THE DISGUISED LOVER OR THE SUPPOSED GARDENER

By the Favarts, Music by Philidor

EText by Dagny
This Etext is for private use only. No republication for profit in 
print or other media may be made without the express consent of the 
Copyright Holder. The Copyright Holder is especially concerned about 
performance rights in any media on stage, cinema, or television, or 
audio or any other media, including readings for which an entrance fee 
or the like is charge. Permissions should be addressed to: Frank 
Morlock, 6006 Greenbelt Rd, #312, Greenbelt, MD 20770, USA or 
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http://www.cadytech.com/dumas/personnage.asp?key=130


                 A one act comedy mixed with arias



                     By the Favarts, Music by Philidor


                     1769



                     Translated and adapted by


                     Frank J. Morlock
                     C 2003





++++++++++++++++++++++++


CHARACTERS
:


JULIE, dressed as a lawyer


MADAME DE MARSILLANE, Provencal


LUCILE, daughter of Madame de Marsillane


CLITANDRE, lover of Lucile, dressed as a gardener, under the name
          Guillaume


MATHURIN, gardener


A NOTARY


++++++++++++++++++++++++


The following characters are mute
:


The COUNTESS


DAMIS, Julie's lover


And other persons in their company


++++++++++++++++++++++++


Lackeys, gardeners, and other servants of the house who perform the
diversions
.


++++++++++++++++++++++++





The stage represents a decorated garden
. To the right is a body of
structures where a projecting balcony is observed. In the back is a
pavilion whose ground floor offers a room where part of the action
takes place.





JULIE
: (dressed as a lawyer) What do you want, Mathurin?


MATHURIN
: Madame!


JULIE
: Call me “Sir”.


MATHURIN
: What? You, “Sir”?


JULIE
: Yes, me, “Sir.”


MATHURIN
: Ah! the comical gentleman!
To deny one is a woman,
Having such a good heart!


JULIE
: Call me “Sir”.


MATHURIN
: Ah, the comical gentleman!


JULIE
: I intend to be obeyed.
Call me, “Sir.”


MATHURIN
: To see this pretty face,
This enchanting look,
This envied pallor.
I defy
Every connoisseur
Not to shout out:
Ah! the comical gentleman!


JULIE
: Call me, “Sir.”


MATHURIN
: Well! yes, yes, Mr. Julie.


JULIE
: Today that's no longer my name.
I am Counselor Vernon.
When I am in Paris, each moment exposes me
To see stupid lovers turn around me.
One has a free demeanor, and the other is composed.
They all have the jargon and manner of their employment,
And to say the same thing,
Each situation has its style of fidelity.
(Air)
When I flee to the country,
I mimic them in turn.
Gayety always accompanies me,
I change dress each day.
Yesterday, officer young and slow,
Today, weighty lawyer,
And tomorrow, falsely modest,
I'll have the pinched air of a priest.


MATHURIN
: That's to take a good role; but your mother-in-law
Wrote to warn you
That two Ladies must soon come here.


JULIE
: Won't they go to her place first
To do the honors?


MATHURIN
: Read; you are going to see.


JULIE
: My brother is with her; they are expected tonight.
(reading)
“I announce this to you from the Countess de Marsillane. She ought to
arrive tomorrow, but impatience to be married grips her; she has the
Provencal vocation. You know that I've arranged it for your brother,
who is only a cadet from Normandy. He will find a very rich, very
pretty widow. She's bringing her daughter to scold her and not to
marry her. I won't arrive until after supper because of the great
heat. Perform many ceremonies for our Countess. Put into play all your
gayety, so that she will applaud herself for marrying some one whose
sister-in-law is so agreeable.” I am conceiving a plan. It's a prank.
For my brother today, I intend to make love to her.


MATHURIN
: That's playing the widow a nasty trick.


JULIE
: My frivolity cannot, on this day,
Refuse itself this joke.
So, first of all, let her come;
Mathurin, beware of revealing me to her.
I shall play the gentleman.


