Manon Lescaut
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the Abbe Prevost >> Manon Lescaut
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"M. de T---- did not introduce him without delaying a few
moments outside, to let him know who we were. He certainly came
in with an air that prepossessed us in his favour: he shook hands
with me; we sat down; he admired Manon; he appeared pleased with
me, and with everything that belonged to us; and he ate with an
appetite that did abundant honour to our hospitality.
"When the table was cleared, our conversation became more
serious. He hung down his head while he spoke of his father's
conduct towards us. He made, on his own part, the most submissive
excuses. `I say the less upon the subject,' said he, `because I
do not wish to recall a circumstance that fills me with grief and
shame.' If he were sincere in the beginning, he became much more
so in the end, for the conversation had not lasted half an hour,
when I perceived that Manon's charms had made a visible
impression upon him. His looks and his manner became by degrees
more tender. He, however, allowed no expression to escape him;
but, without even the aid of jealousy, I had had experience
enough in love affairs to discern what was passing.
"He remained with us till a late hour in the night, and before
he took his leave, congratulated himself on having made our
acquaintance, and begged permission to call and renew the offer
of his services. He went off next morning with M. de T----, who
accepted the offer of a seat in his carriage.
"I felt, as I before said, not the slightest symptom of jealousy
I had a more foolish confidence than ever in Manon's vows. This
dear creature had so absolute a dominion over my whole soul and
affections, that I could give place to no other sentiment towards
her than that of admiration and love. Far from considering it a
crime that she should have pleased young G---- M----, I was
gratified by the effect of her charms, and experienced only a
feeling of pride in being loved by a girl whom the whole world
found so enchanting. I did not even deem it worth while to
mention my suspicions to her. We were for some days occupied in
arranging her new wardrobe, and in considering whether we might
venture to the theatre without the risk of being recognised. M.
de T---- came again to see us before the end of the week, and we
consulted him upon this point. He saw clearly that the way to
please Manon was to say yes: we resolved to go all together that
same evening.
"We were not able, however, to carry this intention into effect;
for, having taken me aside, `I have been in the greatest
embarrassment,' said he to me, `since I saw you, and that is the
cause of my visiting you today. G---- M---- is in love with your
mistress: he told me so in confidence; I am his intimate friend,
and disposed to do him any service in my power; but I am not less
devoted to you; his designs appeared to me unjustifiable, and I
expressed my disapprobation of them; I should not have divulged
his secret, if he had only intended to use fair and ordinary
means for gaining Manon's affections; but he is aware of her
capricious disposition; he has learned, God knows how, that her
ruling passion is for affluence and pleasure; and, as he is
already in possession of a considerable fortune, he declared his
intention of tempting her at once with a present of great value,
and the offer of an annuity of six thousand francs; if I had in
all other points considered you both in an equal light, I should
have had perhaps to do more violence to my feelings in betraying
him: but a sense of justice as well as of friendship was on your
side, and the more so from having been myself the imprudent,
though unconscious, cause of his passion in introducing him here.
I feel it my duty therefore to avert any evil consequences from
the mischief I have inadvertently caused.
"I thanked M. de T---- for rendering me so important a service,
and confessed to him, in a like spirit of confidence, that
Manon's disposition was precisely what G---- M---- had imagined;
that is to say, that she was incapable of enduring even the
thought of poverty. `However,' said I to him, `when it is a mere
question of more or less, I do not believe that she would give me
up for any other person; I can afford to let her want for
nothing, and I have from day to day reason to hope that my
fortune will improve; I only dread one thing,' continued I,
`which is, that G---- M---- may take unfair advantage of the
knowledge he has of our place of residence, and bring us into
trouble by disclosing it.'
"M. de T---- assured me that I might be perfectly easy upon that
head; that G---- M---- might be capable of a silly passion, but
not of an act of baseness; that if he ever could be villain
enough for such a thing, he, de T----, would be the first to
punish him, and by that means make reparation for the mischief he
had occasioned. `I feel grateful for what you say,' said I, `but
the mischief will have been all done, and the remedy even seems
doubtful; the wisest plan therefore will be to quit Chaillot, and
go to reside elsewhere.' `Very true,' said M. de T----, `but you
will not be able to do it quickly enough, for G---- M---- is to
be here at noon; he told me so yesterday, and it was that
intelligence that made me come so early this morning to inform
you of his intentions. You may expect him every moment.'"
