Manon Lescaut
night in the very bed which he had hoped to share with my mistress; all
this seemed to him easy enough, if I could only find two or three men
upon whom I could depend, of courage sufficient to stop him in the
street, and detain him in custody until next morning; that he would
undertake to keep him occupied for another hour at least, under some
pretext, which he could devise before G---- M----'s return.
"I showed the note to Manon; I told her at the same time of the manner
in which I had procured the interview with her. My scheme, as well as
the new one of M. de T----'s, delighted her: we laughed heartily at it
for some minutes; but when I treated it as a mere joke, I was surprised
at her insisting seriously upon it, as a thing perfectly practicable,
and too delightful to be neglected. In vain I enquired where she
thought I could possibly find, on a sudden, men fit for such an
adventure? and on whom I could rely for keeping G---- M---- in strict
custody? She said that I should at least try, as M. de T---- ensured
us yet a full hour; and as to my other objections, she said that I was
playing the tyrant, and did not show the slightest indulgence to her
fancies. She said that it was impossible there could be a more
enchanting project. 'You will have his place at supper; you will sleep
in his bed; and tomorrow, as early as you like, you can walk off with
both his mistress and his money. You may thus, at one blow, be amply
revenged upon father and son.'
"I yielded to her entreaties, in spite of the secret misgivings of my
own mind, which seemed to forebode the unhappy catastrophe that
afterwards befell me. I went out with the intention of asking two or
three guardsmen, with whom Lescaut had made me acquainted, to undertake
the arrest of G---- M----. I found only one of them at home, but he
was a fellow ripe for any adventure; and he no sooner heard our plan,
than he assured me of certain success: all he required were six
pistoles, to reward the three private soldiers whom he determined to
employ in the business. I begged of him to lose no time. He got them
together in less than a quarter of an hour. I waited at his lodgings
till he returned with them, and then conducted him to the corner of a
street through which I knew G---- M---- must pass in going back to
Manon's house. I requested him not to treat G---- M---- roughly, but
to keep him confined, and so strictly watched, until seven o'clock next
morning, that I might be free from all apprehension of his escape. He
told me his intention was to bring him a prisoner to his own room, and
make him undress and sleep in his bed, while he and his gallant
comrades should spend the night in drinking and playing.
"I remained with them until we saw G---- M---- returning homewards; and
I then withdrew a few steps into a dark recess in the street, to enjoy
so entertaining and extraordinary a scene. The officer challenged him
with a pistol to his breast, and then told him, in a civil tone, that
he did not want either his money or his life; but that if he hesitated
to follow him, or if he gave the slightest alarm, he would blow his
brains out. G---- M----, seeing that his assailant was supported by
three soldiers, and perhaps not uninfluenced by a dread of the pistol,
yielded without further resistance. I saw him led away like a lamb."
X
What lost a world, and bade a hero fly?
The timid tear in Cleopatra's eye.
Yet be the soft triumvir's fault forgiven,
By this, how many lose--not earth--but heaven!
Consign their souls to man's eternal foe,
And seal their own, to spare some wanton's, woe!
BYRON.
I soon returned to Manon; and to prevent the servants from having any
suspicion, I told her in their hearing, that she need not expect M.
G---- M---- to supper; that he was most reluctantly occupied with
business which detained him, and that he had commissioned me to come
and make his excuses, and to fill his place at the supper table; which,
in the company of so beautiful a lady, I could not but consider a very
high honour. She seconded me with her usual adroitness. We sat down
to supper. I put on the most serious air I could assume, while the
servants were in the room, and at length having got rid of them, we
passed, beyond all comparison, the most agreeable evening of my life.
I gave Marcel orders to find a hackney-coach, and engage it to be at
the gate on the following morning a little before six o'clock. I
pretended to take leave of Manon about midnight, but easily gaining
admission again, through Marcel, I proceeded to occupy G---- M----'s
bed, as I had filled his place at the supper table.
"In the meantime our evil genius was at work for our destruction. We
were like children enjoying the success of our silly scheme, while the
sword hung suspended over our heads. The thread which upheld it was
just about to break; but the better to understand all the circumstances
of our ruin, it is necessary to know the immediate cause.
"G---- M---- was followed by a servant, when he was stopped by my
friend the guardsman. Alarmed by what he saw, this fellow retraced his
steps, and the first thing he did was to go and inform old G---- M----
of what had just happened.