MATHURIN
: Perhaps,
Not as she would wish.


JULIE
: I am burning to see her appear.
Don't betray me, be discreet.
I have a secret interest of my own.


MATHURIN
: (in a confidential manner)
You love pleasure.
They are giving her a party.
Hush—for the moment I have the thing prepared.
When my Mistress shall arrive—


JULIE
: Fine! fine!


MATHURIN
: It's not necessary that one irritate her.


JULIE
: No.


MATHURIN
: Know yet another funny thing:
A young and handsome Cavalier
Is disguising himself around here, and presenting himself at my place
In the capacity of a gardener-lad.


JULIE
: Yes!


MATHURIN
: He loves the daughter of this Countess greatly
They say she's truly fresh, lively and sweet.


JULIE
: Where could you know this from?


MATHURIN
: The Gentleman's valet told me the thing.


JULIE
: Why's he bringing him here?


MATHURIN
: He told me the cause.
The master doesn't know how to take care of himself


JULIE
: The valet
Doesn't know how to shut up? Ah! what a role.
I am learning to play! Put him in difficulties.


MATHURIN
: Oh! rely on me; I shan't fail.


(Clitandre enters dressed like a gardener.)


MATHURIN
: Wait, wait, sir, here's this young wise-guy I was telling
you about.


JULIE
: I am sufficiently satisfied.
He has the shape; he doesn't have the manner of a workingman.


CLITANDRE
: Sir—


JULIE
: Yes, I like his looks well enough.


MATHURIN
: But above all, it's necessary to examine him.
Find out if he is acquainted with his profession.


CLITANDRE
: (aside) What to say?


MATHURIN
: You must have some zeal
And I will make an excellent model for you
If you become my assistant.


CLITANDRE
: I love agriculture greatly.
I am coming here to observe
The riches of nature.


JULIE
: (ironically) That you would like to cultivate.
How eloquently he speaks!
They might take you for someone of importance.
That's not the tone of a peasant.


CLITANDRE
: (aside) Oh! I am betraying myself
(aloud) From my most tender childhood
I received from my parents
An education; they were well off.
They lost their wealth and to avoid poverty
They made me take up a profession.
I made myself a gardener.


MATHURIN
: (aria) A gardener is a great man
If he's properly made for his profession.
And he's a wise astronomer
If he's a good gardener,
Thunder and storm,
The results of bad winds,
Produce no ravages
If he knows the weather.


JULIE
: (always in an ironic and jesting tone, this constitutes the
character of her part until the end of the play)
When he sees the amorous earth
Smiling in the Spring
He seizes the moment.
He visits, he discovers
His new plants.
The yellow bud that's opening
Holds his caressing glance.
He contemplates, he admires
You hear him say
Tender flowers, appear,
Burgeon
The winds are peaceful
The days are sweet
Approach
Unite
Press tender hearts
To make them like you.


CLITANDRE
: By boasting of this situation, you make it envied
And one is too happy to dedicate his life to it.
You make all its utility felt
And that's indeed my plan.


MATHURIN
: Are you really worthy of it?
Prove your ability.
Do you know in what weather you must cut the vine?


CLITANDRE
: Why—that's in the month of January.


MATHURIN
: Well answered: excellent worker!
Do you know peach trees and apricot trees?
Do you prune parasitic branches
Which don't bear any fruit?


CLITANDRE
: That depends.


JULIE
: He seems very informed.


CLITANDRE
: But can you make these demands?


JULIE
: Will you indeed tell me your name?


CLITANDRE
: Guillaume.


JULIE
: Ah! Guillaume is very good.


MATHURIN
: How much do you want for wages?


CLITANDRE
: Eh! why, that depends on the work.


MATHURIN
: If it's only that, I will give you some.
Work this five part section; arm yourself with courage.


