Etext by Dagny
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C 2002
Character List:
Laurent
Camille
Grivet
Michaud
Madame Raquin
Therese Raquin
Suzanne
Four men, three women.
Scene:
A large bedroom, by the Pont Neuf, serving at the same time as a
living room and dining room. It is high, dark, dilapidated, hung
with grey wallpaper that is losing its tint, furnished with poor
furniture, cluttered with boxes of merchandise.
At the back, a door flanked by a buffet to the left and an armoire
to
the right. Midstage to the left in cutaway, a bed in an alcove and
a window giving on a wretched wall. Closer to the audience a small door
and on the forestage a work table.
To the right midstage, the entrance to a twisting stairway that
descends into a shop. Closer to the audience a chimney decorated
with a clock with columns and two bouquets of artificial flowers under
glass. Photographs are hung on both sides of the mirror. In the middle
of the room, a round table covered with an oil cloth. Two armchairs,
one blue and the other green. Some other chairs.
The decor remains the same during all four acts.
Eight o'clock. A summer evening after supper. The table is still set. The window is half open. A great bourgeoise calm and peace.
Camille rests, seated in an armchair. He's dressed in the manner of a bourgeois. Laurent paints, standing at his easel by the window. On a low chair beside Laurent, Therese is doubled over, dreaming with her head resting on her hands. Madame Raquin is clearing the table.
Camille (after a silence)
Can I speak? It won't disturb you?
Laurent
Not at all, so long as you remain calm.
Camille
After supper, if I don't speak, I fall asleep. You are lucky to be
in such good health. You can eat everything. I wouldn't have been able
to take more cream. It makes me ill. I have a cheap stomach. You like
cream a lot?
Laurent
Why, yes. It's sweet and very good.
Camille
They know your tastes here. They make the cream expressly for you.
Indeed, it is just the opposite for me. Mama spoils you. Right,
Therese? That Mama spoils Laurent?
Therese (without raising her head)
Yes.
Madame Raquin (taking away a pile of place settings)
Don't listen to them, Laurent. It was Camille who revealed to me
that you prefer cream to vanilla. And it was Therese who wanted to lace
it with powdered sugar.
Camille
You are an egoist, Mama.
Madame Raquin
What do you mean I am an egoist?
Camille (to Madame Raquin who leaves, smiling)
Yes, yes. (to Laurent) She loves you because you are from Vernon
like she is. You remember when we were little—the coins that she gave
us?
Laurent
You bought a bag of apples.
Camille
And you bought some little knives. It's a piece of luck that we
bumped into each other again in Paris. It prevents me from dying of
boredom. Oh! I bore myself. I bore myself to death. Evenings, when I
came home from the office, it was real sad here! Can you still see
clearly?
Laurent
Not much, but I intend to finish.
Camille
It's nearly eight o'clock. These summer evenings are so long! I
would have wanted to be pictured with the sun. That would have been
much prettier. In place of this deep grey which you are copying, you
could have put in a pasture. But it's difficult in the morning if we
want time to drink our coffee before going to our work. Say, this can't
be good for the digestion to remain seated like this after dinner,
motionless?
Laurent
You are going to be delivered. It's the last sitting.
(Madame Raquin returns and clears the table completely and wipes it.)
Camille
Then, in the morning you would have had a much better day. We
haven't any sun, but it gives on the wall facing us. That lights the
room. Mama had a strange idea to come rent in the passageway of the
Pont Neuf. It's dark. On rainy days you'd say it's a cellar.
Laurent
Bah! For a small business, everywhere is fine.
Camille
I can't say. Below, there are the shops of mercers which distract
them. Only, as for me, I'm not comfortable in the shop.
Laurent
The apartment is comfortable.
Camille
Not at all. We have only a room for Mama besides this place where
we cut and where we sleep. I'm not talking about the kitchen, a black
hole. Nothing closes there and it freezes. At night, there's an
abominable current of air coming through this little door giving on the
stairway. (pointing to the door at the left)
Madame Raquin (who has finished cleaning the table)
My poor Camille, you are never satisfied. I acted for the best.
It's you who wanted to come to work in Paris. I would have resumed my
business as mercer in Vernon. When you married your cousin Therese, it
was really necessary to get to work for the children that might arrive.
Camille
Ah, as for me, I was counting on living in a street where many
folks passed by. I'd put myself in the window. I would have watched the
carriages. It's very amusing. Meanwhile, when I open the window here, I
see only the big wall facing me and the covering of the passage above
me. The wall is blank and the roof is dirty with dust and with spider
webs. I still prefer our windows in Vernon from which one sees the
Seine which always flows.
Madame Raquin
I offered to return there.
Camille
My word, no! After I'd found Laurent in Paris. I only return at
night, so it's all the same to me that the place is dreary if you are
pleased with it.
Madame Raquin
Then, don't scold me any more about this lodging. (the tinkling of
a bell is heard) There are people in the shop. Therese, aren't you
going down? (Therese appears not to hear and remains motionless) Wait,
I'll go see.
(Madame Raquin goes down the twisting stairway.)
Camille
I don't want to aggravate you, but the passage is very unhealthy. I
am afraid it will bring me a nasty affliction of the chest. As for me,
I am not strong like the rest of you. (silence) Say, can I relax? I no
longer have feeling in my left arm.
Laurent
If you like. I've only a few strokes more to make.
Camille
So much the worse! I can't keep it up any longer, I'm going to walk
a bit. (rising and going to Therese) I've never understood how my wife
can remain so calm, without budging even a finger, for hours. It's
exhausting—someone who is always in the moon. As for you, that doesn't
bother you, Laurent, to feel her like that beside you? Look, Therese,
are you amusing yourself there?
Therese (without budging)
Yes.
Camille
I wish you great pleasure. It's only animals that can amuse
themselves like that. When her father, Captain Degans, left her with
Mama, she already had two black eyes, quite large and open, that
frightened me. And the Captain! He was a terrible man. He died in
Africa without ever having set foot in Vernon. Right, Therese?
Therese (without budging)
Yes.
Camille
If you think she's going to burn her tongue— (kissing Therese)
She's a good wife all the same. Since Mama married us, we haven't had a
quarrel. You're not mad at me?
Therese
No.
Laurent (rapping Camille on the shoulder)
Come on, Camille. I'm not asking you for more than ten minutes.
(Camille sits back down) Turn your head to the left. Fine, don't move
any more.
Camille (after a silence)
And your father, no news?
Laurent
No, he's forgotten me. Besides, I never write him.
Camille
It's odd all the same, between a father and a son. As for me, I
couldn't—
Laurent
Bah! Father Laurent had his own ideas; he wanted for me to be a
lawyer, to plead the continual cases he had with his neighbors. When he
learned I was devouring the money for law school so as to run to the
art workshops, he cut my support. It's not my idea to be an attorney.
Camille
Still, it's a fine position, and they pay you very well.
Laurent
I met one of my former comrades from college who is a painter. I
was made to be a painter like him.
Camille
You should have continued. Perhaps you'd have a decoration today.
Laurent
I couldn't. I was croaking of hunger. So, I sent painting to the
devil and I looked for employment.
Camille
Yet, you still know how to paint.
Laurent
I'm not very good at it. What pleased me about painting is that the
job is fun and not tiring. Ah, how I regret that devilish attic
workshop—the first times I went to my office. There was a divan where
I slept. We had some nice weddings!
Camille
Did you use models?
Laurent
Certainly. A superb blonde came. (Therese rises and goes down to
the shop) We have shocked your wife.
Camille
Ah, indeed, if you can imagine that she heard! She's got a bad
head. But, she cares for me to perfection when I am ill. Mama, tonight,
taught her how to make—
Laurent
I think she doesn't like me.
Camille
Oh! You know women! Haven't you finished?
Laurent
Yes, you can get up.
Camille (rising and going to look at the portrait)
Finished, completely finished?
Laurent
Nothing more than the framing to do.
Camille
Very successful, isn't it? (going to lean over the twisting
stairway) Mama! Therese! Come see. Laurent is finished!
(Madame Raquin enters, followed by Therese.)
Madame Raquin
What, he's finished?
Camille (holding the portrait in front of himself)
Yes, indeed. Come on.
Madame Raquin (looking at the portrait)
Ah, that's it! The mouth especially. The mouth is striking. Don't
you think so, Therese?
Therese (without coming closer)
Yes.
(Therese goes to the window where she forgets herself. She leans her face against the sill.)
Camille
And my suit! And my wedding suit, which I've only worn four times.
Madame Raquin
And the corner of the armchair!
Camille
Amazing! Like true wood! It's my armchair that we brought from
Vernon. I'm the only one that uses it. (pointing to the other armchair)
Mother's is blue.
(Laurent is arranging his easel and his box of colors and moving to the right.)
Madame Raquin (to Laurent)
Why did you put black under the left eye?
Laurent
It's the shadow.
(Camille places the portrait on the easel leaning against the wall between the alcove and the window.)
Camille
Perhaps it would be prettier without the shadow, but I don't care.
I have a distinguished look. You'd say I'm on a visit.
Madame Raquin
My dear Laurent, how to thank you. You wouldn't even let Camille
pay for the paints.
Laurent
Ah! It's I who thank him for having been willing to pose.
Camille
No, no. This cannot happen like that. I'm going to find a bottle of
something. What the devil. We will celebrate your work.
Laurent
Oh, as to that, if you like. As for me, I am going to take the
portrait for framing. Today is Tuesday. Grivet and the Michauds must
find the portrait hanging in its place.
(Laurent leaves. Camille takes off his suit, changes and puts on an overcoat that his mother hands him, and starts to follow Laurent.)
Camille (turning back)
What liquor would I be able to get?
Madame Raquin
It ought to be something that Laurent would like. The dear child is
so good. It seems to me he is one of the family now.
Camille
Yes, he's a brother. Suppose I were to get a bottle of anisette?
Madame Raquin
Do you think he likes anisette? A fine wine would probably be
better— with cakes.
Camille (to Therese)
You don't say anything. Do you remember if Laurent likes Malaga?
(Therese leaves the window and comes forward.)
Therese
No, but I know he likes everything. He eats and drinks like an
ogre.
Madame Raquin
My child!
Camille
Scold her! She can't abide him. He's already noticed it, he told me
so. It's disagreeable. (to Therese) I don't understand why you thwart
my friendship. What have you to reproach him with?
Therese
Nothing. He's always here. He lunches, he dines. You pass him the
best cuts. Laurent here, Laurent there. That aggravates me, that's all.
He isn't so funny. He's a gourmand and a lazybones.
Madame Raquin
Be nice, Therese. Laurent is not happy. He lives in an attic, he
eats very badly on his own. I am gratified when I see him eat well and
really warm up with us. He relaxes, he smokes, and that pleases me. The
poor boy is alone in the world.
Therese
Do what you wish, after all. Pamper him, cajole him. You know that
I am always content.
Camille
I have an idea. I'm going to get a bottle of champagne. That will
do the trick.
Madame Raquin
Yes, a bottle of champagne will suitably pay for the portrait.
Don't forget the cakes.
Camille
It's not yet eight-thirty. We only have until nine o'clock. They
will jolly well be surprised to find champagne. (leaves)
Madame Raquin (to Therese)
You are going to light the lamp, right? I'm going down to the shop.
(Exit Madame Raquin. After a moment, Laurent returns.)
Laurent
Therese
Therese
You, my Laurent. I felt you were going to come, my dear love. (she
takes her hands and leads him to the front of the stage) It's been a
week since I saw you. I expected you every afternoon. I hoped that you
would escape from your office. If you hadn't come, I would have
committed some stupidity. Tell me, why were you gone for a week? I
don't want that any more. Our clasped hands, these evenings—and, in
front of the others, so cold.
Laurent
I will explain to you.
Therese
You are afraid here. You are really childish, again! There's no
other place where we will be so well hidden. (she raises her voice and
takes a few steps) Can anyone suspect we love each other? Would anyone
ever come to find us in this room?
Laurent (pulling her back and taking her in his arms)
Be reasonable. No, I am not afraid of coming here.
Therese
Then, you are afraid of me. Admit it. You're afraid that I love you
too much and that I may upset your life.
Laurent
Why do you think that? Don't you know that you've got me, even in
my sleep? I am going mad. Me, who used to mock women. What worries me,
Therese, is that you've awakened, in the depths of my being, a man I
didn't know. Then, sometimes, it's true, I am not calm. I think that it
is not natural to love the way I love—and I am afraid that we will be
led further than we would wish.
Therese (head leaning on Laurent's shoulder)
That will be a joy without end, a long promenade in the sun.
Laurent (disengaging excitedly)
Didn't you hear a step on the stairway?
(Laurent and Therese listen, standing apart.)
Therese
It's the humidity making the steps crack. (they come close again)
Go. Let us love each other without fear, without remorse. If you knew—
Ah! what childishness. I was raised in the dark shadows of the room of
a sick person.
Laurent
My poor Therese
Therese
Oh, yes. I was unfortunate. I remained for whole hours crouched
before the fire, to watch stupidly as tea boiled. If I budged, my aunt
scolded me. You understand, I mustn't wake Camille. I had the quiet
tone of voice and trembling gestures of a little old lady. I seemed so
clumsy that Camille laughed at me. And I felt myself robust, my child's
fists were tight sometimes, I wanted to break everything. They told me
that my mother was the daughter of a tribal chief in Africa. That must
be true, I've dreamed so often of going on the roads, of escaping and
of running on the highways with naked feet in the dirt. I would have
begged for alms like a gypsy. Do you see? I would prefer wildness to
this hospitality.
(Therese has raised her voice. Laurent crosses the stage and listens anew.)
Laurent
Speak much lower. You are going to make your aunt come up.
