The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux/Chapter 14

by L'Abbé Prévost

Chapter XIV.

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Throughout my life I have observed that Providence has invariably selected those periods when my fortunes have apparently been established on the firmest of foundations, to inflict its severest chastisements upon me. With M. de T———'s friendship and Manon's affection, my cup of happiness seemed so full, that no one could have persuaded me that there was any fresh misfortune in store for me. Yet there was one impending at that moment so disastrous in its consequences that it reduced me to the condition in which you saw me at Passy, and eventually to such deplorable extremities that you will find it difficult as you hear them to believe in the truth of my story.

One evening M. de T——— was supping with us, when we heard a coach rattle up to the door of the inn, and stop. Our curiosity was excited as to who could be arriving at that late hour. Upon inquiry we found that it was young Monsieur de G——— M———; no other, in fact, than the son of our cruellest enemy, the old voluptuary who had incarcerated me at Saint Lazare, and sent Manon to the Hôpital. I flushed with anger as I heard his name.

"A just Heaven has brought him here," I said to M. de T———, "that I may punish him for his father's villainy! He shall not escape me until we have measured swords together!"

M. de T———, who knew him, and who, indeed, was one of his most intimate friends, endeavored to inspire me with more amicable sentiments towards him. He assured me that he was a young man of exceedingly amiable character; and so far from being capable of having taken any share in his father's proceedings, that even I, were I to be in his company for a few minutes, could not fail to accord him my esteem and to desire that he should give me his.

After adding a great deal more in his favor, M. de T——— begged that I would permit him to go and invite his friend to join us, and to partake of what was left of our supper. He met the objection as to the risk to which we should be exposing Manon in making her whereabouts known to our enemy's son, by protesting on his faith and honor that when once young G——— M——— knew us, we should have no more zealous champion than he. In the face of such positive assurances I made no further difficulty. Before bringing him to us, M. de T——— had a few minutes' conversation with him in private, and told him who we were. His manner on entering the room certainly prepossessed us in his favor.

After exchanging salutations, we sat down. He was eloquent in his admiration of Manon, of myself, and of everything belonging to us; and he ate with an appetite that did honor to our supper. As soon as the table was cleared, the converaation took a more serious turn. With downcast eyes, he spoke of his father's cruel behavior towards us, and expressed the deepest regret for all that we had suffered at his hands.

"If I do not prolong my apologies," said he, "I beg you to believe that it is only because I am loath to revive a recollection which is fraught with so much humiliation for myself."

However sincere his contrition may have been at first, it became much more so as the evening wore on; for he had not been with us half an hour before I began to perceive the impression which Manon's charms were making upon him. His glances and his manner towards her gradually grew more and more tender; although, during the whole conversation, he did not betray his sentiments by a word. But, even without any aid from jealousy, I was too well versed in the ways of love to be blind to the most trivial indications arising from that source.

Young G——— M——— remained in our company until late in the evening, and before taking his leave, he told us that he congratulated himself upon his good fortune in making our acquaintance, and hoped that we would permit him to come and see us occasionally, so that he might have more than one opportunity of assuring us of his desire to serve us in any way in his power. He left in the morning, taking M. de T——— in his coach with him.

As I have already remarked, I felt no inclination to be jealous. I trusted to Manon's vows with more credulity than ever. Such absolute dominion did that lovely being hold over my heart that I had not a trace of any other feelings than those of esteem and affection toward her. So far from blaming her for having fascinated young G——— M———, I was pleased beyond measure at the effect of her charms; and plumed myself upon being loved by a girl who was the admiration of all who beheld her. I did not even think it worth while to confide my suspicions to her.

For some days after this we were busily engaged in putting her wardrobe in order, and in discussing the question of whether we might venture to go to the Comédie without fear of being recognized. M. de T——— paid us another visit before the end of the week, and we consulted him in the matter. He saw that Manon's heart was set upon going, and that nothing would please her but that he should say "yes." So we decided to go with him that very evening. Our decision was not destined to be carried into effect, however, for M. de T——— drew me aside a moment afterwards, and said:

"I have been in the deepest perplexity since I last saw you, and my visit to you to-day is one result of it. G——— M——— has fallen in love with your mistress, and has confided his passion to me. I am his bosom friend, and ready to do him any service he may ask; but I am no less a friend of yours. His intentions appearing to me dishonorable, I expressed my strong disapprobation of them. I should have kept his secret for him, had it been his design to employ only the ordinary methods of winning a lady's favor, but he has an accurate knowledge of Manon's peculiar character, having discovered—by what means I cannot say—her fondness for wealth and pleasure; and, as he is already in the enjoyment of a considerable fortune, he means, he informed me, to begin by tempting her with a very handsome present, and the offer of an allowance of ten thousand francs.