CLITANDRE
: (aside) I am sure that I will expire
The first day of my apprenticeship.


JULIE
: Mathurin, you must expose your taste.
Prune carefully your palisades
To make the promenades pleasing.
Let the rake pass everywhere.
Let them seek the concierge and each servant
So the house will be neat, let them apply themselves
To make the floor shine
And to air out the rooms.


MATHURIN
: You will be satisfied, sir, with my service
And I am going to assign to each his duty.


JULIE
: And you, Guillaume, go match the carnations
With flowers of the rarest species.
We must make bouquets for the ladies.
In your job, that's politeness.


CLITANDRE
: Today's not the first I understood flowers.
My natural ability
Gives me the talent to sort out the colors.


JULIE
: You know that it's necessary to satisfy the beauties.
(he withdraws)
Here's the moment to take the detail
Of graces, of manners leading to please.
Let's play the important man, here's the only labor
Where one has no need of a secretary.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
:
I can no longer keep myself from admiring the chateau.
The entrance is superb and the view is immense.
Assuredly in all Provence taste is refined; but it isn't new.


JULIE
: Madame, I have the advantage
Of doing you the honors here.
The Countess is in the vicinity,
Doubtless with some great lords.


LUCILE
: (aside) Clitandre as a gardener! Ah! I am confused!
O heaven! What lack of discretion!


CLITANDRE
:
Will I be able to control myself as I offer myself to her sight?


LUCILE
: (aside, noticing Clitandre who appears at the back of the
garden)
I am troubled!


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Well! Now what are you gawking at?
You seem very upset to me.


LUCILE
: I was admiring the way the garden's laid out.


JULIE
: (aria) What a happy abode
Is the country!
Sweet countryside
Is smiling there at our prayers.
Fisrt off
You get acquainted with it.
Confidence is
Never mistaken.
Without effort, without upset,
Everything is leisurely.
The only bode
Is pleasure.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Yes, the country is ravishing.
But I don't limit my taste to it.
My humor is in all times sprightly and prominent
Depicting everything with its laughing color
And I take my part everywhere.
(aria) I love the city, it's noisy.
I enjoy the whirlwind
And what makes me really content
Is the noise, the racket.
You run around all day
And at every step,
Fuss.
Look out, look out behind you.
A beautiful affectation
Puts your head out the door.
Shouting to the coachman: don't go forward.
At night they assemble for the spectacle
Followed by supping together.
Everyone's so falsely polite
And hates each other so gaily.
It's rapture
It's a charming pleasure
Without the heart unbosoming itself.
Your head is scatterbrained,
You spend a white night
Without knowing what you said.
Dawn brings you back
And you are quite surprised
To find that you hardly know
The name of your friends.
I love the city, etc.
(speaking) Still, I find the house charming.
(noticing Clitandre)
Is that the gardener?


JULIE
: You'll be satisfied with him.
He's a lad full of education
And who is very enlightened about his work.
And what's more, he has the air and manners
Of a man of condition.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Being here, apparently, from looking at him
He's the best gardener in France.


JULIE
: Guillaume, come forward, you aren't being gallant.
Come and show the garden to these ladies.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: He seems indolent.
 Are you astonished when you see ladies?


CLITANDRE
: Madame, not at all.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: He is embarrassed.


JULIE
: (aside) I'm going to thrust him into it even more.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Lucile is just now turning her face away.
To laugh apparently?


LUCILE
: (uneasy) Yes, mother.


JULIE
: In any case
Laughter comes easily at her age.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: The youth of today has no ready laugh.
In the old days, in Marseilles, when I was married,
There you could name gayety.
I laughed, I laughed, o I split my sides.


JULIE
: (to Clitandre) There, you are stiff as a pike.
Now what makes you so timid, Guillaume?


CLITANDRE
: (to Madame de Marsillane)
Madame, if I dared to offer you a bouquet?


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
:
With very great pleasure. What an aroma! It smells sweet.
Give it to my daughter.


