Manon Lescaut
thousand times rather than continue to hold the slightest communication
with you. May Heaven punish me, if I ever again waste upon you the
smallest regard! Live on with your new lover--renounce all feelings of
honour--detest me--your love is now a matter to me of utter
insignificance!'
"Manon was so terrified by the violence of my anger, that, remaining on
her knees by the chair from which I had just before risen, breathless
and trembling, she fixed her eyes upon me. I advanced a little farther
towards the door, but, unless I had lost the last spark of humanity, I
could not continue longer unmoved by such a spectacle.
"So far, indeed, was I from this kind of stoical indifference, that,
rushing at once into the very opposite extreme, I returned, or rather
flew back to her without an instant's reflection. I lifted her in my
arms; I gave her a thousand tender kisses; I implored her to pardon my
ungovernable temper; I confessed that I was an absolute brute, and
unworthy of being loved by such an angel.
"I made her sit down, and throwing myself, in my turn, upon my knees, I
conjured her to listen to me in that attitude. Then I briefly
expressed all that a submissive and impassioned lover could say most
tender and respectful. I supplicated her pardon. She let her arms fall
over my neck, as she said that it was she who stood in need of
forgiveness, and begged of me in mercy to forget all the annoyances she
had caused me, and that she began, with reason, to fear that I should
not approve of what she had to say in her justification. 'Me!' said I
interrupting her impatiently; 'I require no justification; I approve of
all you have done. It is not for me to demand excuses for anything you
do; I am but too happy, too contented, if my dear Manon will only leave
me master of her affections! But,' continued I, remembering that it
was the crisis of my fate, 'may I not, Manon, all-powerful Manon, you
who wield at your pleasure my joys and sorrows, may I not be permitted,
after having conciliated you by my submission and all the signs of
repentance, to speak to you now of my misery and distress? May I now
learn from your own lips what my destiny is to be, and whether you are
resolved to sign my death-warrant, by spending even a single night with
my rival?'
"She considered a moment before she replied. 'My good chevalier,' said
she, resuming the most tranquil tone, 'if you had only at first
explained yourself thus distinctly, you would have spared yourself a
world of trouble, and prevented a scene that has really annoyed me.
Since your distress is the result of jealousy, I could at first have
cured that by offering to accompany you where you pleased. But I
imagined it was caused by the letter which I was obliged to write in
the presence of G---- M----, and of the girl whom we sent with it. I
thought you might have construed that letter into a mockery; and have
fancied that, by sending such a messenger, I meant to announce my
abandonment of you for the sake of G---- M----. It was this idea that
at once overwhelmed me with grief; for, innocent as I knew myself to
be, I could not but allow that appearances were against me. However,'
continued she, 'I will leave you to judge of my conduct, after I shall
have explained the whole truth.'
"She then told me all that had occurred to her after joining G----
M----, whom she found punctually awaiting her arrival. He had in fact
received her in the most princely style. He showed her through all the
apartments, which were fitted up in the neatest and most correct taste.
He had counted out to her in her boudoir ten thousand francs, as well
as a quantity of jewels, amongst which were the identical pearl
necklace and bracelets which she had once before received as a present
from his father. He then led her into a splendid room, which she had
not before seen, and in which an exquisite collation was served; she
was waited upon by the new servants, whom he had hired purposely for
her, and whom he now desired to consider themselves as exclusively her
attendants; the carriage and the horses were afterwards paraded, and he
then proposed a game of cards, until supper should be announced.
"'I acknowledge,' continued Manon, 'that I was dazzled by all this
magnificence. It struck me that it would be madness to sacrifice at
once so many good things for the mere sake of carrying off the money
and the jewels already in my possession; that it was a certain fortune
made for both you and me, and that we might pass the remainder of our
lives most agreeably and comfortably at the expense of G---- M----.
"'Instead of proposing the theatre, I thought it more prudent to sound
his feelings with regard to you, in order to ascertain what facilities
we should have for meeting in future, on the supposition that I could
carry my project into effect. I found him of a most tractable
disposition. He asked me how I felt towards you, and if I had not
experienced some compunction at quitting you. I told him that you were
so truly amiable, and had ever treated me with such undeviating
kindness, that it was impossible I could hate you. He admitted that
you were a man of merit, and expressed an ardent desire to gain your
friendship.
"'He was anxious to know how I thought you would take my elopement,
particularly when you should learn that I was in his hands. I
answered, that our love was of such long standing as to have had time
to moderate a little; that, besides, you were not in very easy
circumstances, and would probably not consider my departure as any
severe misfortune, inasmuch as it would relieve you from a burden of no
very insignificant nature. I added that, being perfectly convinced you
would take the whole matter rationally, I had not hesitated to tell you
that I had some business in Paris; but you had at once consented, and
that having accompanied me yourself, you did not seem very uneasy when
we separated.