"Had all things been equal, it might have cost me, perhaps, a much greater struggle to betray his confidence; but considerations of justice as well as of friendship decided me in your favor; especially as, having been the imprudent cause of his passion, by introducing him here, I felt that it lay upon me to avert any ill-consequences of the mischief I have occasioned."

I thanked M. de T——— for rendering me so important a service; and, returning his confidence unreservedly, I owned that Manon's character was such as G——— M——— supposed it to be; that is to say, that she could not endure the very mention of poverty.

"However," I said, "when it is merely a question of more or less, I do not think her capable of deserting me for another. I am in a position to see that she wants for nothing, and I have every reason to believe that my fortunes will improve from day to day. There is but one thing I fear," I added, "and that is that G——— M——— may avail himself of his knowledge of our whereabouts to do us some ill-turn."

M. de T——— assured me that I need be under no apprehension on that score. G——— M———, he said, was capable of any folly in the name of love, but not of an act of baseness. "Were he to stoop so low as to commit one," continued M. de T———, "I would myself be the first to punish him for it, and so atone for my unfortunate share in occasioning it."

"I am obliged to you for this kind expression of your feeling," I replied, "but the mischief would have been done, and the remedy would be of doubtful benefit to us. I think, therefore, that our wisest plan is to avoid any such trouble by leaving Chaillot and taking up our residence elsewhere."

"No doubt," responded my friend; "but you will be hard put to it to get away as speedily as the circumstances require; for G——— M——— is to be here by noon to-day. He told me so yesterday, and that was my reason for coming at such an early hour to apprise you of his intentions. He may arrive at any moment."

With such short warning, the case became urgent, and forced me to consider it in a more serious light. To escape G——— M———'s visit was manifestly impossible; and it would doubtless be no less impossible for me to prevent his declaring his passion to Manon. In this dilemma, I decided to put her on her guard myself against the designs of this new rival. I imagined that if she knew me to be aware of the proposals which he was about to make to her, and received them under my very eyes, she would have sufficient strength of mind to reject them. I confided my thoughts to M. de T———, who expressed his opinion that it would be an extremely delicate matter to manage successfully.

"I do not deny that it will be," said I; "but no man could have more reasons for being sure of his mistress than I have for relying on the affection of mine. If she could be tempted at all, it would be because she was dazzled by the splendor of the offers made to her; and, as I have already told you, she is not of a mercenary nature. She loves her comfort; but she loves me too; and while my affairs are in as prosperous a condition as they are at present, I cannot believe that she would choose the son of a man who had her immured in the Hôpital, in preference to myself."

In short, I adhered to my original purpose, and, drawing Manon aside, frankly told her all that I had just learned.

She thanked me for my good opinion of her, and promised me that she would receive G——— M———'s proposals in a fashion that would leave him no desire to renew them in the future.

"No," said I, 'it will not do to anger him by an affront. It lies in his power to injure us. But, you sweet rogue," I added, with a laugh, "you know well enough how to rid yourself of an unacceptable or importunate lover."

After musing for a few moments, she exclaimed:

"I have it. I have thought of an admirable plan, and I am quite proud of my ingenuity. G——— M———, you see, is the son of our bitterest enemy. We must be revenged on the father, not, indeed, through the son himself, but through the son's purse. What I mean to do is to listen to his proposals, accept his presents, and then leave him in the lurch."

"A pretty enough project, doubtless," I said, "but you seem to forget, my poor girl, that this is the very same road which led us straight to the Hôpital."

In vain did I point out to her the danger of doing as she proposed. She insisted that it would be only necessary for us to play our cards well; and found a ready answer to every objection that I urged.

Show me the lover who does not blindly humor every caprice in the woman he adores, and I will admit that I was to blame in yielding so readily. However that may be, it was agreed between us that G——— M——— should be made our dupe; whereas, by a strange turn of fate, I became his instead.

His coach drew up at the door at about eleven o'clock. He apologized gracefully for the liberty he was taking in inviting himself to dine with us; and expressed no surprise on seeing M. de T———, who, in fact, had promised him the day before that he would be present, and had only avoided coming in the same coach with him by excusing himself under pretext of having some business to attend to.

In spite of the fact that we were one and all harboring treachery in our hearts, we took our places at the table with every appearance of mutual confidence and good-will. G——— M——— easily found an opportunity of declaring his sentiments to Manon. He had no reason to think me anything but complaisant, as I purposely left the room for some little time. I could see, when I returned, that his suit had not been received with such severe disfavor as to drive him to despair. On the contrary, he was in the best of humors, and I affected to be in equally high spirits. He, of course, was laughing in his sleeve at my simplicity, and I at his. Each of us was a most diverting spectacle for the other during the whole of that afternoon. Before he left, I again continved to allow him a few moments' private conversation with Manon; so that he had every cause to congratulate himself upon my accommodating disposition, as well as on the good cheer he had enjoyed.