CLITANDRE
: (low) Ah! Lucile!


LUCILE
: (low) You dare?


CLITANDRE
: (low) I adore you.


JULIE
: Only on one's knees
Should one offer flowers to burgeoning beauty.
It's the living image of the divinity.
Can one, by adoring her, attract her wrath?
Prostrate yourself, Guillaume.


CLITANDRE
: Eh! why—


LUCILE
: The gentleman is joking.


JULIE
: No, no, it's an established custom amongst us.
On your knees—


CLITANDRE
: Here I am, since the gentleman orders it


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Truly, this boy astonishes me.
He has speaking eyes, his manner is so tender, so sweet.
That's enough my boy, stand up, I am good.


CLITANDRE
: (to Lucile)
(Air) I didn't dare
Say what I am thinking,
But I admire in silence.
And the distance
In our situations
Produces my shyness.
If some gardener-girl
Was offering me so many attractions,
Without fear of her anger,
I would tenderly tell her.
My love is intense,
My passion is constant.
I'm a gardener, I love
This portrait of Spring.


JULIE
: (to Madame de Marsillane) What do you say about that?


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Why—it sparkles with wit.
Ah! nothing is so jocular!
Answer, my daughter.


LUCILE
: (aria)
When homage is sincere
It's always interesting;
And to succeed in pleasing
It needs no assistance.
Ah! if I were a gardener-lass,
Knowing your secret
I would cease to be proud.
My heart would forgive you.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Why you are telling too much, child.
(to Clitandre) That's enough.


JULIE
: (aside) How embarrassed the two of them are!


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: These flower baskets seem carefully arranged.
Do you have bear's ears?


CLITANDRE
: (embarrassed) Madame—


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
:
Seeing them, you'd think you were looking at velour.
No question, there are Hyacinth mixed in?
I intend to visit them.


CLITANDRE
: You won't be able to see them.
Night is already lowering its veil.


(The stage begins to darken noticeably.)


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: As for me, I love gardens shining in starlight.
And nothing compares with evening silence
At that time all secrets are confided.
It's the moment of tender hearts,
The refreshing air, the quickening flowers;
And all my life I've been like flowers.


JULIE
: Let's wait till tomorrow to pay the visit.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Well, in that case, willingly.


CLITANDRE
: Finally, I'm out of it. (he leaves)


LUCILE
: (aside) Ah! my calm is coming back.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: You are a professional,
Sir, it seems to me.


JULIE
: I flatter myself on it, Madame.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Ah! how that pleases me!
There's not an instant you aren't robbed
When you're in a situation so brilliant.


JULIE
: Eh! why—


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: The Countess is your relative?


JULIE
: No, Madame, I allow myself
To do the honors in this house
When she is absent, under the title of friendship.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: The thing is different.
The last title is much nicer
Isn't it?


JULIE
: It's a preference
That I deserve as much as I can.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: I understand you, I'm sophisticated.


JULIE
: Don't believe in appearances.
I swear to you I am
A man of no consequence.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Lucile, go to your apartment
And take care of your fragile health.


LUCILE
: Yes, mother, I'm going to sleep right away.


JULIE Mathurin, Mathurin, promptly escort—


(Mathurin leads Lucile into the building with the balcony.)


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: I no longer recognize the youth of these days.
I've ruined myself with expenses caring for her.
Brought up in the best Convent in Paris,
Her education is far from being finished,
And she doesn't even pronounce French correctly.


JULIE
: Madame, would I be lucky enough
To be of some use to you in Paris?


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Ah! sir, you delight me, I request that you
Follow the law suit carefully.
I'm an idiot in business matters
To a degree you cannot believe.
And I always give in to whoever argues with me
To avoid the boredom of defending myself.