Therese
Well, come up! So much the worse for them if I lie. (half sits on
the table, arms crossed) I don't know why I ever consented to marry
Camille. It was a planned marriage. My aunt waited until we were of
age. I was twelve when she was already saying to me: “You will love him
dearly, you will take good care of him, your cousin.” She wanted to
give him a nurse, a mother. She adores this child that she has twenty
times disputed death over, and she's raised me to be his serving girl.
As for me, I didn't protest. They made me cowardly. The child, I
pitied. When I played with him, my fingers squeezed his hands as if
they were potters clay. I pitied him. The evening of our marriage,
instead of going into my room which was to the left of the stairs, I
went into Camille's room on the right. And that was all. But you, you,
my Laurent—
Laurent
You love me?
(Laurent takes Therese in his arms and slowly makes her sit to the right of the table.)
Therese
I love you. I've loved you since the day Camille pushed you into
the shop. You remember, when you first came. I don't know how it
happened. I was proud, I was carried away. I don't know in what way I
loved you, I'd rather hate you. Seeing you insulted me, made me suffer.
As soon as you entered, my nerves started to break and I sought this
suffering. I awaited your coming. When you were painting, despite my
revolted dumbness, I was nailed there, at your feet, on this stool.
Laurent (kneeling before her)
I adore you.
Therese
For all pleasure, Tuesday, this innocent of a Grivet comes
regularly, followed by Old Michaud. You know them, these Tuesday
soirees—with their eternal domino games. They nearly drive me mad. And
Tuesdays succeed each other with their imbecilic regularity. But now, I
am proud and avenged. I taste bad joys, when we are around this table,
after the meal, exchanging friendly words. While you play dominoes, and
in the midst of this bourgeoise peace, I evoke my dear memories. It's
an additional voluptuary pleasure, my Laurent.
Laurent (thinking he hears a noise and rising)
I assure you, you are talking too loud. You will get us found out.
I tell you, your aunt is going to come up. (listening at the top of the
staircase and crossing the stage) Where is my hat?
Therese (rising calmly)
Bah! You think she's going to come up? (going to the staircase,
then returning, lowering her voice) Yes, you are right, it's prudent
for you to go. But, I want to talk with you tomorrow. You'll come,
won't you? At two o'clock.
Laurent
No. Don't expect me. It's not possible.
Therese
Not possible? Why?
Laurent
My supervisor has noticed my continual leavings. He's threatened to
fire me if I absent myself further.
Therese
Then, we won't see each other any more. You are breaking with me.
That's your prudence. Ah, misery! You're a coward, you see.
Laurent (taking her in his arms)
No, we can make a calm life for ourselves. It's only a question of
looking for, awaiting opportunities. Often, I've dreamed of having you
all to myself for a whole day. Then, my desire increases. I want a
month of you, a year, a complete lifetime. Listen, a complete lifetime
for us to love; a complete lifetime for us to be together. I will quit
my job. I will go back to doing painting. We will adore each other
forever, forever. Would you be happy?
Therese (smiling, catching her breath)
Oh, yes. Quite happy.
Laurent (separating from her, in a much lower voice)
If you were finally a widow—
Therese (dreamily)
We should have money. We would fear nothing. We would realize our
dream.
Laurent
I no longer see in the shadow anything but your shining eyes, your
eyes which would drive me mad if I wasn't wise enough for both of us.
We must say goodbye, Therese.
Therese
You won't come back tomorrow?
Laurent
No, but be confident. If we remain some time without seeing each
other, tell yourself that we are working for our happiness.
(Laurent embraces Therese and leaves by the small door.)
Therese (after a moment of revery)
Widow!
Madame Raquin (entering)
What, you are still without light? Ah, dreamer! Wait, the lamp is
ready. I am going to light it.
(Madame Raquin leaves by the door at the back. Camille arrives with a bottle of champagne and a box of cakes.)
Camille
Where are you then? Why don't you have lights?
Therese
My aunt went to get the lamp
Camille (shivering)
You are there. You frighten me. You could have spoken in a more
natural voice. You know very well I don't like to joke in the dark.
Therese
I am not joking.
Camille
Exactly, I just noticed you, as pale as a ghost. These farces,
they're stupid. Now, if I awaken tonight, I am going to believe that a
woman in white is prowling around my bed to strangle me. No use
laughing.
Therese
I am not laughing.
Madame Raquin (entering with a lamp)
What's wrong?
(The stage lights up.)
Camille
It's Therese who's having fun frightening me. A bit more and I
could have dropped the champagne bottle. That would have been three
francs lost.
Madame Raquin
You paid only three francs?
(Madame Raquin looks at the champagne bottle.)
Camille
Yes. I went as far as the Boulevard Saint Michel where I had seen
that price posted at a grocer. It's as good as one for eight francs.
You know quite well that these merchants are a bunch of thieves and
that it's only the etiquette which changes.
Madame Raquin
Give it to me. I am going to put it on the table right away so Mr.
Grivet and Mr. Michaud will be surprised by it when they enter. Pass me
the plates, Therese.
(They place the champagne between two plates with cakes. Then Therese goes to the work table and starts to knit.)
Camille
Mr. Grivet is exactitude itself. In a quarter of an hour, just as
nine o'clock strikes, he will arrive. Be friendly to him, okay? He's
only an assistant supervisor, but he can occasionally give me a good
pat on the shoulder. He's a very strong fellow, no one doubts it. The
senior employees affirm that for the last twenty years he's never been
a minute late. Laurent was wrong to say that he didn't invent powder.
Madame Raquin
Our friend Michaud is also very punctual. At Vernon he was the
Police Commissionaire, and he came at night. You remember? At eight
o'clock precisely. We always complimented him on it.
Camille
Yes, but since his retirement and he retired to Paris with his
niece, that little Suzanne leads him around by the nose. All the same,
it's pleasant to have friends and receive them once a week. More often,
that would cost too much. Ah, I wanted to tell you, before they arrive,
I've made a plan on the train. You know, Mama, that I promised Therese
to spend a Sunday at Saint Ouen, before the bad weather. She doesn't
want to go out in the streets with me. She says it tires her, that I
don't know how to walk. Still, I thought we might, perhaps, do well to
go to Saint Ouen Sunday and to take Laurent with us.
Madame Raquin
That's it, children, go to Saint Ouen. I no longer have good enough
legs to accompany you, but the idea is excellent. That will acquit you
completely for Laurent's portrait.
Camille
Laurent is funny in the country. You remember, Therese, when he
came with us to Suresnes? He's strong as a Turk, that comedian. He
jumps ditches full of water, throws big stones to astonishing heights.
At Suresnes, on wooden horses, imitating the postillion who gallops,
the crackings of the whip, the blows of the spurs—so well that a whole
crowd was there laughing till they wept. The mayor was sick of it,
positively. Right, Therese?
Therese
He'd drunk enough at dinner to be funny.
Camille
Oh, you. You don't understand that one is having a good time. If
there were only you to make me laugh, it would be a rough work day
going to Saint Ouen. She sits on the ground, she looks at the water.
After all, if I bring Laurent, it's because he distracts me. Where the
devil has he— (a bell in the shop is heard) That's him! Mr. Grivet has
seven minutes to go yet.
Laurent (holding a scarf in his hand)
They never finish in this shop. (looking at Camille and Madame
Raquin who are speaking low) I bet that you are plotting something
sweet again.
Camille
Guess.
Laurent
You are inviting me to dinner tomorrow and there will be a chicken
with rice.
Madame Raquin
Gourmand!
Camille
Better than that. Sunday, I'm taking Therese to Saint Ouen and you
are coming with us. Would you like to?
Laurent (taking the portrait on the easel)
Why, I should say I'd like to.
Madame Raquin
Above all, you will be prudent. Laurent, I am confiding Camille to
you. You are strong. You are strong and I am more at ease when I know
he's with you.
Camille
Mama bores me with her continual terrors. I cannot go to the end of
the street without her imagining atrocious things. It's disagreeable to
be always treated like a little boy. We'll go in a carriage to the
fortifications. That way, we will only have one relay to pay. Then we
will follow the road and spend the afternoon on the island. And in the
evening, we will eat a picnic by the sea shore. Huh? Is it agreed?
Laurent (fixing the scarf on the portrait)
Yes. But they could complete the program.
Camille
What?
Laurent (casting a glance at Therese)
By adding a canoe ride.
Madame Raquin
No, no, no canoe. I wouldn't be easy.
Therese
If you think that Camille will take a chance on the water, he's
really too afraid!
Camille
Me? Afraid?
Laurent
It's true. I was forgetting that you are afraid of the water. At
Vernon when we boated on the Seine, you remained shivering on the
shore. Come on, don't worry, we will suppress the canoe.
Camille
But, that's not true. I'm never afraid. We will go canoeing. What
the devil? You will end by making me pass for an imbecile. We will see
which of the three of us will be less fearful. It's Therese who's
afraid.
Therese
Eh, my poor friend. You are already quite pale.
Camille
Make fun of me. We will see. We will see.
Madame Raquin
Camille, my good Camille, give up this idea. Do that for me.
Camille
Mama, I beg you. Don't torment me. You know quite well this will
make me ill.
Laurent
Well! Your wife will decide.
Therese
Accidents happen everywhere.
Laurent
It's true. In the street, the foot can slip, a tile can fall.
Therese
Besides, you know, as for me, I adore the Seine.
Laurent (to Camille)
Then, it's agreed. You've won your case. We will go canoeing.
Madame Raquin (aside to Laurent)
My God, I cannot tell you to what degree this expedition worries
me. Camille is so demanding, you see how carried away he gets.
Laurent
Don't be afraid. I will be there. Ah! I am going to hang that
portrait.
(Laurent hangs the portrait above the buffet.)
Camille
It will be a good day, won't it? (the shop bell rings, the clock
strikes nine) Nine o'clock. There's Mr. Grivet.
Grivet (entering)
I am arriving first. Good evening, Madame, and everybody.
Madame Raquin
Good evening, Mr. Grivet. Would you like me to relieve you of your
umbrella? (she takes the umbrella) Is it raining?
Grivet
The weather is threatening. (Madame Raquin places the umbrella to
the left of the chimney) Not in that corner, not in that corner. You
know my little customs. In the other corner. Thanks.
Madame Raquin
Give me your galoshes.
Grivet
No, no. I will fix them myself. (sitting on a chair which Madame
Raquin pushes up for him) I do my little arranging, hey, hey. I like to
have everything in its place, you understand. (placing his galoshes
next to the umbrella) This way, I am not uneasy.
Camille
And you don't say anything about me, Mr. Grivet?
Grivet (rising and coming into the middle)
I left the office at 4:30. I ate at six at the Creamery of Orleans.
I read my paper until seven o'clock at the Café Saturin. And, as today
is Tuesday, instead of going to bed at nine as is my custom, I am here.
(considering) That's all there is, I think.
Laurent
And you didn't see anything as you came here?
Grivet
Indeed, pardon, no. There were lots of people in the Rue Saint
Andre des Arts. I had to change sidewalks. That irritated me. You
understand, in the mornings, I go to the office by the sidewalk on the
left and at night I return by the opposite sidewalk.
Madame Raquin
The sidewalk on the right.
Grivet
No, allow me. (miming the action) In the mornings, I go like this
and in the evenings, when I return—
Laurent
Ah, very fine.
Grivet
Always the sidewalk on the left, right? I keep to my left, you
know, like railroad trains. It's very useful so as not to be mistaken
in the streets.
Laurent
But, what was everyone doing in the sidewalk?
Grivet
I don't know. How do you expect me to know?
Madame Raquin
Some accident, without a doubt.
Grivet
Heavens! It's true. There must have been an accident. That idea
didn't come to me. My word, you calm me by telling me that it was an
accident.
(Grivet sits at the table.)
Madame Raquin
Ah, here's Mr. Michaud.
(Suzanne and Michaud enter. Suzanne rids herself of her shawl, and goes to talk low with Therese who is still seated at her work table. Michaud shakes hands with everyone.)
Michaud
I think I'm late. (stops before Grivet who has drawn his watch and
presents it to him with a triumphant air) I know—six after nine. It's
the fault of this little one. (pointing to Suzanne) She has to stop at
all the shops.
(Michaud goes to put his cane beside Grivet's umbrella.)
Grivet
No, pardon me, that's the place for my umbrella. You know quite
well that I don't like that. I left the other corner of the chimney for
your cane.
Michaud
Right, right. We won't take offense.
Camille (low to Laurent)
Say, I think that Mr. Grivet is vexed because there is some
champagne. He looked at the bottle three times and he's said nothing.
It's astonishing that he's not more surprised than that.
Michaud (turning and noticing the champagne)
Ah, the deuce. You want to celebrate. Cakes and champagne.
Grivet
Heavens. There's champagne! I've only drunk that four times in my
life.
Madame Raquin
We are celebrating the portrait of Camille that Laurent completed
tonight. (she takes the lamp to light up the portrait) Look.
(All follow her except Therese who remains at her work table and Laurent who leans on the chimney.)
Camille
It's striking, isn't it? I seem to be on a visit.
Michaud
Yes, yes.
Madame Raquin
It's still not dry. You can smell the paint.
Grivet
Indeed, so. I smelled an odor. There's an advantage of photography,
no odor.
Camille
Yes, but once the painting is dry.
Grivet
Ah, certainly, once the painting is dry. It will dry soon enough.
There's a shop in the Rue la Harpe that took five days to dry.
Madame Raquin
Then, Mr. Michaud, you find it good?
Michaud
It's very good. Completely good.
(All come back and Madame Raquin puts the lamp back on the table.)
Camille
If you'd give us tea, Mama, we'll drink the champagne after the
dominoes.
Grivet (sitting back down)
Fifteen past nine. We will hardly have time to do it right.
Madame Raquin
I ask only five minutes. Stay, Therese, since you are ill.
