tell me frankly-- DE LA BRIVE. Luckily for me, sir, I followed the advice of madame--otherwise you would have had two Godeaus at a time, for heaven has brought back to you the genuine man. MERCADET. You mean to say then--that he has really returned! VERDELIN. Do you mean to say that you didn't know it after all? MERCADET (recovering himself, standing before the table and touching the notes) I--of course I did. Oh, fortune, all hail to thee, queen of monarchs, archduchess of loans, princess of stocks and mother of credit! All hail! Thou long sought for, and now for the thousandth time come home to us from the Indies! Oh! I've always said that Godeau had a mind of tireless energy and an honest heart! (Going up to his wife and daughter) Kiss me! MME. MERCADET. (in tears) Ah! dear, dear husband! MERCADET (supporting her) And you, what courage you have shown in adversity! MME. MERCADET. But I am overcome by the happiness of seeing you saved--wealthy! MERCADET. But honest! And yet I must tell you my wife, my children--I could not have held out much longer--I was about to succumb--my mind always on the rack--always on the defensive--a giant might have yielded. There were moments when I longed to flee away-- Oh! For some place of repose! Henceforth let us live in the country. MME. MERCADET. But you will soon grow weary of it. MERCADET. No, for I shall be a witness in their happiness. (Pointing to Minard and Julie.) And after all this financial traffic I shall devote myself to agriculture; the study of agriculture will never prove tedious. (To the creditors) Gentlemen, we will continue to be good friends, but will have no more business transactions. (To De La Brive) M. de la Brive, let me pay back to you your forty-eight thousand francs. DE LA BRIVE. Ah! sir-- MERCADET. And I will lend you ten thousand more. DE LA BRIVE. Ten thousand francs? But I don't know when I shall be able-- MERCADET. You need have no scruples; take them--for I have a scheme-- DE LA BRIVE. I accept them. MERCADET. Ah! It is one of my dreams. Gentlemen (to the creditors who are standing in a row) I am a--creditor! MME. Mercadet (pointing to the door) My dear, he is waiting for us. MERCADET. Yes, let us go in. I have so many times drawn your attention to Godeau, that I certainly have the right to see him. Let us go in and see Godeau!
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