JULIE
: That's really having kindness.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: (air)
All the girls in Provence
Under a pure and beautiful sky
See gayety dancing
Around their cradle.
The first word they learn
Is the word “pleasure.”
Their principal school
Is the art of grasping it.
When the weather dulls
The Springtime of desire,
From the fires of our dawn,
A spark still
Shines on our leisure.
From the fires of our dawn,
A spark still
Makes us say: pleasure!


JULIE
: I judge from this painting
That you don't know how to talk to Judges.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Ah! Fie: They give me the horrors!


JULIE
: Do you really know what you must do?
Marry again.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Yes, that's prudent advice.


JULIE
: A husband is but a Supervisor,
Trouble is his sole business.
Men are made to litigate
And women, on the contrary,
Are made to accommodate.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: My spouse is found, since you must be told.


JULIE
: To whom are you telling it? I am in the secret?


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Honest injun?


JULIE
: The Countess has attracted you to these parts with him.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: I see you are up to date.


JULIE
: If your spouse had my physiognomy,
Would you have any antipathy?


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: I would love him like crazy
And from the first meeting
My heart would deliver itself to the sweetest inclination.


JULIE
: Come on, then, kiss me, my dear intended.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: What! it's you.


JULIE
: Yes, tomorrow you will bear my name.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Now that's the sole object of my ambition.
My daughter will be dumbfounded by the blow.


JULIE
: Does she have some lover?


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Yes, truly; soldiers,
She has many sighing,
Among which there's a certain Clitandre
Who I never see, he clings to his rank.


JULIE
: That's a very good role, you can understand it


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Yes, but among the aspirants,
The chevalier, Damon—


JULIE
: (excitedly and with emotion) Damon cannot pretend to her.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Why?


JULIE
: His heart is engaged.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
:
Yes, his relatives told me that he loves one Julie.
A little flirt, pretty enough,
Who treats everything nonchalantly,
Seducing with her craziness.


JULIE
: Don't speak ill of her, mercy.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Why?


JULIE
: I have,
I have my reasons. They're very mistaken.
Her heart, firm and certain, belies appearances.
Julie and Damon's marriage has been arranged,
And it's I who take up their defense.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Since he is your protégé,
Clitandre shall have preference for Lucile.
Yes, but I really want to marry you first.
Without that my daughter will taste of the convent;
Because, look you, I am making a big thing of marriage.


JULIE
: Well, I think like you.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Yes! But the age difference.
Won't that be an obstacle between us?


JULIE
: I will love you a thousand times more.
Reason and love will make me your spouse.


DUO
: The flame of youth
Is only lit with pleasure.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: At my age, tenderness
Is the talent to rejoice in.


JULIE
: At your age, tenderness
Is the talent to rejoice in.


TOGETHER
: The flame of youth
Is only lit with pleasure.


JULIE
: I intend for you to give your daughter to Clitandre.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
:
Since you esteem him, he will become my son-in-law.


JULIE
: Happily for me, the Countess
Has made a notary come to draw up a lease.
She's going to return soon for this affair
And we will profit—But here he is, I think—


(Enter Notary.)


NOTARY
: I learned some strange news as I arrived.
The Countess sent me here directly.
They say she's not at home.
I will return momentarily; my horses are not ready.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: No, we need you,
You mustn't be in such a rush
And you have more than one contract to draw up here.


NOTARY
: I mustn't defer it.


TRIO
:


MME DE MARSILLANE
: Stay, sir.


THE NOTARY
: Don't stop me.
You don't know
All my troubles.


JULIE
: You must finish our business.


NOTARY
: They are waiting for me at an Inventory.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: A Marriage is worth more.


NOTARY
: I have some wills to do.


JULIE
: A marriage is more fun.


NOTARY
: The bond of an heir.


MME DE MARSILLANE
: Stay, sir.


NOTARY
: A necessary reimbursement.
In the like case, in a similar case,
It's never put off.


JULIE
: You must wind up our business.
No, no—you cannot go.


NOTARY
: Don't stop me.
You don't know
All my troubles.