Suzanne (airily)
I am feeling well. I am going to help you, Madame Raquin. It amuses
me to be lady of the house.
(Suzanne and Madame Raquin leave by the door at the back.)
Camille
And you know nothing of news, Mr. Michaud?
Michaud
No, nothing. I took my niece to knit at the Luxembourg. Ah, yes, my
word, there was something new. There was a drama in the Rue Saint Andre
des Arts.
Camille
What drama? Mr. Grivet, as he was coming, saw lots of people in the
street.
Michaud
That has been going on since this morning. (to Grivet) The crowd
was looking up in the air, right?
Grivet
I couldn't say. I changed sidewalks. Then, indeed, it was an
accident.
Michaud
Yes, in the trunk of a traveler who has vanished from the Hotel
Bourgogne, a woman, cut into four pieces.
Camille
That is shocking.
Grivet
And there I was, passing by there. I recall now, they were looking
into the air. Could they be looking at something in the air?
Michaud
They were looking at the window of the room where the crowd
pretends they found the trunk. But the fact is certain, the window of
the room in question gives on the court.
Laurent
The murderer has been arrested?
Michaud
No. One of my former associates who is leading the investigation
told me that he's groping in the dark. (Grivet sneers, nodding his
head) Justice has a great deal of trouble.
Laurent
But, the identity of the victim has been established?
Michaud
No. The cadaver was naked and the head wasn't found in the trunk.
Grivet
Doubtless it was carried away.
Camille
Mercy, dear sir! This gives me gooseflesh. Poor woman, chopped into
four pieces.
Grivet
Eh! No, it's amusing to be frightened when one is perfectly sure
one is in no danger. The stories of Mr. Michaud from the time when he
was Police Commissionaire are very funny. You remember the cop who was
buried with his hand full of carrot plants. He told us of that crime
last autumn. That amused me greatly. What the devil! Here we know,
quite well, there are no murderers behind our backs. This is the house
of a good God. In a forest, I don't say. If I were crossing a forest
with Mr. Michaud, I would beg him to be silent.
Laurent (to Michaud)
You think that many crimes remain unpunished?
Michaud
Yes, unfortunately. The disappearances, the slow deaths, chokings,
sinister, without a scream, without a drop of blood. Justice passes and
sees nothing. There's more than one murderer who's walking about calmly
in the sun.
Grivet (sneering more loudly)
You want to laugh. And no one arrests them?
Michaud
If they are not arrested, my dear Mr. Grivet, it's because no one
knows they've killed.
Camille
Then, the police don't do well?
Michaud
Eh! Yes, the police do well, but don't expect the impossible. I
repeat to you, there are very happy murderers, living comfortably,
loved and respected. You are wrong in your head, Mr. Grivet.
Grivet
I am wrong in my head. I am wrong in my head, leave me alone!
Michaud
Perhaps, you have one of those men amongst your acquaintances and
he'll shake hands with you one day.
Grivet
Ah! No, for goodness sakes, don't say that. It's not true, you
know. Indeed, it's not true. If I wanted to, I'd tell you a like story.
Michaud
Tell it, your story.
Grivet
Certainly. It's that of a magpie thief. (Michaud shrugs his
shoulders) You know her, perhaps, you know everyone. There was once a
serving girl imprisoned for having stolen a silver plate. Two months
later, they found the plate in a magpie's nest when cutting down a
poplar. It was a magpie that was the thief. The serving girl was
released. You see, indeed, that the guilty are always punished.
Michaud (sneering)
Then, they put the magpie in prison?
Grivet (getting annoyed)
The magpie in prison? The magpie in prison! Is he dumb, this
Michaud?
Camille
Eh! No. That's not what Mr. Grivet meant. You are not understanding
him.
Grivet
The police don't do well, that's all. It's immoral.
Camille
Do you think they kill like that, without anyone knowing it,
Laurent?
Laurent
Me? (crossing the stage, heading slowly towards Therese) Don't you
see, Mr. Michaud is making fun of you. He wants to terrify you with his
stories. How could he know what he says is not known to anyone? And, if
there are skillful folks, so much the better for them, after all. (near
Therese) Heavens, Madame is less credulous than you.
Therese
Surely. What's not known, doesn't exist.
Camille
Never mind. I would have much preferred to speak of something else.
Would you? Let's talk about something else.
Grivet
As for me, I'd like that very much. Let's talk of something else.
Camille
Heavens, we haven't brought up the chairs from the shop. Come, help
me.
(Camille goes down.)
Grivet (rising, grumbling)
He calls talking of something else—finding some chairs.
Michaud
Are you coming, Mr. Grivet?
Grivet
Go ahead first. Magpie in prison, magpie in prison! Whoever heard
of it? For a former Commissionaire of Police you've just given yourself
up to a great deal of ridicule, Mr. Michaud.
(Grivet and Michaud go down.)
Laurent (abruptly taking Therese's hands, lowering his voice)
You swear to obey me?
Therese (low)
Yes, I belong to you. Do with me what you will.
Camille (from the shop)
Hey! Laurent, big faker, aren't you going to come find your chair
instead of letting these gentlemen come down.
Laurent (shrugging, changing his voice)
I am staying to pay court to your wife. (to Therese, softly) Hope!
We will live happily with each other.
Camille (from below, laughing)
Oh, indeed, I permit you. Try to please Therese.
Laurent (to Therese)
And remember what you said: What is not known, doesn't exist.
(Steps are heard on the stairway.)
Laurent
Take care!
(Laurent and Therese separate excitedly. Therese resumes her solemn attitude before her work table. Laurent passes to the right. The other characters come back up, each with a chair, laughing in loud bursts.)
Camille (to Laurent)
Faker, go! Is he funny, this animal! All that, just so as not to
give himself the trouble of coming down.
Grivet
At last, here's the tea.
Madame Raquin (to whom Grivet shows his watch)
Yes, I've taken a quarter of an hour. Sit down, we're going to
recover the lost time.
(Grivet sits to the left. Behind him Laurent. Madame Raquin's armchair is to the right. Michaud puts himself behind her. Finally, in the back, Camille installs himself in his armchair. Therese doesn't leave her work table. Suzanne joins her after the tea is served.)
Camille (sitting down)
There, here I am, in my armchair. Give me the box of dominoes,
Mama.
Grivet
It's a pleasure. Tuesdays, when I awake, I say to myself: “Heavens,
this evening I will go to play dominoes with the Raquins.” Well, you
wouldn't believe it.
Suzanne (interrupting him)
Would you like me to give you some sugar, Mr. Grivet?
Grivet
With pleasure, Miss. You are charming. Two lumps, right? (resuming)
Well, you wouldn't believe it.
Camille (interrupting him)
Aren't you coming, Therese?
Madame Raquin (giving him the box of dominoes)
Leave her alone. You know she's ill. She doesn't like to play
dominoes. If someone comes into the shop, she will go down.
Camille
That's very vexing, when everybody's having fun, to have someone
before you who's not having fun. (to Madame Raquin) Look, would you sit
in, Mama?
Madame Raquin
Yes, yes, here I am.
Camille
You are, indeed, all together?
Michaud
Certainly, and this evening, I am going to beat you hands down.
Madame Raquin, your tea is a bit stronger than last Tuesday's. But, Mr.
Grivet is saying something.
Grivet
Me? I was saying something?
Michaud
Yes, you began a phrase.
Grivet
A phrase, you think? That's quite surprising.
Michaud
I assure you, don't I? Madame Raquin, Mr. Grivet was saying: Well,
you wouldn't believe it.
Grivet
“Well, you wouldn't believe it.” No, I don't remember, not at all.
If you're making a joke, Mr. Michaud, you know, I find it trivial.
Camille
You are all together? Then, let's begin.
(Camille noisily empties the box of dominoes. A silence during which players mix the dominoes and share them.)
Grivet
Mr. Laurent isn't in it and he is forbidden to give advice. There,
they're got seven. Don't mess it up, don't mess it up, do you hear, Mr.
Michaud? (a silence) Ah, here's mine. I have a double six.
CURTAIN
Ten o'clock. A year has gone by without anything changing in the room. The same peace, the same intimacy. Therese and Madame Raquin are in mourning. The characters are seated as at the end of the last act. Therese is at her work table with an air of being distracted and ill. Only Camille's armchair is empty.
A silence during which Madame Raquin and Suzanne serve the tea, repeating exactly their roles as in the scene of the first act.
Laurent
You must distract yourself, Madame Raquin. Give me the domino box.
Suzanne
Would you like me to give you sugar, Mr. Grivet?
Grivet
With pleasure, Miss. You are charming. Two lumps, right? Only you
can give me sugar.
Laurent (holding the box of dominoes)
Ah, here are the dominoes. Sit down, Madame Raquin. (Madame Raquin
sits) Are we all here?
Michaud
Certainly, and tonight I am going to beat you all hollow. Let me
put a little rum in my tea.
(Michaud pours some rum into his tea.)
Laurent
You are all ready? Then, let's begin.
(Laurent noisily empties the domino box. The players mix in the game and share.)
Grivet
This is a pleasure. There, they go seven. Don't meddle, you hear,
Mr. Michaud? (a silence) No, today is not my day.
Madame Raquin (abruptly bursting into tears)
I can't, I can't. (Laurent and Michaud get up and Suzanne comes to
the back of Madame Raquin's armchair) When I see you all, like before,
around this table, I remember and my heart breaks. My poor Camille was
here then.
Michaud
By Jove, Madame Raquin, be reasonable.
Madame Raquin
Pardon me, my old friend, I cannot. You remember how he loved to
play dominoes? It was he who turned the box over. Laurent has exactly
his gesture. And when I didn't sit down quickly enough, he scolded me.
As for me, I was afraid of vexing him—that made him ill. Ah, our nice
evening parties. And now, his armchair is empty, you see!
Michaud
Dear lady, you lack courage. You will end by putting yourself to
bed.
Suzanne (embracing Madame Raquin)
I beg you, don't cry. That causes us all so much pain.
Madame Raquin (weeping)
You are right, I must be strong.
Grivet (pushing his domino back)
Then, it would be better not to play. It's unfortunate that what
you are doing has that effect. Your tears will not bring your son back.
Michaud
We are all mortal.
Madame Raquin
Alas.
Grivet
If we come to visit you, it's with the intention of providing you
some distraction.
Michaud
You must forgive us, my poor friend.
Grivet
Certainly. What the devil. Don't let's make ourselves sad. We are
playing at doubles, huh? Would you like?
Laurent
Later. Let Madame Raquin have time to pull herself together. We are
all weeping for our dear Camille.
Suzanne
Do you hear, dear lady? We are all weeping, we are all weeping with
you.
(Suzanne sits at Madame Raquin's knees.)
Madame Raquin
Yes. You are good. Don't be angry with me if I've disturbed the
party.
Michaud
No one's mad at you. Only, a year after the frightful accident took
place you ought to be reasonable.
Madame Raquin
I haven't counted the days. I weep because the tears rise to my
eyes. Excuse me. I still see my poor child, dead in the troubled waters
of the Seine, and I see him when he was quite small, when I put him to
bed between the sheets. What a frightful death! How he must have
suffered. I had a sinister presentiment. I begged him to abandon the
idea of going on the water. He wanted to be brave. If you knew how I
cared for him in the cradle! To save him from a typhoid fever, I spent
three weeks on my knees without sleep.
Michaud
Your niece remains to you. Don't desolate her, don't desolate the
generous friend who saved her and who despairs eternally at not being
able to equally pull Camille from the river. Our sorrow is selfish. You
are putting tears in Laurent's eyes.
Laurent
These memories are cruel.
Michaud
Eh! You did what you were able to do. When the canoe overturned,
against a pier, I think—one of those piers was used to hold nets,
wasn't it?
Laurent
That's what I thought. The shock threw all three of us into the
water.
Michaud
Then, when you fell in, you were able to save Therese.
Laurent
I pulled her, she was beside me. I had only to take her by her
clothes. When I went back, Camille had disappeared. He was in the front
of the canoe; he was wetting his hands in the river; he was joking—he
said the soup was cold.
Michaud
Don't recount those memories which make you shiver. You acted like
a hero. You dove back three times.
Grivet
I should say so. Next day there was a superb article in my paper.
They said Mr. Laurent deserved a medal. That will give
goosebumps—reading how three people were thrown in the river, while
their dinner was awaiting them at a restaurant. And a week later, when
they found this poor Camille—there was yet another article. (to
Michaud) You remember it was Mr. Laurent who came looking for you to
identify the body with him?
(Madame Raquin bursts out in tears again.)
Michaud (in an angry tone, lowering his voice)
Truly, Mr. Grivet, you ought to be able to be quiet. Madame Raquin
was just calming down. You are giving such details—
Grivet (stung, lowering his voice)
A thousand pardons. It was you who began to discuss the accident.
Since one is not playing, it is necessary to say something.
Michaud (raising his voice bit by bit)
Eh, you've cited that article in your paper a hundred times. It's
disagreeable, you understand? Now, Madame Raquin will weep for a good
quarter of an hour more.
Grivet (rising and shouting)
It's you who began it.
Michaud
Eh, no, dammit, it's you, so—
Grivet
Why not say plainly that I am ridiculous?
Madame Raquin
My good friends, don't argue. (Grivet and Michaud walk about,
muttering bitter words) I am going to be good, I am not crying any
more. These conversations comfort me. I love to speak of my misfortune
and my unfortunate son, and this reminds me of what I owe to all. My
dear Laurent, give me your hand. Are you angry?
Laurent (going to her)
Yes, with myself, for being unable to save both.
Madame Raquin (holding Laurent's hand)
You are my child and I love you. Every night I pray for you, you
who wanted to save my son. I ask heaven to watch over your cherished
existence. Go on, my son is above, he will hear me, and it's to him
that you owe your happiness. Each time that you experience some joy,
tell yourself that I was I who prayed for it and that it was Camille
who exacted it from me.