"The urgency of the occasion made me view this matter in a more
serious light. As it seemed to me impossible to escape the visit
of G---- M----, and perhaps equally so to prevent him from making
his declaration to Manon, I resolved to tell her beforehand of
the designs of my new rival. I fancied that when she knew I was
aware of the offers that would be made to her, and made probably
in my presence, she would be the more likely to reject them. I
told M. de T---- of my intention, and he observed that he thought
it a matter of extreme delicacy. `I admit it,' said I, `but no
man ever had more reason for confiding in a mistress, than I have
for relying on the affection of mine. The only thing that could
possibly for a moment blind her, is the splendour of his offers;
no doubt she loves her ease, but she loves me also; and in my
present circumstances, I cannot believe that she would abandon me
for the son of the man who had incarcerated her in the Magdalen.'
In fine, I persisted in my intentions, and taking Manon aside, I
candidly told her what I had learned.
"She thanked me for the good opinion I entertained of her, and
promised to receive G---- M----'s offers in a way that should
prevent a repetition of them. `No,' said I, `you must not
irritate him by incivility: he has it in his power to injure us.
But you know well enough, you little rogue,' continued I,
smiling, `how to rid yourself of a disagreeable or useless
lover!' After a moment's pause she said: `I have just thought
of an admirable plan, and I certainly have a fertile invention.
G---- M---- is the son of our bitterest enemy: we must avenge
ourselves on the father, not through the son's person, but
through his purse. My plan is to listen to his proposals, accept
his presents, and then laugh at him.'
"`The project is not a bad one,' said I to her; `but you
forget, my dear child, that it is precisely the same course that
conducted us formerly to the penitentiary.' I represented to her
the danger of such an enterprise; she replied, that the only
thing necessary was to take our measures with caution, and she
found an answer to every objection I started. `Show me the lover
who does not blindly humour every whim of an adored mistress, and
I will then allow that I was wrong in yielding so easily on this
occasion.' The resolution was taken to make a dupe of G----M----,
and by an unforeseen and unlucky turn of fortune, I became
the victim myself.
"About eleven o'clock his carriage drove up to the door. He
made the most complaisant and refined speeches upon the liberty
he had taken of coming to dine with us uninvited. He was not
surprised at meeting M. de T----, who had the night before
promised to meet him there, and who had, under some pretext or
other, refused a seat in his carriage. Although there was not a
single person in the party who was not at heart meditating
treachery, we all sat down with an air of mutual confidence and
friendship. G---- M---- easily found an opportunity of declaring
his sentiments to Manon. I did not wish to annoy him by
appearing vigilant, so I left the room purposely for several
minutes.
"I perceived on my return that he had not had to encounter any
very discouraging austerity on Manon's part, for he was in the
best possible spirits. I affected good humour also. He was
laughing in his mind at my simplicity, while I was not less
diverted by his own. During the whole evening we were thus
supplying to each other an inexhaustible fund of amusement. I
contrived, before his departure, to let him have Manon for
another moment to himself; so that he had reason to applaud my
complaisance, as well as the hospitable reception I had given
him.
"As soon as he got into his carriage with M. de T----, Manon ran
towards me with extended arms, and embraced me; laughing all the
while immoderately. She repeated all his speeches and proposals,
without altering a word. This was the substance: He of course
adored her; and wished to share with her a large fortune of which
he was already in possession, without counting what he was to
inherit at his father's death. She should be sole mistress of
his heart and fortune; and as an immediate token of his
liberality, he was ready at once to supply her with an equipage,
a furnished house, a lady's maid, three footmen, and a man-cook.
"`There is indeed a son,' said I, `very different from his father!
But tell me truly, now, does not such an offer tempt you?'
`Me!' she replied, adapting to the idea two verses from Racine--
Moi! vous me soupconnez de cette perfidie?
Moi! je pourrais souffrir un visage odieux,
Qui rappelle toujours l'Hopital a mes yeux?