JULIE
: Stay, Mr. Notary.
You must wind up our business.


NOTARY
They are pressing me
For ten contracts
Of life annuities
.
A voluntary decree
About a house built like new,
Five beams of 3, 6, 9.


MME DE MARSILLANE, JULIE
: Take a rest from your weariness.
Take care of our business.


NOTARY
: Look, as for me, I'm sick over it.
Don't stop me, etc.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE, JULIE
:
Take care of your health.


NOTARY
: I had the roughest ride,
Almost overturned a hundred times.
I am all shivering, and I fear the evening air.
I would like to warm myself promptly and sit down.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: You certainly are a rare character.


JULIE
: Don't forget Clitandre at least.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: I've given my word, is more needed?


NOTARY
: Let's hurry.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Willingly, sir; that's my custom.
(to Julie as she leaves)
To hasten our pleasures, I am going to employ my efforts.
(she leaves with the notary.)


JULIE
: (alone) I couldn't serve Clitandre and myself better.
What a pleasure! I'm having fun making myself useful.
I'd like to laugh at their expense a little.
To make love uneasy is to stir up its flame.
(aria)
Love turns the fears of young lovers
To its advantage.
Makes 'em feel more tender and less fickle
Makes 'em feel the cost of moments;
Just a crossing cloud
Reveals sweet shining moments
And the alarms of youth
Are the storms of Spring.
(at the end of this aria night has darkened)
But already it's profound night.
The Countess with all her company
Can't delay coming.
Let's be sure everything is ready. But—hush, I hear them opening—
This announces some mystery.
Let's remain a bit to discover it.


(Lucile appears on her balcony.)


LUCILE
: My mother is talking with a Notary in great secrecy.
Heavens! did she bring me here to marry me?
My heart dreads to be enlightened.
(aria)
Why must they oppose
The sweet inclination of our passions?
The constraint they impose
Makes love more dangerous.
They want you to be faithful
To the one who torments our life!
They want us to be cruel
To the creature that forever pleases!
Why must they oppose
The sweet inclination of our passions?
The constraint that they impose
Makes love more dangerous.


(During this aria, Clitandre approaches the balcony stealthily, and
Julie attentively listens.)


CLITANDRE
: It's she that I hear, my heart is enchanted.
Let's profit by the darkness.


DUO
: (pianissimo)


CLITANDRE
: Lucile!


LUCILE
: Clitandre,
Walk on tip-toe.
They might hear you.


CLITANDRE
: Lucile.


LUCILE
: Talk low.


CLITANDRE
: It's the tenderest love—


LUCILE
: Speak very low, very low.


CLITANDRE
: Do you love me?


LUCILE
: I love you.


CLITANDRE
: Alas, but you are fleeing me.
(hearing her shut the window)


CLITANDRE
: What extreme weakness!


LUCILE
: What extreme recklessness!
No, you don't love me. No, you don't love me.


CLITANDRE
: I am not the dupe of this fright.
And you fear only that little gentleman
With long hair and a mocking air
Is not going to marry you; that's what's bothering you.


JULIE
: (aside) Here I am in play.


LUCILE
: No, no, be certain
That I feel nothing but indifference for him.
I would have married him with great aversion.


JULIE
: (aside) See what instinct is.


CLITANDRE
: So, you won't ever join together?


JULIE
: (taking the Provencal accent and counterfeiting the voice of
Madame de Marsillane)
My daughter talking with someone in the garden;
That shocks me.


LUCILE
: Ah! I tremble!
It's my mother.


JULIE
: A child gives lots of trouble,
A daughter especially; she tortures herself, she cries.
Lucile, are you there? Go back in, I beg you.
It is late; at all ages, you must avoid the dampness.
No one answers. I'm afraid they will escape me.
(she seizes Clitandre)
It seems to me that a trick—Finally, I've caught you.
Why it's not my daughter. Oh, stay put!
You must tell me who you are
On your secret strolls.
My penetrating glance is going to be enlightened.