Laurent
Dear Madame Raquin.
Michaud
That's fair, indeed, that's very fair!
Madame Raquin (to Suzanne)
And now, little one, return to your place. See, I made it for you.
I'm smiling.
Suzanne
Thanks.
(Suzanne rises and kisses Madame Raquin.)
Madame Raquin (slowly getting into the game again)
Whose turn?
Grivet
You indeed want to—ah, that's nice. (Grivet, Laurent and Michaud
sit back in their places) Whose turn?
Michaud
Mine. There. (moving a domino)
Suzanne (going to Therese)
Dear friend, do you want me to tell you about the Blue Prince?
Therese
The Blue Prince?
Suzanne (taking a stool and sitting near Therese)
It's quite a story. I'm going to tell it to you in secret. My uncle
has no need to know. Imagine that this young man—he's a young man. He
had a blue suit and very wonderful mustaches—catlike—which went very
well with him.
Therese
Pay attention. You uncle is listening to you.
(Suzanne half rises and looks at the players.)
Michaud (angrily to Grivet)
Why, you played a five, just now, and now you're putting five
anywhere.
Grivet
I played a five? Apologize. You are mistaken.
(Michaud protests. The game continues.)
Suzanne (sitting down and resuming in a low voice)
I really laugh at my uncle when he plays dominoes. That young man
came every day to the Luxembourg. You know, my uncle has the habit of
sitting on the terrace at the third tree to the left, near the kiosk
for newspapers. The Blue Prince sat at the fourth tree. He put a book
on his knees and he watched me, as he turned the pages.
(Suzanne stops from time to time, casting furtive glances at the players.)
Therese
That's all?
Suzanne
Yes, that's all that happened at the Luxembourg. Ah, I was
forgetting. One day he saved me from a hoop that a little girl threw at
me from a train. He gave the hoop a big tap to direct it another way.
That made me smile; I thought of lovers who tossed their heads with
hair blowing in disarray. The Blue Prince must have had the same idea.
He started to smile, too, as he bowed to me.
Therese
And the novel stops there?
Suzanne
Why, no, it begins there. Day before yesterday, my uncle went out.
I was very bored because our maid is very stupid. To amuse myself, I
went up to the big telescope, you know, the one my uncle had at Vernon.
You can see more than two leagues. From our terrace, you know, you can
see all around Paris. I looked over by Saint Sulpice. There are three
handsome statues at the foot of the great tower.
Michaud (angrily to Grivet)
Well! What! Now it's six—
Grivet
It's six. It's six. I see that plainly, by Jove, but I have to
calculate.
(The game continues.)
Therese
And the Blue Prince?
Suzanne
Be patient! I saw the chimneys, oceans of chimneys! When I turned
the telescope a bit, all the chimneys marched, rushing on top of each
other, lining up in a row like soldiers. The telescope was full of
them. Then I noticed, between two chimneys, guess what? The Blue
Prince!
Therese
Your Prince is, then, a chimney sweep?
Suzanne (rising)
Eh, no! He was on a terrace like me, and the most comical thing was
that he was looking through a telescope like me. I clearly recognized
him, he had his blue suit, along with his moustaches.
Therese
And he lives?
Suzanne
Why, I don't know. I only saw him in the telescope, you understand.
Doubtless it was a long, long way off, near Saint Sulpice. When I
looked with my eyes, I could only distinguish grey with spots of blue.
I'd even almost lost him. The telescope moved and I was unable to
reserve a voyage on the sea of chimneys. Still, I have one point of
reference, the gables of a house near ours.
Therese
You've seen him again?
Suzanne
Yes, yesterday, today. Every day. Am I doing wrong? If you knew how
small and pretty he is in the telescope! He's hardly as big as that;
you'd say an image. I'm not afraid of it at all. Then, as for me, I
don't know where he is, I don't know even if it is really true what you
perceive in a telescope. It's all down there—when he does like this—
(gestures blowing a kiss) I get hold of myself and I see only grey. I
can believe, can't I, that the Blue Prince didn't do that? (she repeats
the gesture) Since he's no longer there, since I vainly strain my eyes.
Therese (smiling)
You make me feel good. (looking at Laurent) Love your Blue Prince,
always, in your dreams.
Suzanne
Ah, why, no! Hush, the game is over.
Michaud
Come on, the tow of us, Mr. Grivet.
Grivet
At your orders, Mr. Michaud.
(They begin another game.)
Madame Raquin (pushing her armchair to the right)
Laurent, since you are already on your feet, would you be so
obliging as to go find my basket where I put my wool? It ought to be on
the dresser in my room. Take a light.
Laurent
There's no need.
(Laurent leaves by the door at the back.)
Michaud
You have a real son there. He is so obliging.
Madame Raquin
Yes, he's very good to us. I charge him with our little commissions
and in the evenings he helps us shut up the shop.
Grivet
The other day, I saw him selling some of the notions like a sales
girl in a department store. Eh! Eh! A sales girl with a beard.
(Grivet laughs. Laurent returns excitedly, eyes haggard, as if he were being pursued. For a moment Laurent leans against the armoire.)
Madame Raquin
Well? What's wrong with you?
Michaud (rising)
Are you ill?
Grivet
You are—?
Laurent
No, nothing, thanks. A dizziness.
(Laurent crosses the stage with an uncertain step.)
Madame Raquin
And the basket?
Laurent
The basket? I don't know. I don't have it.
Suzanne
What? You a man, you were afraid?
Laurent (trying to laugh)
Afraid? Afraid of what. I didn't find the basket, that's all.
Suzanne
Wait. I will find it. And if I meet your ghost, I'll bring him to
you.
(Suzanne leaves. Laurent comes to himself, bit by bit.)
Laurent
You see, it's passing off.
Grivet
Your health is too good. It's the blood which torments you.
Laurent (shivering)
Yes, the blood is tormenting me.
Michaud (sitting back down)
You need something refreshing to drink.
Madame Raquin
Indeed, I've seen you agitated for a while. I will make you a
little red tea. (to Suzanne who returns and gives her the basket) Ah,
you found it.
Suzanne
It was on the commode. (to Laurent who's slowly gone to the left)
Mr. Laurent, I didn't see your ghost. I must have frightened him when I
entered.
Grivet
She's witty, that little one.
(A bell rings in the shop.)
Suzanne
Don't disturb yourself. I am going down to serve.
(Suzanne goes down the stairway.)
Grivet
A treasure, a real treasure. (to Michaud) We were saying that I
have thirty-two and you have twenty-eight.
Madame Raquin (after having looked in the basket which she has
placed
by the chimney) No, I don't find the wool I need. I've got to go
down.
(Madame Raquin goes down the stairway.)
Grivet (rising a bit, lowering his voice)
Eh! The game was almost going just now. It's not as gay as it used
to be here.
Michaud (likewise)
What do you expect? When death passes through a house. But, don't
worry, I've found a way to bring back our good Tuesdays of before.
(Grivet and Michaud play.)
Therese (low to Laurent who comes near her)
You were frightened, weren't you?
Laurent
Yes. Do you want me to come tonight?
Therese
Let's wait. Let's still wait. Be prudent until the end.
Laurent
It's been a year that we've been prudent. A year that I haven't
seen you. It would be so easy. I will reenter through the little door.
We are free now. We ought not to be afraid to be together in your room.
Therese
No. Let's not tempt the future. We need a lot of happiness. Will we
ever get enough of it?
Laurent
Be confident! We will calm ourselves in each other's arms—when it
will be two of us against terror. When shall I come?
Therese
The night of our wedding. And it won't be long delayed, you see?
The denouement approaches. Take care. Here's my aunt.
Madame Raquin (who has come back up)
Therese, go down, my daughter. They need you down there.
(Therese leaves, seemingly overwhelmed. All follow her with their eyes.)
Michaud
Did you observe Therese just now? She lowered her head; she was
very pale.
Madame Raquin
I study her every day, her eyes, her hands, all are agitated with
feverish trembling.
Laurent
Yes, she has in her cheeks that rosy flame of consumptives.
Madame Raquin
You have noticed these alarming symptoms, my dear Laurent, and now
I see them increasing. No sorrow will be spared me.
Michaud
Bah! You make yourself worry wrongly. It's nerves. She will come to
herself.
Laurent
No. She's been struck to the heart. There's something like a
goodbye in her long silences, in her pale smiles. It will be a slow
agony.
Grivet
You are consoling, my dear boy. You must make her gay, this dear
Therese, instead of letting her wade in these funereal ideas.
Madame Raquin
Alas, my friend, Laurent is speaking the truth. The wound is to the
heart. She doesn't want to be consoled. Each time that I try to make
her hear reason, she becomes impatient, even angry. She seeks refuge in
her sorrow like a wounded animal.
Laurent
We must resign ourselves.
Madame Raquin
It will be a last blow. I have only her; I was counting on her
closing my eyes. If she were to go, I would remain alone at the bottom
of this shop. I would die in a corner. Ah, heavens! I am really
wretched. I don't know what ill wind entered our home.
(Madame Raquin weeps.)
Grivet (timidly)
There, no one is playing anymore?
Michaud
Be patient. (rising) Look, I want to find a remedy. At Therese's
age— what the devil! All is not inconsolable. Did she weep a lot,
after the terrible catastrophe at Saint Ouen?
Madame Raquin
No. She wept with great difficulty. She had a dumb sorrow, an
apathy of spirit and body, as if she'd walked a great deal. She seemed
dumb. She became very fearful.
Laurent (shivering)
Very fearful?
Madame Raquin
Yes. One night I heard her uttering choked screams. I ran to her.
She didn't recognize me. She stuttered.
Laurent
Some nightmare. And she spoke? What did she say?
Madame Raquin
I didn't understand a thing. She was calling Camille. At night, she
no longer dares to go up without a light. In the mornings, she's very
exhausted. She drags herself about, she has tired gestures, empty looks
which terrify me. I know, indeed, that she's going, that she intends to
join my other poor child.
Michaud
Well! Dear lady, my little investigation is complete. I will tell
you plainly what I think. But, first let them leave us.
Laurent
You want to remain alone with Madame Raquin?
Michaud
Yes.
Grivet (rising)
Fine. We will leave you. (coming back) You know that you owe me,
Mr. Michaud. You will call me. I am at your orders.
(Laurent and Grivet leave by the door at the back.)
Michaud
Come, my old friend. I am going to be a bit brutal.
Madame Raquin
What do you advise me? If we could only save her!
Michaud (lowering his voice)
You must marry Therese.
Madame Raquin
Marry her! Ah, you are cruel. I would think I was losing my poor
Camille a second time.
Michaud
Hell! I'm not being sentimental. I am a doctor, if you like.
Madame Raquin
No, it's impossible. You see her tears. She would repulse such an
idea with indignation. My son is not forgotten. You are making me
suspect your delicacy, Mr. Michaud. Therese cannot marry with Camille
in her heart. That would be a profanation.
Michaud
If you take such a haughty tone! A woman who is afraid to go alone
to her room at night needs a husband. What the devil!
Madame Raquin
And this stranger that we would be introducing into our bosoms and
our home! All my waking hours would be terrible. We might make a bad
choice, disturb what little peace remains to us. No, no. Let me alone
to die with my mourning about me.
(Madame Raquin sits in an armchair to the right.)
Michaud
Doubtless, we must find a brave heart who would make at the same
time a good husband for Therese and a good son for you—who would, in a
word, completely replace Camille. Wait! Hold on. Laurent!
Madame Raquin
Him!
Michaud
Ah, yes! What a pretty couple they would make. My old friend. Such
is the advice I am giving you. You must marry them to each other.
Madame Raquin
Them!
Michaud
I was sure that you were going to protest. It's a plan I've
nurtured for a long while. Consider, believe in my watchful experience.
If, to put a lost joy in your old age, you were to resolve to marry
Therese, to save her from the slow sorrow which is killing her, where
would you find a better husband than Laurent?
Madame Raquin
It seems to me that they were brother and sister.
Michaud
Ah! Think of yourself! As for me, I wish you all the happiness. The
good times will return. You will still have two children to close your
eyes.
Madame Raquin
Don't tempt me. You are right. I need a little consolation. But, I
am afraid we would be doing wrong. My poor Camille would punish us for
forgetting him so soon.
Michaud
Who is talking about forgetting him? Laurent always has his name in
his mouth. That doesn't leave the family. What the devil!
Madame Raquin
I am really old. My knees don't work any more. I would like to die
peacefully.
Michaud
Come on, you are convinced. It's the only way to avoid introducing
a stranger into your home. You are only tightening the links of
friendship. And I want you to be a grandmother with kids who bounce on
your knees. You are smiling. I know, indeed, I am making you smile.
Madame Raquin
Oh, but it's wrong. It's wrong to smile. My friend, my soul is full
of trouble. But, as for them, they will never want it. They don't think
of these things.
Michaud
Bah! We are going to bring the business off smoothly. They are too
reasonable not to understand that their marriage is necessary to the
happiness of this house. It's in that sense they must be spoken to. I
will deal with Laurent. I will convince him while closing the shop.
Meanwhile, you will tell the thing to Therese. And we will engage them
tonight.
Madame Raquin (rising)
I am trembling already.
Michaud
Wait, here she is. I will leave you.
(Michaud goes out as Therese comes in.)
Madame Raquin (to Therese, who seems downbeaten)
What's wrong with you, my child? All night, you haven't said a
word. I beg you, try to be a little less sad. Do that for the
gentlemen. (Therese makes a vague gesture) I know. One cannot command
one's sadness. Are you ill?
Therese
No. I am just exhausted.
Madame Raquin
If you are ill, it would be better to say so. It would be wrong to
let yourself go without wanting someone to take care of you. You have
palpitations, perhaps? Heavings of the chest, right?