"Such a piece of news, of course, excited him greatly. This was his
only son; and considering the old gentleman's advanced age, he was
extremely active and ardent. He first enquired of the servant what his
son had been doing that afternoon; whether he had had any quarrel on
his own account, or interfered in any other; whether he had been in any
suspicious house. The lackey, who fancied his master in imminent
danger, and thought he ought not to have any reserve in such an
emergency, disclosed at once all that he knew of his connection with
Manon, and of the expense he had gone to on her account; the manner in
which he had passed the afternoon with her until about nine o'clock,
the circumstance of his leaving her, and the outrage he encountered on
his return. This was enough to convince him that his son's affair was a
love quarrel. Although it was then at least half-past ten at night, he
determined at once to call on the lieutenant of police. He begged of
him to issue immediate orders to all the detachments that were out on
duty, and he himself, taking some men with him, hastened to the street
where his son had been stopped: he visited every place where he thought
he might have a chance of finding him; and not being able to discover
the slightest trace of him, he went off to the house of his mistress,
to which he thought he probably might by this time have returned.
"I was stepping into bed when he arrived. The door of the chamber
being closed, I did not hear the knock at the gate, but he rushed into
the house, accompanied by two archers of the guard, and after fruitless
enquiries of the servants about his son, he resolved to try whether he
could get any information from their mistress. He came up to the
apartment, still accompanied by the guard. We were just on the point
of lying down when he burst open the door, and electrified us by his
appearance. 'Heavens!' said I to Manon, 'it is old G---- M----.' I
attempted to get possession of my sword; but it was fortunately
entangled in my belt. The archers, who saw my object, advanced to lay
hold of me. Stript to my shirt, I could, of course, offer no
resistance, and they speedily deprived me of all means of defence.
"G---- M----, although a good deal embarrassed by the whole scene, soon
recognised me; and Manon still more easily. 'Is this a dream?' said
he, in the most serious tone--'do I not see before me the Chevalier des
Grieux and Manon Lescaut?' I was so overcome with shame and
disappointment, that I could make him no reply. He appeared for some
minutes revolving different thoughts in his mind; and as if they had
suddenly excited his anger, he exclaimed, addressing himself to me:
'Wretch! I am confident that you have murdered my son!'
"I felt indignant at so insulting a charge. 'You hoary and lecherous
villain!' I exclaimed, 'if I had been inclined to kill any of your
worthless family, it is with you I should most assuredly have
commenced.'
"'Hold him fast,' cried he to the archers; 'he must give me some
tidings of my son; I shall have him hanged tomorrow, if he does not
presently let me know how he has disposed of him.'
"'You will have me hanged,' said I, 'will you? Infamous scoundrel! it
is for such as you that the gibbet is erected. Know that the blood
which flows in my veins is noble, and purer in every sense than yours.
Yes,' I added, 'I do know what has happened to your son; and if you
irritate me further, I will have him strangled before morning; and I
promise you the consolation of meeting in your own person the same
fate, after he is disposed of.'
"I was imprudent in acknowledging that I knew where his son was, but
excess of anger made me commit this indiscretion. He immediately
called in five or six other archers, who were waiting at the gate, and
ordered them to take all the servants into custody. 'Ah! ah!
Chevalier,' said he, in a tone of sardonic raillery,--'so you do know
where my son is, and you will have him strangled, you say? We will try
to set that matter to rights.'
"I now saw the folly I had committed.
"He approached Manon, who was sitting upon the bed, bathed in a flood
of tears. He said something, with the most cruel irony, of the
despotic power she wielded over old and young, father and son--her
edifying dominion over her empire. This superannuated monster of
incontinence actually attempted to take liberties with her.
"'Take care,' exclaimed I, 'how you lay a finger upon her!--neither
divine nor human law will be able, should your folly arouse it, to
shield you from my vengeance!'
"He quitted the room, desiring the archers to make us dress as quickly
as possible.
"I know not what were his intentions at that moment with regard to us;
we might perhaps have regained our liberty if we had told him where his
son was. As I dressed, I considered whether this would not be the
wisest course. But if, on quitting the room, such had been the
disposition of his mind, it was very different when he returned. He
had first gone to question Manon's servants, who were in the custody of
the guard. From those who had been expressly hired for her service by
his son, he could learn nothing; but when he found that Marcel had been
previously our servant, he determined to extract some information from
him, by means of intimidation, threats, or bribes.
"This lad was faithful, but weak and unsophisticated. The remembrance
of what he had done at the penitentiary for Manon's release, joined to
the terror with which G---- M---- now inspired him, so subdued his
mind, that he thought they were about leading him to the gallows, or
the rack. He promised that, if they would spare his life, he would
disclose everything he knew. This speech made G---- M---- imagine that
there was something more serious in the affair than he had before
supposed; he not only gave Marcel a promise of his life, but a handsome
reward in hand for his intended confession.
"The booby then told him the leading features of our plot, of which we
had made no secret before him, as he was himself to have borne a part
in it. True, he knew nothing of the alterations we had made at Paris
in our original design; but he had been informed, before quitting
Chaillot, of our projected adventure, and of the part he was to
perform. He therefore told him that the object was to make a dupe of
his son; and that Manon was to receive, if she had not already
received, ten thousand francs, which, according to our project, would
be effectually lost to G---- M----, his heirs and assigns for ever.