SCENE VII.——BÉLINE, ARGAN, ANGÉLIQUE, MR. DIAFOIRUS, T. DIAFOIRUS, TOINETTE.


ARG.
My love, here is the son of Mr. Diafoirus.

T. DIA.
Madam, it is with justice that heaven has given you the title of stepmother, since we see in you steps …

BEL.
Sir, I am delighted to have come here just in time to see you.

T. DIA.
Since we see in you … since we see in you…. Madam, you have interrupted me in the middle of my period, and have troubled my memory.

Mr. DIA.
Keep it for another time.

ARG.
I wish, my dear, that you had been here just now.

TOI.
Ah! Madam, how much you have lost by not being at the second father, the statue of Memnon, and the flower styled heliotrope.

ARG.
Come, my daughter, shake hands with this gentleman, and pledge him your troth.
ANG.
Father!

ARG.
Well? What do you mean by "Father"?

ANG.
I beseech you not to be in such a hurry; give us time to become acquainted with each other, and to see grow in us that sympathy so necessary to a perfect union.

T. DIA.
As far as I am concerned, Madam, it is already full-grown within me, and there is no occasion for me to wait.

ANG.
I am not so quick as you are, Sir, and I must confess that your merit has not yet made enough impression on my heart.

ARG.
Oh! nonsense! There will be time enough for the impression to be made after you are married.

ANG.
Ah! my father, give me time, I beseech you! Marriage is a chain which should never be imposed by force. And if this gentleman is a man of honour, he ought not to accept a person who would be his only by force.

T. DIA.
Nego consequentiam. I can be a man of honour, Madam, and at the same time accept you from the hands of your father.

ANG.
To do violence to any one is a strange way of setting about inspiring love.
T. DIA.
We read in the ancients, Madam, that it was their custom to carry off by main force from their father's house the maiden they wished to marry, so that the latter might not seem to fly of her own accord into the arms of a man.

ANG.
The ancients, Sir, are the ancients; but we are the moderns. Pretences are not necessary in our age; and when a marriage pleases us, we know very well how to go to it without being dragged by force. Have a little patience; if you love me, Sir, you ought to do what I wish.

T. DIA.
Certainly, Madam, but without prejudice to the interest of my love.

ANG.
But the greatest mark of love is to submit to the will of her who is loved.

T. DIA.
Distinguo, Madam. In what does not regard the possession of her, concedo; but in what regards it, nego.

TOI.
(to Angélique). It is in vain for you to argue. This gentleman is bran new from college, and will be more than a match for you. Why resist, and refuse the glory of belonging to the faculty?

BEL.
She may have some other inclination in her head.

ANG.
If I had, Madam, it would be such as reason and honour allow.

ARG.
Heyday! I am acting a pleasant part here!
BEL.
If I were you, my child, I would not force her to marry; I know very well what I should do.

ANG.
I know what you mean, Madam, and how kind you are to me; but it may be hoped that your advice may not be fortunate enough to be followed.

BEL.
That is because well-brought-up and good children, like you, scorn to be obedient to the will of their fathers. Obedience was all very well in former times.

ANG.
The duty of a daughter has its limits, Madam, and neither reason nor law extend it to all things.

BEL.
Which means that your thoughts are all in favour of marriage, but that you will choose a husband for yourself.

ANG.
If my father will not give me a husband I like, at least I beseech him not to force me to marry one I can never love.

ARG.
Gentlemen, I beg your pardon for all this.

ANG.
We all have our own end in marrying. For my part, as I only want a husband that I can love sincerely, and as I intend to consecrate my whole life to him, I feel bound, I confess, to be cautious. There are some who marry simply to free themselves from the yoke of their parents, and to be at liberty to do all they like. There are others, Madam, who see in marriage only a matter of mere interest; who marry only to get a settlement, and to enrich themselves by the death of those they marry. They pass without scruple from husband to husband, with an eye to their possessions. These, no doubt, Madam, are not so difficult to satisfy, and care little what the husband is like.

BEL.
You are very full of reasoning to-day. I wonder what you mean by this.

ANG.
I, Madam? What can I mean but what I say?

BEL.
You are such a simpleton, my dear, that one can hardly bear with you.

ANG.
You would like to extract from me some rude answer; but I warn you that you will not have the pleasure of doing so.

BEL.
Nothing can equal your impertinence.

ANG.
It is of no use, Madam; you will not.

BEL.
And you have a ridiculous pride, an impertinent presumption, which makes you the scorn of everybody.

ANG.
All this will be useless, Madam. I shall be quiet in spite of you; and to take away from you all hope of succeeding in what you wish, I will withdraw from your presence.