Therese
No. I don't know. I've got nothing. It seems to me that everything
is going to sleep around me.
Madame Raquin
Dear child, you cause me a lot of pain with your silences, your
tears. I have only you.
Therese
Is it you who are advising me to forget?
Madame Raquin
I haven't said that. I cannot say that. But I have a duty to
question you, to not impose my mourning on you, to know if it's a
consolation for you. Answer me frankly.
Therese
I am just exhausted.
Madame Raquin
I insist that you answer me. You live alone too much, you are
loved, right? At your age, you cannot weep eternally.
Therese
I don't know what you want me to say.
Madame Raquin
I am not saying anything. I am questioning you. I am trying to find
where your illness is. To live always with a woman in tears is not gay!
I understand that. Then, this room is very large, very dark, and
perhaps you desire—
Therese
I don't desire anything.
Madame Raquin
Listen, don't get angry. It's a villainous idea that came to us.
We've thought of marrying you.
Therese
Me! Never! Never! Why do you doubt me?
Madame Raquin (very moved)
I told him, indeed, she cannot forget him, he is still in her
heart. He's the one who urged me on. And he is right. You see, my
child? The house is too sad. Everyone will flee from us. Go on, you
would do well to listen to him.
Therese
Never.
Madame Raquin
Yes, remarry. I don't remember any more the convincing things he
said to me, but he convinced me. I took charge of convincing you. I am
going to call Michaud, if you like. He will speak better than I.
Therese
My heart is closed. It won't listen. Let him leave me alone, I beg
you. (goes to the left) Me, remarry? Great God! And with whom?
Madame Raquin
He had a good idea. He found someone. Michaud is downstairs talking
to Laurent about it now.
Therese
Laurent! It's Laurent that you thought of! But, I don't love him. I
don't want to love him.
Madame Raquin
I assure you, he is right. I am of his opinion. Laurent is almost
family. You know how good he is, how useful he is to us. At first, I
was insulted, like you. It seemed to me it was bad. Then, on
consideration, I thought you would be less unfaithful to the memory of
the one who is no more by marrying his friend, your savior.
Therese
But, as for me who weep—me who wants to weep?
Madame Raquin
I am pleading against your tears—and mine. Look, He wants us to be
happy. Still, he told me that I will have two children who will make
the place sweet and gay—and who will help me to peacefully await
death. I am selfish. I need to see you smile. Consent. Do this for me.
Therese
My dear, you know I have always been resigned, that I've never
wanted anything but to satisfy you.
Madame Raquin
Yes, you are a good daughter. (trying to smile) This will be my
last spring. We will arrange a life, and you will have less cold in our
home. Laurent will love you well. You know that I will marry him a bit
myself. You will lend him to me for my little errands, for my old
woman's caprices.
Therese
Dear Aunt, I was really counting on your letting me live in peace.
Madame Raquin
You consent, right?
Therese
Yes.
Madame Raquin (very moved)
Thank you, my daughter. You are making me really happy. (falling
into a chair at the right of the table) Oh, my poor child, my poor
deceased. It's I who have betrayed you first.
(Michaud enters. Then Suzanne, Grivet and finally Laurent enter.)
Michaud (low to Madame Raquin)
I convinced him, but it wasn't easy. He's doing it for you, you
understand. I pleaded your case. He's coming up. He's putting up the
shutters. And Therese?
Madame Raquin (low)
She consents, too.
(Michaud goes to Therese at the back left and speaks to her very low.)
Suzanne (arriving, followed by Grivet and continuing a
conversation
begun with him) No, no, Mr. Grivet, you are an egoist. I won't
dance with you at the wedding. What? You didn't marry so as not to
disturb your little habits?
Grivet
Certainly, Miss.
Suzanne
Fie! What a villainous man. You hear? Not a dance, not a step as
big as this.
(Suzanne goes to Therese and Michaud.)
Grivet
All these little girls think it's fun to get married. I tried five
times. (to Madame Raquin) You recall the last time? It was with that
large mademoiselle who gave lessons. The banns were published.
Everything was going fine, when she admitted to me she drank coffee in
the morning. As for me, I detest coffee in the morning. I've been
taking chocolate for the last thirty years. That would have turned my
life upside down—and I broke it off. I did right, didn't I?
Madame Raquin (smiling)
Doubtless.
Grivet
Ah! When one understands oneself, it's a pleasure. So Michaud saw
right away that Therese and Laurent were made for each other.
Madame Raquin (gravely)
You are right, my friend.
(Madame Raquin rises.)
Grivet
As they say in the song: It takes different kinds of spouses To
make a marriage bond. (looking at his watch) The devil! Five minutes to
eleven.
(Grivet sits at the right, puts on his galoshes and takes his umbrella.)
Laurent (entering and coming to Madame Raquin)
I've just spoken of your happiness with Mr. Michaud. Your children
want to make you happy, dear mother.
Madame Raquin (very moved)
Yes, call me your mother, my good Laurent.
Laurent
Does Therese want us to make a life for our mother that is sweet
and peaceful?
Therese (who comes up)
I want it. We have a duty to fulfil.
Madame Raquin
O, my children! (taking their hands and holding them in hers) Marry
her, Laurent, make her not be so sad—and my son will thank you. You
will, indeed, give me joy. All I ask of heaven is that it not punish
us.
CURTAIN
Three o'clock in the morning. The room is quite white. A large clear fire. A lit lamp. White covers on the bed. Foot covers decorated with lace. Big bouquets of roses everywhere, on the chimney, on the table.
Therese, Madame Raquin, and Suzanne, dressed for a wedding, enter by the door at the back. Madame Raquin and Suzanne no longer have their shawls nor their hats. Therese is in grey silk. She goes to sit at the left with an exhausted air. Suzanne remains at the door and argues for a moment with Grivet and Michaud, in black suits, who want to follow the ladies.
Suzanne
Indeed, no, uncle! Indeed, no, Mr. Grivet. You can't go into the
married couple's room! What you are doing is unsuitable.
(Michaud and Grivet enter anyway.)
Michaud (low to Suzanne)
Be quiet. This is farcical. (low to Grivet) You've got the package,
Mr. Grivet?
Grivet
Certainly. Since this morning, in my coat pocket. Didn't bother me
a lot in the church and the restaurant.
(Grivet sarcastically approaches the bed.)
Madame Raquin (with a smile)
Come, gentlemen, you cannot be present at the dressing.
Michaud
The dressing! Ah, dear lady, what a charming thing. If you need us,
we will help you. (joins Grivet)
Suzanne (to Madame Raquin)
I've never seen my uncle so gay. He was pink, pink at dessert.
Madame Raquin
Let them laugh. On the evening of a wedding anniversary it is
permitted. At Vernon there were many like that. They couldn't close
their eyes at night.
Grivet (coming to the bed)
This bed is soft. Touch it, Mr. Michaud.
Michaud
Ah! There are at least three mattresses. (low) Did you bury it in
it?
Grivet (low)
Right in the middle!
Michaud (bursting into laughter)
Ha! Ha! You are very comical. Positively.
Grivet (laughing as well)
Ha! Ha! It succeeded, didn't it?
Madame Raquin (smiling)
Gentlemen. It is waiting on you.
Suzanne
Look, when are you going? You are irritating in the end!
Michaud
Right, right, we are leaving.
Therese (rising, then sitting back down)
Thank you, gentlemen.
Grivet (shaking Madame Raquin's hand as he withdraws)
You are not mad at us, dear lady?
Madame Raquin
What nonsense, my old friend, on a wedding night.
(Michaud and Grivet slowly exit with laughter.)
Suzanne (locking the door behind them)
And don't come back! Only the husband has the right to come in,
and, even then, only when we permit him.
Madame Raquin
You must undress, Therese. It's almost three o'clock.
Therese
I am broken with fatigue. This ceremony, this carriage ride, this
meal which never ends. Let me alone for a minute, I beg you.
Suzanne
Yes, it was very hot in that restaurant. I had a headache, but it
dissipated in the carriage. (to Madame Raquin) It's you who must be
worn out with your bad legs! The doctor has even forbidden you to tire
yourself so much.
Madame Raquin
Only a terrible shock could be fatal to me, and today I have only
delicate emotions. Things went well, didn't they? It was suitable?
Suzanne
The Mayor did everything with style. When he started reading in the
little red book, the husband lowered his head. Mr. Grivet placed a
superb signature on the register.
Madame Raquin
At the church, the priest was very touching.
Suzanne
Oh, everybody wept. And in the afternoon, so many folks on the
boulevards. Indeed, we went twice from the Madeleine to the Bastille.
Folks watched us with a comic air. Half the wedding party was sleeping
when we arrived at the restaurant—The Batignolles. (laughs)
Madame Raquin
Therese, you must undress, my child.
Therese
Another minute. Talk for a minute more.
Suzanne
Would you like me to serve as your chambermaid? Wait. Now, let me
do it. That way, you won't tire yourself.
Madame Raquin
Give me her hat.
(Suzanne removes Therese's hat and gives it to Madame Raquin who places it in the armoire.)
Suzanne
There, you see, you have no need to fret. Ah, still, you've got to
stand up if you want me to remove your dress.
Therese (rising)
How you torture me!
Madame Raquin
Daughter, it's late.
Suzanne (unhooking the dress, removing the pins)
A husband! That must be terrible. One of my friends who is married
weeps and weeps. You are almost shaking and your figure is very slim.
You are right to wear corsages that are a bit long. Ah, here's a pin,
for goodness sake, which hangs on mighty tight. I want to go find Mr.
Grivet. (laughs)
Therese
The shivers are getting me. Hurry, my dear.
Suzanne
We are going to put you in front of the fire. (Suzanne and Therese
go to the fireplace) Heavens, you have a tear. Your silk is
magnificent, it clings. Ah, how nervous you are, my good friend! You
are shaking like Thisbe under my hands. Thisbe is a pussycat my uncle
gave me. I am taking great care not to prick you.
Therese
I am a little feverish.
Suzanne
I am at the last hook. There! (raises the dress and gives it to
Madame Raquin) I'm done. I'm going to fix your hair for the night. Now,
how would you like it?
Madame Raquin
That's that.
(Madame Raquin leaves by the back, carrying the dress. Suzanne makes Therese sit before the fire.)
Suzanne
Now, there. You are all red. You were rather pale, like a corpse.
Therese
It's the fire which is grasping me.
Suzanne (behind her, undoing her hair)
Lower your head a bit. You have superb hair. Say, good friend, I
would like to ask you, I am very curious. You know little girls like to
be informed. Your heart is beating very hard and it's for that you are
trembling, isn't it?
Therese
My heart isn't seventeen years old like yours, my darling.
Suzanne
I'm not annoying you, at least? All day, I as thinking that if I
were in your place, I would be very stupid, and so, I promised myself
to see how you would dress for the night, so as not to seem clumsy when
my time comes. You are a little sad, but you are courageous. As for me,
I'd be afraid of bawling like a dummy.
Therese
Blue Prince is then a terrible Prince?
Suzanne
Don't make fun. You are becoming, with your hair down. You resemble
one of those queens one sees in pictures.
Therese
Do it simply, the hair.
(Madame Raquin returns and takes a white peignoir from the armoire.)
Suzanne (redoing Therese's hair)
If you promise not to laugh, I will tell you what I would
experience in your place. I would be content, oh, why content as I have
never been. And with that, I would be atrociously frightened. He would
appear to me to walk on clouds, to enter into something unknown, both
sweet and terrifying—with very soft music, with very subtle perfumes.
And I would come forward in a white light, thrust forward despite
myself by a profound joy so that I would be afraid of dying. Isn't that
what you feel?
Therese
Yes. (in a low tone) Music, perfume, a great light. The whole
spring of youth and love.
Suzanne
But, you still—
Therese
I've caught cold. I can't warm up.
Madame Raquin (coming to sit in the corner of the chimney)
I'm going to warm up your peignoir.
(Madame Raquin holds the peignoir to the fire.)
Suzanne (resuming)
And, if the Blue Prince were waiting, as Mr. Laurent is waiting, I
would do something to make him impatient. Then, when he was at the
door. Oh! Then I would become stupid, I would try to make myself small,
quite small and I would try to prevent him from finding me.
Madame Raquin (turning the peignoir and smiling)
You mustn't think of it, Suzanne. Children have only dolls, flowers
and husbands on their minds.
Therese
Life is rougher.
Suzanne (to Therese)
Is it not what you've experienced?
Therese
Yes. (in a lower tone) I would have preferred not to marry in
winter, in this room. In Vernon, in May, the acacias are in flower, the
nights are warm.
Suzanne
Your hair is all done. (Therese and Madame Raquin rise) You are
going to put on your peignoir now. It is all warmed up.
Madame (helping Therese to put on her peignoir)
It almost burns my hands.
Suzanne
You aren't cold any more, I hope?
Therese
Thank you.
Suzanne (looking at her)
Ah! You are sweet. You seem like a true bride in all these laces.
Madame Raquin
Now, we are going to leave you alone, my child.
Therese
Only! Only! Wait! It seems to me I still have something to tell
you.
Madame Raquin
No. Don't talk. As for me, I'm avoiding speaking—you see plainly.
I don't want to put you in tears. If you knew what an effort I've had
to make since this morning! My heart has been lacerated and yet I must
be, I am, happy. Everything is finished. You've seen how gay our old
friend Michaud is. You must be gay also.
Therese
You are right. I have a sick head. Goodbye.
Madame Raquin
Goodbye. (returning) Tell me, you don't have any shyness? You are
not hiding some suffering from me? That's what keeps me going, it's the
thought we have made your happiness. You will love your husband, who
deserves both our tendernesses. You will love him as you loved— No, I
have nothing to tell you, I don't want to tell you. We've done our best
and I wish you much joy, my daughter, for all the comfort you have
given me.