`No I' replied I, continuing the parody--
J'aurais peine a penser que l'Hopital, madame,
Fut un trait dont l'amour l'eut grave dans votre ame.
`But it assuredly is a temptation--a furnished house, a lady's
maid, a cook, a carriage, and three servants--gallantry can offer
but few more seductive temptations.'
"She protested that her heart was entirely mine, and that it was
for the future only open to the impressions I chose to make upon
it. `I look upon his promises,' said she, `as an instrument for
revenge, rather than as a mark of love.' I asked her if she
thought of accepting the hotel and the carriage. She replied
that his money was all she wanted.
The difficulty was, how to obtain the one without the other; we
resolved to wait for a detailed explanation of the whole project
in a letter which G---- M---- promised to write to her, and which
in fact she received next morning by a servant out of livery,
who, very cleverly, contrived an opportunity of speaking to her
alone.
She told him to wait for an answer, and immediately brought the
letter to me: we opened it together.
"Passing over the usual commonplace expressions of tenderness,
it gave a particular detail of my rival's promises. There were
no limits to the expense. He engaged to pay her down ten
thousand francs on her taking possession of the hotel, and to
supply her expenditure in such a way as that she should never
have less than that sum at her command. The appointed day for
her entering into possession was close at hand. He only required
two days for all his preparations, and he mentioned the name of
the street and the hotel, where he promised to be in waiting for
her in the afternoon of the second day, if she could manage to
escape my vigilance. That was the only point upon which he
begged of her to relieve his uneasiness; he seemed to be quite
satisfied upon every other: but he added that, if she apprehended
any difficulty in escaping from me, he could find sure means for
facilitating her flight.
"G---- M---- the younger was more cunning than the old
gentleman. He wanted to secure his prey before he counted out
the cash. We considered what course Manon should adopt. I made
another effort to induce her to give up the scheme, and strongly
represented all its dangers; nothing, however, could shake her
determination.
"Her answer to G---- M---- was brief, merely assuring him that
she could be, without the least difficulty, in Paris on the
appointed day and that he might expect her with certainty.
"We then resolved, that I should instantly hire lodgings in some
village on the other side of Paris, and that I should take our
luggage with me; that in the afternoon of the following day,
which was the time appointed, she should go to Paris; that, after
receiving G---- M----'s presents, she should earnestly entreat
him to take her to the theatre; that she should carry with her as
large a portion of the money as she could, and charge my servant
with the remainder, for it was agreed that he was to accompany
her. He was the man who had rescued her from the Magdalen, and
he was devotedly attached to us. I was to be with a
hackney-coach at the end of the street of St. Andre-des-arcs, and
to leave it there about seven o'clock, while I stole, under cover
of the twilight, to the door of the theatre. Manon promised to
make some excuse for quitting her box for a moment, when she
would come down and join me. The rest could be easily done. We
were then to return to my hackney-coach, and quit Paris by the
Faubourg St. Antoine, which was the road to our new residence.
"This plan, extravagant as it was, appeared to us satisfactorily
arranged. But our greatest folly was in imagining that, succeed
as we might in its execution, it would be possible for us to
escape the consequences. Nevertheless, we exposed ourselves to
all risk with the blindest confidence. Manon took her departure
with Marcel--so was the servant called. I could not help feeling
a pang as she took leave of me. `Manon,' said I, `do not deceive
me; will you be faithful to me?' She complained, in the
tenderest tone, of my want of confidence, and renewed all her
protestations of eternal love.
"She was to be in Paris at three o'clock. I went some time
after. I spent the remainder of the afternoon moping in the Cafe
de Fere, near the Pont St. Michel. I remained there till
nightfall. I then hired a hackney-coach, which I placed,
according to our plan, at the end of the street of St.
Andre-des-arcs, and went on foot to the door of the theatre. I
was surprised at not seeing Marcel, who was to have been there
waiting for me. I waited patiently for a full hour, standing
among a crowd of lackeys, and gazing at every person that passed.
At length, seven o'clock having struck, without my being able to
discover anything or any person connected with our project, I
procured a pit ticket, in order to ascertain if Manon and G----
M---- were in the boxes. Neither one nor the other could I find.