"'If I thought,' said he to me, 'that he could bring himself to live on
good terms with me, I should be too happy to make him a tender of my
services and attentions.' I assured him that, from what I knew of your
disposition, I had no doubt you would acknowledge his kindness in a
congenial spirit: especially, I added, if he could assist you in your
affairs, which had become embarrassed since your disagreement with your
family. He interrupted me by declaring, that he would gladly render
you any service in his power, and that if you were disposed to form a
new attachment, he would introduce you to an extremely pretty woman,
whom he had just given up for me.
"'I approved of all he said,' she added, 'for fear of exciting any
suspicions; and being more and more satisfied of the feasibility of my
scheme, I only longed for an opportunity of letting you into it, lest
you should be alarmed at my not keeping my appointment. With this view
I suggested the idea of sending this young lady to you, in order to
have an opportunity of writing; I was obliged to have recourse to this
plan, because I could not see a chance of his leaving me to myself for
a moment.'
"'He was greatly amused with my proposition; he called his valet, and
asking him whether he could immediately find his late mistress, he
dispatched him at once in search of her. He imagined that she would
have to go to Chaillot to meet you, but I told him that, when we
parted, I promised to meet you again at the theatre, or that, if
anything should prevent me from going there, you were to wait for me in
a coach at the end of the street of St. Andre; that consequently it
would be best to send your new love there, if it were only to save you
from the misery of suspense during the whole night. I said it would be
also necessary to write you a line of explanation, without which you
would probably be puzzled by the whole transaction. He consented; but
I was obliged to write in his presence; and I took especial care not to
explain matters too palpably in my letter.
"'This is the history,' said Manon, 'of the entire affair. I conceal
nothing from you, of either my conduct or my intentions. The girl
arrived; I thought her handsome; and as I doubted not that you would be
mortified by my absence, I did most sincerely hope that she would be
able to dissipate something of your ennui: for it is the fidelity of
the heart alone that I value. I should have been too delighted to have
sent Marcel, but I could not for a single instant find an opportunity
of telling him what I wished to communicate to you.' She finished her
story by describing the embarrassment into which M. de T----'s letter
had thrown G---- M----; 'he hesitated,' said she, 'about leaving, and
assured me that he should not be long absent; and it is on this account
that I am uneasy at seeing you here, and that I betrayed, at your
appearance, some slight feeling of surprise.'
"I listened to her with great patience. There were certainly parts of
her recital sufficiently cruel and mortifying; for the intention, at
least, of the infidelity was so obvious, that she had not even taken
the trouble to disguise it. She could never have imagined that G----
M---- meant to venerate her as a vestal. She must therefore clearly
have made up her mind to pass at least one night with him. What an
avowal for a lover's ears! However, I considered myself as partly the
cause of her guilt, by having been the first to let her know G----
M----'s sentiments towards her, and by the silly readiness with which I
entered into this rash project. Besides, by a natural bent of my mind,
peculiar I believe to myself, I was duped by the ingenuousness of her
story--by that open and winning manner with which she related even the
circumstances most calculated to annoy me. 'There is nothing of wanton
vice,' said I to myself, 'in her transgressions; she is volatile and
imprudent, but she is sincere and affectionate.' My love alone
rendered me blind to all her faults. I was enchanted at the prospect
of rescuing her that very night from my rival. I said to her: 'With
whom do you mean to pass the night?' She was evidently disconcerted by
the question, and answered me in an embarrassed manner with BUTS and
IFS.
"I felt for her, and interrupted her by saying that I at once expected
her to accompany me.
"'Nothing can give me more pleasure,' said she; 'but you don't approve
then of my project?'
"'Is it not enough,' replied I, 'that I approve of all that you have,
up to this moment, done?'
"'What,' said she, 'are we not even to take the ten thousand francs
with us? Why, he gave me the money; it is mine.'
"I advised her to leave everything, and let us think only of escaping
for although I had been hardly half an hour with her, I began to dread
the return of G---- M----. However, she so earnestly urged me to
consent to our going out with something in our pockets, that I thought
myself bound to make her, on my part, some concession, in return for
all she yielded to me.
"While we were getting ready for our departure, I heard someone knock
at the street door. I felt convinced that it must be G---- M----; and
in the heat of the moment, I told Manon, that as sure as he appeared I
would take his life. In truth, I felt that I was not sufficiently
recovered from my late excitement to be able to restrain my fury if I
met him. Marcel put an end to my uneasiness, by handing me a letter
which he had received for me at the door; it was from M. de T----.
"He told me that, as G---- M---- had gone to his father's house for the
money which he wanted, he had taken advantage of his absence to
communicate to me an amusing idea that had just come into his head;
that it appeared to him, I could not possibly take a more agreeable
revenge upon my rival, than by eating his supper, and spending the