Suzanne
You'd think you were leaving her with a band of wolves, this poor
Therese, in the depths of a cave. The cave smells nice. There are roses
everywhere. It's nice and sweet, like in a nest.
Therese
These flowers are expensive. You've been foolish.
Madame Raquin
I know how you love spring. I wanted to put a little corner of it
in your room on your wedding night. You might dream like Suzanne and
think you are visiting the gardens of paradise. You are smiling, you
see. Be happy, amidst your roses. Goodbye, my child. (kisses her)
Suzanne
And, as for me, aren't you going to kiss me, good friend? (Therese
kisses her) Now, there, you've become quite pale again. It's the Blue
Prince who's coming. (looking around before leaving) Oh, this is
terrible—a room like this full of roses.
(Suzanne and Madame Raquin leave. Therese remains alone, sitting near the fire. A silence. Laurent enters softly dressed for a wedding. He locks the door and comes forward with a triumphant air.)
Laurent
Therese, my love.
Therese (pushing him away)
No, wait. I'm cold.
Laurent (after a silence)
Still, here we are alone, my dear Therese, away from others, free
to love each other. Life is ours. This room is ours and you are mine,
dear wife, because I've conquered you and you, indeed, wanted to give
yourself.
(Laurent tries to kiss Therese. She pushes him away.)
Therese
Not now, I am quite shivering.
Laurent
Poor angel. Give me your feet so I can warm them in my hands.
(kneeling before her, he tries to take her feet, but she pulls them
away) It's because the hour has come, you see. Remember. We've been
waiting a year. We've been working a year for this night of love. We
need it, right? To pay ourselves for all our prudence and all that you
know about—our suffering, our anguish.
Therese
I remember. Don't stay there. Sit for a moment. We will talk.
Laurent (rising)
Why are you trembling? I've locked the door and I'm your husband.
Before, when I came to you, you didn't tremble. You laughed, you talked
loud, at risk of getting us discovered. Now, you speak in a low voice,
as if someone were listening behind these walls. Go on. We can raise
our voices and laugh and love each other. This is our wedding night. No
one will come.
Therese (with emotion)
Don't say that. Don't say that. You are paler than I am, Laurent,
and your tongue stutters in saying these things. Don't pretend to be
brave. Wait until we dare to embrace each other. You are afraid of
seeming like an imbecile, aren't you? By not taking a kiss from me. You
are a child. We aren't married like the rest. Sit down. Let's talk.
(Laurent steps behind her and leans on the chimney while she resumes in another tone of voice, both familiar and indifferent.)
Therese
There was a lot of wind today.
Laurent
A very cold wind. It calmed down a little in the afternoon.
Therese
Yes. There was a lot of hair flying in the boulevards. No matter.
The apricot trees will do well not to rush into flower.
Laurent
The freezing winds in March are very bad for the fruit trees. At
Vernon, you must recall—
(Laurent stops. Both dream for a moment.)
Therese (in a hoarse voice)
At Vernon. That was childhood. (resuming her familiar indifferent
tone) Then, put a log on the fire. It's beginning to get nice here. Do
you think it will soon be four o'clock?
Laurent (looking at the clock)
No, not yet.
(Laurent steps to the left to sit at the end of the chimney.)
Therese
It's astonishing the night is so long. Are you like me? I don't
like to go in carriages. Nothing is more stupid than to roll around for
hours. It puts me to sleep. I also detest eating in restaurants.
Laurent
One is never as comfortable as at home.
Therese
In the country, I don't say—
Laurent
They eat excellent things in the country. You remember, by the sea
shore— (rises)
Therese (also rising, abruptly in a harsh voice)
Shut up! Why are you unleashing memories. Despite myself, I hear
them beating in your head and mine, and the cruel story unfolds.
No—don't say anything further. Don't think any more. Under the words
you are uttering, I hear others, I hear what you are thinking, and what
you are not saying. Right? You were in the accident? Shut up!
(A silence.)
Laurent
Therese, speak, I beg you. This silence is too heavy. Speak to me.
Therese (going to the right, wringing her hands)
Close your eyes, try to control yourself.
Laurent
No. I need to hear the sound of your voice. Tell me something.
Whatever you like, like before, when the weather was bad and the nights
were long.
Therese
I am thinking all the same; I can't not think. You are right,
silence is bad, and the words are pouring from my lips. (trying to
smile, in a gay voice) The Mayor's office was quite cold this morning.
My feet were frozen. But I warmed them up on a footwarmer in church.
Did you see it, the footwarmer? It was by the corner where we were on
our knees.
Laurent
Exactly. Grivet remained planted over it during the whole ceremony.
He had an air of jubilation, that devil of a Grivet! He was very
comical, wasn't he?
(They both force themselves to laugh.)
Therese
The church was a bit dark because of the weather. Did you notice
the lace by the altar? That lace is ten francs a meter, at least. I
don't have anything as fine in my shop. Odors of incense were so sweet
that they made me ill. I thought, at first, that we were alone, in the
depths of the big empty church, and that pleased me. (her voice becomes
somber, little by little) Then, voices sang. You must have noticed, in
a chapel on the opposite side of the nave?
Laurent (hesitating)
I noticed lots of folks with candles, I think.
Therese (taken by another attack of terror)
It was a burial. When I raised my eyes, I had facing me the black
drape, with a large white cross. (rising and slowly recoiling) The
coffin passed by us. I watched it. A poor coffin, some miserable dead
man.
(Therese has come close to Laurent and leans on his shoulder. They both shake together. Then she resumes, with a voice deep and ardent.)
Therese
You, you saw him in the morgue, Laurent?
Laurent
Yes.
Therese
Did it appear he'd suffered much?
Laurent
Horribly.
Therese
His eyes were open and he looked at you, right?
Laurent
Yes. He was atrocious and swollen with water. And he laughed, from
the corner of his twisted mouth.
Therese
He laughed, you think? Tell me, tell me everything. Tell me how it
was, for my nights of insomnia. I never saw him clearly, and I have a
rage, a rage to see him.
Laurent (in a terrible voice)
Therese, shut up! Wake up! We are sleeping, both of us. What are
you talking to me about? And if I answered, I cried. I saw nothing,
nothing, nothing. What an imbecilic game we are playing, the rest of
us.
Therese
Ah, I felt that, despite ourselves, words were mounting to our
lips. All brought us to him, the apricot trees in flower, the coffins
which passed. Go, for us there is no longer any indifferent
conversation. He is at the bottom of all our thoughts.
Laurent
Kiss me.
Therese
I understand plainly that you no longer speak to me about him and
that I don't reply to you about him. It's not our fault if the terrible
story unfolds before us, and if we've finished it in a loud voice.
Laurent (trying to take her in his arms)
Kiss me, Therese. Our kisses will cure us. We married to calm
ourselves in each other's arms. Kiss me and let's forget, dear wife.
Therese (pushing him away)
Don't torture me, I beg you. One moment more. Reassure me. Be good
and gay like before.
(Silence. Laurent takes a few steps, then he leaves excitedly by the door at the back as if taken by a sudden urgent idea.)
Therese (alone)
He's leaving me alone. Don't leave me, Laurent, I am yours. He's no
longer there, and here I am, alone now. The lamp is getting low, I
think. If it is going to go out, I am going to remain in the dark. I
don't want to be alone; I don't want it to be night. Still, why did I
refuse to kiss him? I know what I had—my lips were cold like ice, and
it seemed to me this kiss would kill me. Where can he have got to?
(knocking on the little door) Great God! Now, there's the other one
returning now, returning for my wedding night? Did you hear him? He's
knocking on the wood of the bed, he's calling me to the pillow. Go on
away, I am afraid. (She remains shivering, hands on her eyes, and
little by little she calms down and smiles) No, it's not the other one,
it's my dear love, it's my dear departed. Thanks for your good thought,
Laurent. I recognize your call.
(Therese opens the door. Laurent enters. They repeat exactly the same game as in Act I.)
Therese
You, my Laurent. (she hangs from his neck) I felt you were coming,
my dear love. I was thinking of you. It's a long while since I've been
able to hold you like this, to have you to myself, alone.
Laurent
Remember, you took me from my sleep. I was dreaming how we were,
never separating. Tonight that beautiful dream is realized, Therese.
You are here, Therese, forever, on my breath.
Therese
That will be a joy without end, a long walk in the sun.
Laurent
Kiss me, then, dear wife.
Therese (abruptly disengaging from Laurent's arms, bursting out)
Well, no! Well, no! What's the use of playing this comedy? We no
longer love each other, that's clear. We've killed love. Do you think
that I don't feel ice in my arms? Let's try to be calm. It would be mad
and ignoble.
Laurent
You are mine, I own you, and despite you, I will cure you of your
nervous fears. What would be cruel, what would be no long loving each
other, would be finding only a nightmare in the place of a dream of
happiness. Come, once more, place your arms about my neck.
Therese
No. We mustn't tempt fate.
Laurent
Understand how ridiculous this is, after having loved each other so
boldly here, to spend a night like this. No one will come.
Therese (with terror)
You already said that, don't repeat it, I beg you. Perhaps they
will come.
Laurent
Do you intend to drive me crazy? (Therese steps to the left, he
walks toward her) I bought you dearly enough, so you cannot refuse
yourself.
Therese (arguing)
Mercy! The noise of our kisses will call him. I'm afraid, you see,
I'm afraid.
(Laurent goes to take her in his arms when he notices the portrait of Camille above the buffet.)
Laurent (terrified, recoiling, pointing with his finger)
There—there—Camille!
Therese (jumping and getting behind Laurent)
I told you so, indeed. I felt a breath of cold behind my back.
Where do you see him?
Laurent
There, in the shadow.
Therese
Behind the bed?
Laurent
No, to the right. He's not moving. He's looking at us. He's just as
I saw him at the morgue, with a smile at the corner of his mouth.
Therese (looking)
Why, that's his portrait you are looking at.
Laurent
His portrait?
Therese
Yes, the painting you made, you know?
Laurent
No, I don't know any more. It's his portrait, you think? I had seen
his eyes moving. Heavens, I still see them moving. His portrait, well,
go take it down. He's annoying us, staring at us so fixedly.
Therese
No, I don't dare.
Laurent
I beg you. Go.
Therese
No.
Laurent
We will turn him against the wall. We won't be afraid any longer.
We can kiss each other, perhaps.
Therese
No. Why don't you go yourself?
Laurent
Because his eyes don't leave me. I tell you his eyes are moving.
They are following me; they are destroying me. (slowly approaching the
portrait) I will lower my head and when I no longer see him—
(Laurent unhooks the portrait with a gesture of rage.)
Madame Raquin (appearing in the doorway)
What's wrong? I heard shouts.
Laurent (coming forward, still holding the portrait, contemplating
it
despite himself) He is terrible. He's there, just like when we
threw him in the water.
Madame Raquin (coming forward)
Just God! They've killed my child!
(Therese, lost, utters a scream of terror. Laurent, shocked, throws the portrait on the bed and recoils before Madame Raquin.)
Madame Raquin (babbling)
Murderer! Murderer!
(Madame Raquin is taken with spasms and staggering to the bed, tries to support herself with a curtain which rips. She remains for a moment pinned to the wall, breathless. Laurent, pursued by her terrible glance, steps to the right and seeks refuge by Therese.)
Laurent
This is the crisis with which she was threatened. Paralysis is
mounting and taking her by the throat.
Madame Raquin (coming forward again, making a supreme effort)
My poor child! The wretches! The wretches!
Therese
Horrible thing! She's twisted, as if in a fit. I don't dare get
help for her.
Madame Raquin (thrown back, falling into a chair to the left)
Mercy! I can't do anything any more.
(Madame Raquin remains in the chair, staring with mute eyes ardently fixed on Therese and Laurent who shiver.)
Therese
She's dying.
Laurent
No, her eyes are living, her eyes are threatening us. Ah, may her
lips and members be like stone.
CURTAIN
Five o'clock. The room has resumed it's dark humidity. Dirty curtains. The household abandoned. Items forgotten on the armchairs, vessels lying on the furniture. A rolled mattress has been thrown behind the bed.
Therese and Suzanne are sitting, working at the work table at the right.
Therese (gaily)
Then, you finally learned where the Blue Prince dwells? Love
doesn't make you as stupid as they say.
Suzanne
I don't know. As for me, I am very—you understand, at length this
doesn't amuse me any more at all to see my Blue Prince from a half
league off—always good like a picture. Between you and me, he's too
good, much too good.
Therese (laughing)
Then, you like amorous bad actors?
Suzanne
I don't know. It seems to me, that a lover one's not afraid of is
not a sensuous lover. When I observe my prince down there, I don't know
where, in the sky, in the midst of chimneys. I thought I was seeing one
of those angels from my Missal who have clouds under their feet. It's
nice, but it winds up being very boring. Then, the day of my birthday,
I made my uncle give me a map of Paris.
Therese
A map of Paris?
Suzanne
Yes. My uncle was astonished. When I had the map, oh, did I work,
considerable work! I drew lines with a ruler. I measured distances with
a compass. I added, I multiplied, and when I thought I'd found the
Prince's terrace, I planted a pin on the map. Then, the next day, I
forced my uncle to take the street where the house must be.
Therese (gaily)
My dear, it's charming, your story. (looking at the clock and
abruptly, very somber) Five o'clock already. Laurent will be back.
Suzanne
What's the matter with you? You were so gay just now.
Therese (resuming)
Did your map give you the address of the Blue Prince?
Suzanne
Ah, indeed, it gave me nothing at all, my map. If you knew where my
plan led me! One day it lead me to a big villainous house where they
manufactured cider. Another day, to a photography workshop; another
day, opposite a seminary or a prison, I don't know which. You aren't
laughing. It's still funny. Are you ill?