I returned to the door, where I again stopped for a quarter of an
hour, in an agony of impatience and uneasiness. No person
appeared, and I went back to the coach, without knowing what to
conjecture. The coachman, seeing me, advanced a few paces
towards me, and said, with a mysterious air, that a very handsome
young person had been waiting more than an hour for me in the
coach; that she described me so exactly that he could not be
mistaken, and having learned that I intended to return, she said
she would enter the coach and wait with patience.
"I felt confident that it was Manon. I approached. I beheld
a very pretty face, certainly, but alas, not hers. The lady
asked, in a voice that I had never before heard, whether she had
the honour of speaking to the Chevalier des Grieux? I answered,
`That is my name.' `I have a letter for you,' said she, `which
will tell you what has brought me here, and by what means I
learned your name.' I begged she would allow me a few moments to
read it in an adjoining cafe. She proposed to follow me, and
advised me to ask for a private room, to which I consented. `Who
is the writer of this letter?' I enquired. She referred me to
the letter itself.
"I recognised Manon's hand. This is nearly the substance of the
letter: G---- M---- had received her with a politeness and
magnificence beyond anything she had previously conceived. He
had loaded her with the most gorgeous presents. She had the
prospect of almost imperial splendour. She assured me, however,
that she could not forget me amidst all this magnificence; but
that, not being able to prevail on G---- M---- to take her that
evening to the play, she was obliged to defer the pleasure of
seeing me; and that, as a slight consolation for the
disappointment which she feared this might cause me, she had
found a messenger in one of the loveliest girls in all Paris.
She signed herself, `Your loving and constant, MANON LESCAUT.'
"There was something so cruel and so insulting in the letter,
that, what between indignation and grief, I resolutely determined
to forget eternally my ungrateful and perjured mistress. I
looked at the young woman who stood before me: she was
exceedingly pretty, and I could have wished that she had been
sufficiently so to render me inconstant in my turn. But there
were wanting those lovely and languishing eyes, that divine
gracefulness, that exquisite complexion, in fine, those
innumerable charms which nature had so profusely lavished upon
the perfidious Manon. `No, no,' said I, turning away from her;
`the ungrateful wretch who sent you knew in her heart that she
was sending you on a useless errand. Return to her; and tell her
from me, to triumph in her crime, and enjoy it, if she can,
without remorse. I abandon her in despair, and, at the same
time, renounce all women, who, without her fascination, are no
doubt her equals in baseness and infidelity.'
"I was then on the point of going away, determined never to
bestow another thought on Manon: the mortal jealousy that was
racking my heart lay concealed under a dark and sullen
melancholy, and I fancied, because I felt none of those violent
emotions which I had experienced upon former occasions, that I
had shaken off my thraldom. Alas! I was even at that moment
infinitely more the dupe of love, than of G---- M---- and Manon.
"The girl who had brought the letter, seeing me about to depart,
asked me what I wished her to say to M. G---- M----, and to the
lady who was with him? At this question, I stepped back again
into the room, and by one of those unaccountable transitions that
are only known to the victims of violent passion, I passed in an
instant from the state of subdued tranquillity which I have just
described, into an ungovernable fury `Away!' said I to her, `tell
the traitor G---- M----and his abandoned mistress the state of
despair into which your accursed mission has cast me; but warn
them that it shall not be long a source of amusement to them, and
that my own hands shall be warmed with the heart's blood of
both!' I sank back upon a chair; my hat fell on one side, and my
cane upon the other: torrents of bitter tears rolled down my
cheeks. The paroxysm of rage changed into a profound and silent
grief: I did nothing but weep and sigh. `Approach, my child,
approach,' said I to the young girl; `approach, since it is you
they have sent to bring me comfort; tell me whether you have any
balm to administer for the pangs of despair and rage--any
argument to offer against the crime of self-destruction, which I
have resolved upon, after ridding the world of two perfidious
monsters. Yes, approach,' continued I, perceiving that she
advanced with timid and doubtful steps; `come and dry my sorrows;
come and restore peace to my mind; come and tell me that at least
you love me: you are handsome--I may perhaps love you in return.'