CLITANDRE
: (taking Julie for Madame de Marsillane)
She's going to strangle me.


JULIE
: Speak.


CLITANDRE
: It's me, Madame.


JULIE
: What! it's my dear Guillaume.


CLITANDRE
: Yes.


JULIE
: My best friend?
But Guillaume, ought, at present, to be asleep.


CLITANDRE
: (aria)
I get up
Every night.
I'm afraid if I don't
They'll steal the fruits.
I interest myself
In my mistress.
It's my duty
And I am coming to see
If some furtive hand
Isn't pillaging at night
The garden that I cultivate
And which is all my hope.


JULIE
: Doubtless you receive very great advantages
From the employment to which you are committed?
I believe that as yet you have no wages;
You are content with the profits?


CLITANDRE
: (aside) Will my secrets be betrayed?
I can no longer doubt it; the intrigue is discovered.


JULIE
: His confusion rejoices me.


CLITANDRE
: I have no other way to prevent my ruin
Except to steal off without any commotion.


JULIE
: Oh! Stay Mr. Clitandre.


CLITANDRE
: Me, Clitandre!


JULIE
: Yes, yes, the fact is not hidden
And it's your valet who just spread it.
I think that this author is reliable.


CLITANDRE
: Well! Madame, well! I admit it.


JULIE
: Now there's frankness at last; I praise you for it.
I know indeed what I will do!


CLITANDRE
: What do you mean!


JULIE
: You are going to marry me!


LUCILE
: (on the balcony) O Heaven, marry her! ah! my mother,
I beg you not to do it!


JULIE
: (still counterfeiting the voice of Madame de Marsillane)
What! Miss, where are you hiding?


LUCILE
: If you ever loved me,
Let Clitandre be my spouse.
I am coming down and I'm going to fall at your knees.


(Enter the Notary without being seen.)


NOTARY
: It's choking because of the smoke.
I've ruined my eyes with it and I am suffocating.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: (without being seen)
This man always acts like he's offended.
Your contracts can easily be entered into.


NOTARY
: Truly, they must want to hurry my departure.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Bring light to this room.


(She appears with the Notary and two lackeys who light the room where
the Notary has finished drawing up the Contracts. Meanwhile, Julie
withdraws without being seen.)


CLITANDRE
: To destroy her plan, let's not delay.
Madame, at your knees I beg a bounty.
(to Madame de Marsillane, thinking that it's she who just spoke to
him)


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: What's this boy want? He looks disturbed.


CLITANDRE
: Madame, truly, whatever effort I may make
I cannot decide on what you want.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: He's lost his mind, judging by appearances.


CLITANDRE
: On what are you basing that?


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: On what? what do you mean! on what?


CLITANDRE
: I acted with frankness more than with prudence,
When I said, in good faith,
That I cannot respond to your love for me.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Mercy! Ah! what impertinence!
He needs to be locked up.


CLITANDRE
: That marriage offends you?
You just now proposed it to me.


(Lucile enters.)


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
:
Against this lad, your mother is out of patience,
My daughter.


LUCILE
: Your daughter, delivered to despair,
Dares to beg you not to marry him.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Marry him! This madness is universal!


JULIE
: (reappearing)I wasn't expecting my rival who's here.


LUCILE
: Mother, I would be so cruelly hurt by it
Because he actually promised to be my husband.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Your husband! Guillaume?


LUCILE
: Yes.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: I feel my rage increasing by the minute.
As of tomorrow I will shut you up in a convent
To prevent such a disgrace.
(to Julie)
You, sir, you ought to take her glory to heart
Since soon you will be her step-father.


LUCILE
: Mother, you are going to marry this gentleman?


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: If you think it good.


JULIE
: Madame, your mother
Has chosen much worse than you.