Therese
No. My husband will be home, I was thinking. You, you will get
married, you will have the lucky map.
Suzanne (rising and going to the right, passing behind Therese)
But, after I've told you, it's no use to me! You aren't listening
to me at all? One afternoon, I went to the flower market at Saint
Sulpice; I wanted some flowers for our terrace. Do you know who I saw
in the midst of the market? The Blue Prince, covered with flowers, with
pots in his pockets, pots under his arms, pots in his hands. He seemed
very foolish, with his pots when he saw me. Then, he followed me; he
didn't know how to rid himself of his pots. He told me that all these
pots were for his terrace. Then he became the friend of my uncle. He
asked for my hand and I will marry him. That's all. I played coquette
with the map and I no longer look at the moon in the evening with the
telescope. Did you listen to me, good friend?
Therese
Yes, and your tale is a fine tale. You are always in heaven, always
in flowers, always in laughter. Ah, dear girl, with your beautiful blue
bird, if you knew. (looking at the clock) Five o'clock. It's indeed
five o'clock, isn't it? I must set the table.
Suzanne
I am going to help you.
(Therese rises. Suzanne helps her to set the table. They set three places.)
Suzanne
I am heartless to be so gay at your place when I know that your
happiness is saddened by the cruel situation of poor Madame Raquin. How
is she doing today?
Therese
She's still mute, still motionless. But she doesn't appear to be in
pain.
Suzanne
The doctor warned her. She wore herself out too much. The paralysis
has been pitiless. It's like a thunderbolt which has changed her to
stone, this dear lady. When she is here, still and quiet in her
armchair, head to the right and pale hands on her knees, I think I'm
seeing one of those statues of terror and mourning seated at the foot
of tombs in churches—and my heart is quite upset. I don't know why.
She cannot raise her hands, right?
Therese
Her hands are dead like her legs.
Suzanne
Ah, Lord, what a pity! My uncle thinks she cannot hear and cannot
understand any more. He says it would be a great blessing for her to
lose her intelligence.
Therese
He's mistaken. She hears and understands everything. Her
intelligence has remained lucid, her eyes live.
Suzanne
Yes, it seems to me that her eyes have enlarged. They are enormous
now. They've become dark and terrible, in this dead face. I am not
fearful, and at night I get the willies thinking of this poor lady. You
know, those stories of folks buried alive? I imagine they've buried her
alive, and she is there at the bottom of a ditch, with a big mound of
dirt on her breast which prevents her from screaming. What can she be
thinking about all day? It's terrifying to be like that and to be
thinking, always thinking. But you are so good to her.
Therese
We are only doing our duty.
Suzanne
And there's only you, right? Who can understand the language of her
eyes? As for me, I don't understand a thing. Mr. Grivet, who prides
himself on grasping her best wishes, replies every which way. Yet, it's
happy that she has you beside her, she lacks nothing. Ah, my uncle
often said: “The Raquins—why, it's God's house.” Joy will return, you
will see. The doctor has some hope?
Therese
Quite little.
Suzanne
The last time I was here, he still said the poor woman might
recover her voice and the use of her limbs.
Therese
We mustn't count on it. We don't dare count on it.
Suzanne
Yes. Yes, hope. (they've finished setting the table and come
forward) And Mr. Laurent, he's never seen here any more?
Therese
Since he left his job and resumed painting, he leaves in the
morning, and often only returns at night. He works a lot. He wants to
send a big picture to the next Salon.
Suzanne
Mr. Laurent has, indeed, become fashionable. He no longer laughs so
loud. He has a distinguished air. You won't get irritated, at least.
Well, before, I wouldn't have wanted him for a husband, whereas now he
would be very pleasing. If you promise to keep the secret, I will tell
you something.
Therese
I'm not talkative.
Suzanne
Indeed, that's true. You keep everything inside. Well, know that
yesterday, as we passed the Rue Mazarene, before the studio of your
husband, my uncle had the idea of going up. You know, Mr. Laurent
doesn't like to be disturbed. Still, he didn't receive us too badly.
But you can't imagine what he was working on.
Therese
He's working on a big painting.
Suzanne
No, the canvas for the big painting is still quite blank. We found
him surrounded by small canvases on which he painted. There were heads
of children, heads of women, heads of old geezers. My uncle, who's
knowledgeable about it, was struck with admiration. He pretends that
you husband has suddenly become a great painter and he can't be
flattering him, for in the past he was quite severe about his painting.
As for me, what surprised me was that all the heads seemed to resemble
each other. They resemble—
Therese
Who do they resemble?
Suzanne (hesitating)
I'm afraid of causing you pain. They resemble poor Camille.
Therese (shaking)
Ah, no. You are imagining that.
Suzanne
I assure you. The heads of children, the heads of women, the heads
of old geezers. All have something which recall the person I just
named. My uncle wanted them more colored. They are a bit dark, and they
all have a laugh at the corner of the mouth. (Laurent is heard at the
door) Here's your husband. Don't say anything. I think he wants to
surprise you with all those heads.
Laurent (entering)
Good evening, Suzanne. The two of you have really been working?
Therese
Yes.
Laurent
I am harassed.
(Laurent sits heavily in a chair to the left.)
Suzanne
It must be exhausting for you to paint standing up all the time.
Laurent
I didn't work today. I went as far as Saint Cloud on foot and I
came back even. That does me good. Is dinner ready, Therese?
Therese
Yes.
Suzanne
I must be going.
Therese
Your uncle promised to come get you. You've got to wait for him.
You are not disturbing us.
Suzanne
Well! I'll go down to the shop. I intend to steal some pins I need
from you for a tapestry.
(The moment Suzanne starts to go down, the shop bell rings.)
Suzanne
Heavens, a customer! Well, she is going to be waited on by me.
(goes down)
Laurent (pointing to the mattress left at the foot of the bed)
Why didn't you hide that mattress in the small office? The
imbeciles don't need to know we're sleeping in separate beds.
Therese
You could have hidden it this morning. I do what pleases me.
Laurent (rudely)
Wife, let's not start quarreling. Night hasn't come yet.
Therese
Well, if you distract yourself outside, if you get exhausted
walking all day, so much the better! I am peaceful, you see, when you
are not here. From the moment you arrive, hell reopens. At least let me
sleep during the day, since nights no longer belong to us.
Laurent
Your voice is rougher than mine, Therese.
Therese (in a softer voice)
Are you going to bring my aunt in for dinner? You ought, indeed, to
wait until the Michauds have left. I always tremble when she's there in
front of them. For some time now, I've read in her eyes an implacable
thought. You will see that she will find some way to talk.
Laurent
Bah! Michaud will want to see his old friend. I am less calm when
he goes into her room. What do you think she can tell him? She can't
lift her little finger.
(Laurent leaves by the door at the back. Michaud and Suzanne enter. Laurent enters, pushing Madame Raquin in her armchair. Madame Raquin is rigid and mute, hair white, all dressed in black. He rolls her to the table by the place setting to the right.)
Michaud
Eh! Eh! The table is set! Ah, here she is, the dear lady.
Therese
Why, yes, Mr. Michaud.
(Therese takes things from the buffet. She sits to the left, spreads the plates of food on her knees, and feeds Madame Raquin during the scene.)
Michaud
Are the rest of you still good here? Huh? These lovers have a
hellish appetite. Put on your hat, Suzanne. (looking around him) And,
this good Madame Raquin, how's she doing?
Suzanne (embracing Madame Raquin)
We all love you so much. You must take courage.
Michaud
Her eyes are shining. She is happy to see us. (to Madame Raquin) We
are old acquaintances, the two of us, aren't we? You remember when I
was Police Commissionaire? It was during the period of crime called the
Wolf Cutthroats. I think that we got to know each other. You must
remember that woman and that man who had murdered her husband and I
went to arrest them myself in their home. By Jove, they got guillotined
at Rouen.
Grivet (entering and hearing Michaud's last words)
Ah, ah! It's the story about the couple. I knew it. You told me
about it and it interested me greatly. Mr. Michaud has a flair for
ferreting out hidden crimes. Fine evening, ladies and everybody.
Michaud
What? You at this hour, Mr. Grivet?
Grivet
Yes, I was passing by and am permitting myself a little treat. I'm
coming to finish a little conversation with this dear Madame Raquin.
You are going to eat? I am not disturbing you?
Laurent
Not at all.
Grivet
It's just that the two of us understand each other so well. One
single look and I understand all that she would like to say.
Michaud
Then, you must, indeed, tell me what she wants by looking at me so
fixedly.
Grivet
Wait, I am reading it in her eyes, as if in a book. (sitting beside
Madame Raquin, touching her arm and waiting, as she slowly turns her
head) There! Let's talk like two good friends. You have something to
ask of Mr. Michaud? No, that's not it? Nothing at all. That's what I
thought. (to Michaud) You are giving importance to yourself! She
doesn't need you, you understand. It's me she's addressing. (turning
toward Madame Raquin) Huh? What are you saying? Right, right. You are
hungry.
Suzanne (leaning on the back of the armchair)
Would you like us to withdraw, dear lady?
Grivet
By Jove, yes. She's hungry. And she's inviting me to share in the
dinner. A thousand pardons, Madame Raquin, but I cannot accept. You
know my little customs. That will be for Tuesday, I promise you.
Michaud
Eh! She hasn't told you anything, Mr. Grivet. Where do you get that
she told you something? Let me question her in my turn.
Laurent (to Therese who rises)
Watch your aunt. You are right. She's got a terrible light shining
in her eyes.
(Laurent takes the salad bowl in which Therese has prepared the salad and places it on the buffet.)
Michaud
Look, my old friend, you know that I am at your disposal. What is
wrong that you are looking at me that way? If only you could find a way
to express what you wish.
Suzanne
You hear what my uncle says. Your wishes will be sacred for us.
Grivet
Well, I've explained what she wants. It's clear.
Michaud (persisting)
Then, you cannot make yourself understood? (to Laurent who comes up
from the table) See, Laurent, in what a strange way she continues to
look at me.
Laurent
No, I don't see anything extraordinary in her eyes.
Suzanne
And you, Therese, who grasp her least will?
Michaud
Yes, help her, Therese, I beg you. Question her for us.
Therese
You are mistaken. She doesn't want a thing. She's like this
ordinarily. (Therese comes closer, leans on the table facing Madame
Raquin and cannot bear the accusation of her eyes) Right? You don't
want anything? No, nothing, I assure you.
(Therese recoils and goes back to the left.)
Michaud
Come, perhaps, Mr. Grivet is right?
Grivet
By Jove, I am going to leave you. But I know what she says, she's
hungry and she's inviting me to dinner.
Laurent
Why don't you accept? Mr. Michaud, you won't be too many either?
Michaud
Thanks, but I'm busy this evening.
Therese (low to Laurent)
Mercy, don't keep him a minute longer.
Michaud
Goodbye, my friends. (going to leave)
Grivet (rising and following Michaud)
Goodbye, goodbye.
Suzanne (who has remained near Madame Raquin)
Ah, look at this.
Michaud (on the stairway)
What?
Suzanne
See this! She's moving her fingers.
(Michaud and Grivet let out a shout of astonishment and rush to the armchair.)
Therese (low to Laurent)
Bad luck to us. She's made a superhuman effort. It's punishment.
(Therese and Laurent remain at the left, side by side, terrified.)
Michaud (to Madame Raquin)
Why, you are becoming a young girl. Now, there your fingers are
dancing the gavotte.
(A silence during which Madame Raquin continues to move her fingers while fixing a terrible look on Therese and Laurent.)
Michaud
Eh! Look, she's succeeded in raising her hand and placing it on the
table.
Grivet
Oh, oh! So we are all vagabonds. We have hands walking everywhere.
Therese (low)
She's succeeding, great God! Life is returning to this stone
statue.
Laurent (low)
Be strong, her hands can't speak.
Suzanne
One would say she's tracing signs with the end of her finger.
Grivet
Yes. What's she writing there on the cloth?
Michaud
She's writing, you can see clearly. She's just made a capital T.
Therese (low)
Her hands are speaking, Laurent!
Grivet
She's writing, by Jove, it's true. (to Madame Raquin) No, start
over again, I didn't follow. (after another silence) It's astonishing.
I'm reading: “Therese.” Doubtless, she means tea.
Suzanne
Why no, Mr. Grivet. She wrote the name of my good friend, Therese.
Michaud
Really, Mr. Grivet, you don't know how to read. (reading) “Therese
and—” Continue, Madame Raquin.
Laurent (low)
Vengeful hand, hand already dead, which comes out of the shroud and
whose every finger becomes a mouth. She will never finish. I will nail
her there, before she finishes.
(Laurent takes a knife from his pocket.)
Therese (holding him back)
From pity! You will ruin us!
Michaud
That's fine. I understand. Therese and Laurent. She's writing your
names, my friends.
Grivet
Both your names, word of honor. It's surprising.
Michaud (reading)
“Therese and Laurent are—” What are they, these dear children?
Grivet
Well, she's stopping. Go on, go on.
Michaud
Finish the phrase. Just a bit more effort. (Madame Raquin looks for
a long while at Therese and Laurent and then turns her head slowly) You
are looking at us all. Yes, we want to know the end of the phrase.
(Madame Raquin remains motionless for a minute, enjoying the terror of
the two murderers, then she lets her hand fall) Ah, you let your hand
fall back!
Suzanne (touching her hand)
It is once again pinned to her knee, like a hand of stone.
(Suzanne, Grivet and Michaud form a group behind the armchair of Madame Raquin and talk excitedly.)
Therese (low)
I thought I was seeing punishment. Her hand has shut up now. We are
saved, right?
Laurent
Be careful. Don't lean on my shoulder. We've escaped, haven't we?
Grivet (continuing the conversation in a loud voice)
It's annoying that she didn't finish the phrase.
Michaud
Yes. I was reading. What could she have wanted to say?
