Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales. Guy de Maupassant

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      MME. DE SALLUS

      I know it. But when you have neither mother nor father to protect you, when the law is against you, and when you shrink from complicity in those degrading transactions to which many women yield themselves, there is always one means of escape.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      And that?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Flight.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      You mean to say—

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Flight.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Alone?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      No—with you.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      With me! Are you dreaming?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      No; so much the better. The scandal of it will prevent him from taking me back. I have gained courage now. Since he forces me to dishonor, I shall see that that dishonor is complete and overwhelming—even though it be the worse for him and for me.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Oh! Beware, beware, my darling! You are in one of those moments of exaltation and nervous excitement in which a woman sometimes commits a folly that is irreparable.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Well, I would rather commit such a folly and ruin myself—if that be ruin—than expose myself to the infamous struggle with which each day I am threatened.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Madeline, hear me. You are in a terrible situation, but for God's sake do not throw yourself into one that is irretrievable. Be calm, I implore you.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Well, what do you advise?

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      I do not know; we shall see. But I do not, I cannot, advise you to venture on a scandal which will put you outside the pale of society.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Well, yes, there is another law, an unwritten law which permits one to have lovers, even though it be shameful, because [sarcastically] it does not outrage society.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      That is not the question. The thing is to avoid taking up a wrong position in your quarrel with your husband. Have you decided to leave him?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Yes.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Finally and forever?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Yes.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Do you mean for all time?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      For all time.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Well, now, be cautious; be careful and cunning; guard your reputation and your name. Make neither commotion nor scandal, and await your opportunity.

      MME. DE SALLUS [ironically]

      And must I continue to be very charming when he returns to me, and be ready for all his fancies?

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Oh, Madeline, I speak to you in the truest friendship.

      MME. DE SALLUS [bitterly]

      In the truest friendship!

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Yea, as a friend who loves you far too dearly to advise you to commit any folly.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      And loves me just enough to advise me to be complaisant to a man I despise.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      I! Never, never. My most ardent desire is to be with you forever. Get a divorce, and then if you still love me, let us wed.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Oh, yes, yes—two years from now. Certainly, you are a patient lover!

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      But supposing I were to carry you off, he would take you back to-morrow; would shut you up in his house, and would never get a divorce lest you should become my wife.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Well, do you mean to say I could fly nowhere but to your house, that I could not hide myself in such fashion that he would never find me?

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Yes, you could hide yourself, but it would be necessary for you to live abroad under another name, or buried in the country, till death. That is the curse of our love. In three months you would hate me. I never will let you commit such a folly.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      I thought you loved me enough to fly with me, but it seems that I am mistaken. Adieu!

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Madeline, listen to me for God's—

      MME. DE SALLUS Jacques, take me, or leave me—answer!

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Madeline, I implore you!

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Never! Adieu! [Rises and goes to the door.]

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Once more I implore you, Madeline, listen to me.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Oh, no, no; adieu! [De Randol takes her by the arms; she frees herself angrily.] Unhand me! Let me go, or I shall call for help!

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

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