CLITANDRE
: But, still, just now, I heard her—
Madame—


JULIE
: (imitating the Countess) Do you want to know the truth?
It was I who took the liberty
Of laughing at your expense, my dear Mr. Clitandre.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Clitandre!


CLITANDRE
: Yes, it's I; I cannot defend myself over it.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: (to Julie) So you were counterfeiting my voice?


JULIE
: From feeling.
To prove I am always thinking of the one I love.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: You never say anything but what is charming.
Clitandre, I forgive this disguise,
I approve your intense love.
From this very day I give consent
To your marriage.
And tonight all four of us will go to get married.
Mr. Notary, come forward.


(The Notary, accompanied by two servants bearing lights, comes to have
the contracts signed.)


JULIE
: In a moment she might turn it down.


NOTARY
: The two contracts are prepared.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Come on, my child, come on, sign your first.


LUCILE
: Very willingly.


CLITANDRE
: I am at the fulfillment of my wishes.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: (to Julie) Now let's proceed to ours.
 With what a good will I am contracting these bonds!
(signs) I've signed. It's up to you.
(Julie signs) What, you sign as Julie?


JULIE
: Why, I have to, it's my name.


MADAME
: That's not the name of a man.


JULIE
: Truly, no.
I am, I certify it to you,
The step-daughter of the house.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: What a mistake! o Heaven!


JULIE
: Console yourself. My brother
Should be arriving soon expressly for this affair.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Are you deceiving me again?


JULIE
: I am his surety.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: I refuse it. After a long widowhood
I wouldn't know how to enjoy a marriage
Whose proxy you bring.


MATHURIN
: (entering) (aria)
Great rejoicing
In the village,
The Countess
Is returning to her chateau.


ALL
: Ah! good news!


MATHURIN
: She's bringing with her
A really fine looking lad.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Ah! good news!


MATHURIN
: He has a handsome figure.
He has nice manners.


JULIE
: The thing is plain,
He's my brother.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: It's your brother?


JULIE
: Yes, it's my brother.


MADAME DE MARSILLANE
: Goodie, goodie, goodie, goodie.
My heart's just jumping.
I am—I am ravished
Tomorrow I'm getting married
And all for the good.


ALL
: Great rejoicing
For the village.
The Countess
Is returning to her chateau.
Ah! good news!
Let's go meet her,
Singing and jumping for joy.


(The stage is suddenly lit up brightly. The Countess appears with
Julie's brother and several lords and ladies. Julie presents Madame de
Marsillane, Lucile and Clitandre to the Countess. After having
expressed their satisfaction they seat themselves on the benches to
enjoy the celebration that has been prepared. The entire last scene is
in pantomime. The people of the chateau, gaily dressed, come in
dancing to offer bouquets to the company.


JULIE
: For lovers and beauties,
Always sharp and tricky
Under a thousand new shapes,
You see love disguised.
Changing the sword for a pruning knife
The gentleman turns into a gardener,
To cultivate in secret
Some spring roses.


CHORUS
: For lovers and beauties, etc.


CLITANDRE
: To hide from his mother
Who he wounded with his darts,
Cupid, leaving Venus,
From Lucile took his features.
For this time I swear to you
That it was a bad plan
Under this pretty face.
(pointing to Lucile)
Love cannot be disguised.


LUCILE
: I hid from myself
The gentle inclination of my heart.
But when you're in love, everything betrays you.
Cupid always conquers.
When you are tender and sincere
It's hard to pretend.
No, Clitandre, for you
My heart has no disguise.


JULIE
: (to the public) They banished honesty,
Nothing appears in its day.
Today all is disguised,
Town imitates Court,
But our sincere zeal,
Gentlemen, is not counterfeit.
When one seeks to please you
The heart is not disguised.


(Provencals form an entrance and the Diversion ends with a general
ballet.)


CURTAIN



They're expecting me for an Inventory
I have four Wills to prepare
.
The bond of an heir
A necessary reimbursement.