The poor child, who was only sixteen or seventeen years of age,
and who appeared more modest than girls of her class generally
are, was thunderstruck at this unusual scene. She however gently
approached to caress me, when with uplifted hands I rudely
repulsed her. `What do you wish with me?' exclaimed I to her.
`Ah! you are a woman, and of a sex I abhor, and can no longer
tolerate; the very gentleness of your look threatens me with some
new treason. Go, leave me here alone!' She made me a curtsy
without uttering a word, and turned to go out. I called to her
to stop: `Tell me at least,' said I, `wherefore-- how--with what
design they sent you here? how did you discover my name, or the
place where you could find me?'
"She told me that she had long known M. G---- M----; that he had
sent for her that evening about five o'clock; and that, having
followed the servant who had been dispatched to her, she was
shown into a large house, where she found him playing at picquet
with a beautiful young woman; and that they both charged her to
deliver the letter into my hands, after telling her that she
would find me in a hackney-coach at the bottom of the street of
St. Andre. I asked if they had said nothing more. She blushed
while she replied, that they had certainly made her believe that
I should be glad of her society. `They have deceived you too,'
said I, `my poor girl--they have deceived you; you are a woman,
and probably wish for a lover; but you must find one who is rich
and happy, and it is not here you will find him. Return, return
to M. G---- M----; he possesses everything requisite to make a
man beloved. He has furnished houses and equipages to bestow,
while I, who have nothing but constancy of love to offer, am
despised for my poverty, and laughed at for my simplicity.'
"I continued in a tone of sorrow or violence, as these feelings
alternately took possession of my mind. However, by the very
excess of my agitation, I became gradually so subdued as to be
able calmly to reflect upon the situation of affairs. I compared
this new misfortune with those which I had already experienced of
the same kind, and I could not perceive that there was any more
reason for despair now, than upon former occasions. I knew
Manon: why then distress myself on account of a calamity which I
could not but have plainly foreseen? Why not rather think of
seeking a remedy? there was yet time; I at least ought not to
spare my own exertions, if I wished to avoid the bitter reproach
of having contributed, by my own indolence, to my misery. I
thereupon set about considering every means of raising a gleam of
hope.
"To attempt to take her by main force from the hands of
G----M---- was too desperate a project, calculated only to ruin
me, and without the slightest probability of succeeding. But it
seemed to me that if I could ensure a moment's interview with
her, I could not fail to regain my influence over her affections.
I so well knew how to excite her sensibilities! I was so
confident of her love for me! The very whim even of sending me a
pretty woman by way of consoling me, I would stake my existence,
was her idea, and that it was the suggestion of her own sincere
sympathy for my sufferings.
"I resolved to exert every nerve to procure an interview. After
a multitude of plans which I canvassed one after another, I fixed
upon the following: M. de T---- had shown so much sincerity in
the services he had rendered me, that I could not entertain a
doubt of his zeal and good faith. I proposed to call upon him at
once, and make him send for G---- M----, under pretence of some
important business. Half an hour would suffice to enable me to
see Manon. I thought it would not be difficult to get introduced
into her apartment during G---- M----'s absence.
"This determination pacified me, and I gave a liberal present to
the girl, who was still with me; and in order to prevent her from
returning to those who had sent her, I took down her address, and
half promised to call upon her at a later hour. I then got into
the hackney-coach, and drove quickly to M. de T----'s. I was
fortunate enough to find him at home. I had been apprehensive
upon this point as I went along. A single sentence put him in
possession of the whole case, as well of my sufferings, as of the
friendly service I had come to supplicate at his hands.
"He was so astonished to learn that G---- M---- had been able to
seduce Manon from me, that, not being aware that I had myself
lent a hand to my own misfortune, he generously offered to
assemble his friends, and evoke their aid for the deliverance of
my mistress. I told him that such a proceeding might by its
publicity be attended with danger to Manon and to me. `Let us
risk our lives,' said I, `only as a last resource. My plan is of
a more peaceful nature, and promising at least equal success.'
He entered without a murmur into all that I proposed; so again
stating that all I required was, that he should send for G----
M----, and contrive to keep him an hour or two from home, we at
once set about our operations.
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