No sooner had he stepped into his coach with M. de T———, than Manon ran with open arms towards me, and catching me in her embrace, gave vent to her mirth in peals of laughter. She repeated to me, word for word, all the speeches and proposals he had favored her with. The upshot of them was this: He adored her; he desired to share with her the income of forty thousand livres which he was now enjoying, not to speak of his expectations after his father's death; she was to be mistress of his heart and fortune, and, as an earnest of his bounty, he was ready at once to give her a coach, a furnished house, a maid, three footmen, and a cook.

"Here is a son, it must be owned, whose ideas of generosity are very different from his father's," I said to Manon; "but, to be candid with me," I added, "are you not tempted by these offers?"

"I?" she responded, adapting two verses of Racine's to express her thought:

^[1]"I! capable of perfidy so base?
I! willing to behold that hated face,
Which, whene'er forced on my reluctant view,
Doth mem'ries of the Hôpital renew?"

"No," I went on, continuing the parody:

"The Hôpital was scarce Love's shaft, to trace
Upon your heart the image of his face.

Yet a furnished house, with a coach and three lackeys, is an arrow feathered with great seductions, and Cupid has few as strong in all his quiver."

She protested that I had possession of her heart forever, and that no image but my own should ever be graven upon it.

"The promises he made me," she said, "are goads to vengeance, rather than shafts of love."

I asked her whether she intended to accept the house and coach. She replied that his money was all that she had designs upon. The difficulty was to get possession of the one without the others. We decided to await the full disclosure of G——— M———'s plans, which he was to make in a letter he had promised to write her. It was duly delivered to her the next day by a footman out of livery, who managed very adroitly to procure an opportunity of speaking to her unobserved. Telling him to wait for an answer, she brought the letter to me at once, and we opened it together.

In addition to the usual tender commonplaces, it contained my rival's promises set forth in full detail. He lavished his wealth with no niggard hand, pledging himself to count down to her ten thousand francs upon her taking possession of the house, and to make up that sum as fast as it was spent, so that she should always have it available in ready money. Her installation was not to be long delayed. He only asked her for two days in which to make the necessary preparations, and gave her the address of the house, promising to be there to meet her on the afternoon of the second day following, if she could succeed in giving me the slip.

This last was the only point as to which he begged her to set his mind at rest. He seemed to be quite sure of everything else, but he added that if she anticipated any difficulty in eluding my vigilance, he would find some mean of facilitating her escape.

G——— M——— was more wary than his father; he evidently meant to have his prey securely in his grasp before he loosened his purse-strings.

We held a consultation as to the course Manon should pursue. I endeavored once more to dissuade her from carrying out her project, but nothing could shake her purpose.

She wrote a short reply to G——— M———, assuring him that she would have no difficulty in getting to Paris on the day he named, and that he might expect her without fail. We then arranged that I should start out at once to engage new lodgings in some village on the other side of Paris, taking with me such few belongings as we had; and that early the following afternoon—which was the time appointed for their meeting—she would go into town, where, after receiving the presents from G——— M———, she was to beg him as a special favor to take her to the Comédie. She was to carry to the theatre as much of the money as she could secrete about her person, entrusting the rest to our valet, whom she intended to have with her. He was the same man who had assisted her to escape from the Hôpital and was devotedly attached to us.

I was to be at the end of the Rue Saint-André-des-Arcs with a hackney-coach, and, at about seven o'clock, was to leave it waiting there and make my way, under cover of the darkness, to the entrance of the Comédie. Manon promised to find some pretext for leaving her box for a few moments, and to seize the opportunity to come down and join me. The rest would be easy to manage. In an instant we should have leaped into the coach, and would be hurrying out of Paris by way of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, which would take us in the direction of our new lodgings.

Wildly impracticable as was this project, we thought it admirably planned. As a matter of fact, we were guilty of the maddest imprudence in allowing ourselves to suppose that, even if it should meet with complete success, we could ever put ourselves beyond reach of pursuit. We risked all the consequences, however, with reckless temerity.

1. "Moi! vous me soupçonnez de cette perfidie?
   Moi! je pourrais souffrir un visage odieux
   Qui rappelle toujours l'Hôpital à mes yeux?"

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   "J'aurais peine à penser que l'Hôpital, Madame,
   Fût un trait dont l'Amour l'eût gravé dans votre âme."

   The pun on the word trait is almost untranslatable.—Tr.