Suzanne
That she is happy with the attentions that Therese and her husband
shower on her.
Michaud
This little girl has more wit than we do. “Therese and Laurent are
good-hearted. Therese and Laurent are due my blessings.” By Jove,
that's the whole phrase! Right, Madame Raquin? You were doing justice
to your children. (to Therese and Laurent) You are two brave hearts,
you deserve a proud reward in this world or the next.
Laurent
You would do as we are doing.
Grivet
They are completely rewarded. Do you know that they are called
turtledoves in the neighborhood?
Michaud
Eh! It was we who got them married. Are you coming, Mr. Grivet? We
must at last let them dine. (turning back to Madame Raquin) Have
patience, dear lady, they will revive, those arms, and your legs, too.
It's a good sign to have been able to move your fingers again. The cure
is near. Goodbye!
Suzanne (to Therese)
Till tomorrow, good friend.
Grivet (to Madame Raquin)
There! Indeed, I was telling him that we understood each other
wonderfully. Be of good courage. We will resume our Tuesday parties and
we will beat Mr. Michaud, the two of us, we will beat him. (going to
Therese and Laurent) Goodbye, turtledoves.
(As Michaud, Suzanne and Grivet leave by the stairway, Therese goes out by the back for a moment and then returns.)
(During this scene, the face of Madame Raquin reflects the feelings that agitate her horrified rage, horror, and implacable vengeance. She follows the murderers with her burning eyes. She is on to all their thoughts and all their terror.)
Laurent
She would have betrayed us.
Therese
Shut up. Leave her in peace.
(Therese serves the soup for Laurent and herself.)
Laurent (sitting at the table by the back)
Would she spare us if she could speak? Michaud and Grivet were
smiling in a singular manner while speaking of our happiness. You will
see. They will end up knowing. Grivet had his hat on his ear, didn't
he?
(Therese goes to place the soup pot in front of the chimney.)
Laurent
He was buttoning his overcoat and he put a hand in his pocket as he
left. At work, he buttoned his overcoat that way when he wanted to give
himself an air of importance. And with what an air he said: “Goodbye,
turtledoves.” That imbecile is terrible and sinister.
Therese (coming back)
Shut up. Don't make it so important. Don't put him in our
nightmare.
Laurent
When he turns his head, you know, with his stupid air, that must
have been to make fun of us. I scorn these people who are doing stupid
things. I assure you, they know everything.
Therese
They are really very innocent. It would be ironic if they gave us
away, but they won't see a thing. They will continue to cross through
our atrocious life with their calm, satisfied bourgeoise steps.
(sitting at the table to the left) Let's talk of something else. What
rage do you have to always return to this subject when she is with us?
Laurent
I have no rage. (Therese goes to find a spoon on the buffet, gives
it to him and sits back down) You aren't making her eat?
Therese
Yes, after I've finished my soup.
Laurent (tasting the soup)
It's no good, your soup; it's very salty. (pushing his plate away)
It's one of your nasty tricks, you know I don't like salt.
Therese
Laurent, I beg you, don't seek a quarrel with me. I am very
exhausted, you see. Just now, emotion destroyed me.
Laurent
Yes, make yourself languid. You are torturing me with needle
pricks.
Therese
You want us to quarrel, right?
Laurent
I want you not to talk to me in that tone.
Therese
Ah, really. (in a rough voice, in her turn pushing her plate away)
Well, at your head! We won't eat tonight, we'll tear each other apart,
and my aunt will hear us. It's a party we're having for her every day,
now.
Laurent
Don't you calculate your blows. You bore me when you try to touch
me. And you are happy when sorrow drives me mad.
Therese
Perhaps it wasn't I who found the soup too salty. The most
ridiculous pretext suffices for you, the least impatience in you is
nourished with rage. Tell the truth. You are happy to wrangle all
night, to wear out your nerves so as to be able to sleep at night.
Laurent
You don't sleep more than I do.
Therese
Oh, you are giving me a frightful life. As soon as the sun goes
down, we shiver. The one, you know, is there, between us. What agonies
in that room.
Laurent
It's your fault.
Therese
My fault! Is it my fault, if instead of the soft life you were
dreaming of, you are not prepared for an intolerable life, full of
shivers and disgusts.
Laurent
Yes, it's your fault.
Therese
Leave it! I am not an imbecile! Do you think that I don't know you?
You're always speculated. When you took me for a mistress it was
because I would cost you nothing. You don't dare say I'm lying. Oh, you
see how I hate you!
Laurent
Is it I or you, at this moment, who is seeking a quarrel?
Therese
I hate you! You killed Camille!
Laurent (rising and then sitting back down)
Shut up! (pointing to Madame Raquin) Just now, you were telling me
to shut up in front of her. Don't force me to remind you of the facts,
to repeat one more time the truth in her presence.
Therese
Oh! Let her hear! Let her suffer. As for me, am I not suffering?
The truth is that you killed Camille.
Laurent
You are lying. Admit that you are lying. If I threw him in the
river, it was you who urged me into this murder.
Therese
Me! Me!
Laurent
Yes, you! Don't play ignorant. Don't make me make you confess
things by force. I need for you to admit your crime, for you to accept
your share in complicity. That will calm me and soothe me.
Therese
But, it wasn't I who killed Camille.
Laurent
A thousand times, yes! You were on the shore, and I said to you: “I
am going to throw him in the river.” Then you consented. You got into
the boat. You see plainly that you killed him with me.
Therese
That's not true. I was mad, I didn't know what I was doing. I never
wanted to kill him.
Laurent
And, in the middle of the Seine, when I made the boat capsize,
didn't I warn you? You hung on my neck, you left him to drown like a
dog.
Therese
That's not true. It's you who killed him.
Laurent
And, in the carriage, when we returned, didn't you put your hand in
mine? Your hand which burned me to my heart!
Therese
It's you who killed him.
Laurent
She no longer remembers. She makes certain not to remember any
more. You intoxicated me with your caresses, here, in this room. You
urged me against your husband, you wanted to rid yourself of him. He
displeased you. As for me, for three years, did I think of all this?
Was I a rogue? I lived like an honest man. I did not do harm to anyone.
I wouldn't have swatted a fly.
Therese
It's you who killed him.
Laurent
Twice you made a cruel brute of me. I was prudent, I was peaceful.
And see, now I tremble before a shadow, like a childish coward. I have
nerves as weak as yours. You led me to adultery, to murder, without my
noticing it, and today, again, when I turn back to it, I remain
stupefied by what I did. I see with a shiver police passing before me
in a dream; the criminal court, the guillotine. (rising) Go. No use
defending yourself, at night your teeth chatter with terror. You know
quite well if the ghost came he would strangle you first.
Therese (rising)
Don't say that! It's you who killed him.
(Laurent and Therese both leave the table.)
Laurent
Listen. There's cowardice in refusing your share of the crime. You
want to make my conscience heavier, right? Since you push me to the
limits, I prefer to end it. I am completely calm, you see. (taking his
hat) I'm going to go tell the whole thing to the local police.
Therese (laughing)
That's a fine idea.
Laurent
We will both be arrested, we will see what the judges think of your
innocence.
Therese (with venom)
Do you think you can frighten me? I am more exhausted than you.
It's I who will go to the police if you don't.
Laurent
I don't need you to accompany me. I know everything to say.
Therese
No, no. At every quarrel, when you run out of arguments, you have
this threat in your mouth. Today, I mean for you to be serious. Ah,
indeed, I don't have your cowardice. I am ready to follow you to the
scaffold. Let's go. March. I'll accompany you.
(Therese goes with Laurent to the small stairway.)
Laurent (stuttering)
As you wish. Let's go together to the cops.
(Laurent goes down. Therese remains, leaning on the support, motionless, listening; she is gripped, little by little, by uncontrollable shaking. Madame Raquin turns her head, her face lit up by a triumphant smile.)
Therese
He's gone down. He's down there. Will he have the courage to give
us up? I don't want that. I am going to run after him, grab him by the
arm, bring him back here. And if he shouts in the street? If he tells
all the passers-by? I was wrong, my God, to push him to the limits. I
should have been more reasonable. (listening) He's stopped in the shop;
the bell is silent. What can he be doing? Ah, he's coming back up. I
hear him coming back. I knew quite well he was too cowardly. The
coward! The coward!
(Laurent comes up. He sits down in front of the work table, broken, face in hands.)
Laurent
I cannot. I cannot.
Therese (coming to him, in a mocking voice)
Ah. There you are, back already? What did they say to you? Heavens,
you have no blood in your veins, you make me pity you.
(Therese comes face to face with him, her fists leaning on the work table.)
Laurent (in a lower voice)
I cannot.
Therese
You ought to help me bear this horrible memory, and you are weaker
than I am. How do you expect we'll be able to forget?
Laurent
Then, now you accept your role in the crime?
Therese
Eh, yes, I am guilty, if you like, I am more guilty than you. I
ought to have saved my husband from your hands. Camille was good.
Laurent
Let's not start over again, I beg you. When the delirium gets me,
you play with your work. Don't look at me, don't smile at me. I will
escape from you whenever I like. (pulls a small bottle from his pocket)
I've got my pardon here, peaceful sleep. Two drops of poison will
suffice to clear me.
Therese
Poison! Ah, indeed, you are too cowardly. I dare you to drink it.
Go on, drink it, Laurent, drink a little to see.
Laurent
Shut up! Don't push me any further!
Therese
I am calm. You won't drink. Camille was good, you hear? And I wish
you were in his place in the ground. (moves left)
Laurent
Shut up!
Therese
Heavens, you don't know the heart of women. How can you expect me
not to hate you now that you are covered with Camille's blood?
Laurent (going and coming, as if gripped by a hallucination)
Will you shut up? I am hearing hammer blows in my head. She's
breaking me. What is this infernal invention to have remorse now, and
to weep for the other aloud? I live eternally with the other at this
time. He did this, he did that, he was good, he was generous. Ah, I am
growing mad. The other one lives with us. He sits on my chair, he
places his table near mine, he uses the furniture. He's eaten from my
plate; he's still eating out of it. I don't know any more, I am him, I
am Camille, I have his wife, his plate, his curtains. I am Camille,
Camille, Camille.
Therese
You are really playing a cruel game painting him in your pictures.
Laurent
Ah, so you know that! (lowering his voice) Speak lower. It's a
terrible thing. My hands are no longer mine. I can no longer paint, yet
the other one is in my hands. No, these hands are no longer mine. They
will end by betraying me if I don't cut them off. They are his, he
grasps me with them.
Therese
It's punishment.
Laurent
Tell me, don't I have Camille's mouth? Heavens, did you hear? I
said those words just the way Camille would have said them. Listen.
“I've got his mouth, I've got his mouth.” Huh, that's really it. I am
speaking like him. I'm laughing like him. And he's there, still there,
in my head which he hammers with his closed fists.
Therese
It's punishment.
Laurent
Go away, woman. You're driving me mad! Get out or I'll—
(Laurent throws Therese down onto her knees at the foot of the table and raises his fist.)
Therese (kneeling)
Kill me like the other one. Go right to the end. Camille never
raised his hand to me. You, you are a monster. Why, kill me like the
other one.
(Laurent, maddened, recoils and goes to the back. He sits by the alcove, head in his hands. Meanwhile, Madame Raquin succeeds in making a knife slide off the table and fall before Therese. At this noise, Therese, who's been busy watching Laurent, slowly turns her head and looks from the knife to Madame Raquin and back several times.)
Therese
It was you who made it fall. Your eyes are lit up like two lanterns
from hell. I know quite well what you want to say. You are right, this
man is making my life intolerable. If he wasn't always there to remind
me of what I want to forget, I would be at peace, I would arrange a
comfortable life. (to Madame Raquin as she picks up the knife) You are
looking at the knife, aren't you? Yes, I'm clinging to the knife, and I
don't want this man to torture me any more. Indeed, he killed Camille
who irritated him. As for me, he irritates me now.
(Therese rises, keeping the knife in her fist. Laurent rises, hiding the little bottle of poison in his hand.)
Laurent
Let's make peace. Let's finish eating. Do you want to?
Therese
If you wish. (aside) Never will I have the patience to wait for
night. This knife is burning in my hand.
Laurent
What are you thinking about? Sit down. Wait, I am going to get you
something to drink.
Therese (aside)
I'd much prefer to end it right away. (approaches Laurent, knife
raised, but sees him pouring in the glass and grabs his arm) What's
that you're pouring there, Laurent?
Laurent (in his turn seeing the knife)
Why were you raising the knife? (silence) Coward, with a knife!
Therese
Coward first, with poison.
(Therese and Laurent look at each other with a terrible air. Then they let the knife and the bottle of poison fall.)
Laurent (fainting in a chair)
At the same moment, the two of us. The same thought, the same
horrible thought.
Therese (also fainted)
Remember, Laurent, with what burning kisses we parted. And here we
are, face to face with poison and a knife. (casts her eyes on Madame
Raquin and rises, uttering a scream) See there, Laurent!
Laurent (rising and turning to Madame Raquin with shock)
She was there, waiting to watch us die.
Therese
But, don't you see her moving her lips! She's smiling. Ah, what a
terrible smile.
Laurent
And look what a shiver is animating her now.
Therese
She's going to speak. I assure you, she's going to speak.
Laurent
I'll know how to prevent that.
(Laurent starts to rush toward Madame Raquin when she slowly stands up. Laurent recoils.)
Therese
Oh! Mercy! Don't deliver us to justice.
Madame Raquin
Deliver you! No. I've had the idea of doing it just now when my
strength came back to me. I was beginning to write on this table your
act of accusation, but I stopped myself. I thought human justice would
be too precipitate. And I intend to be present at your slow expiation,
here in this room, where you took all my happiness from me.
Therese (bursting into tears, throwing herself at Madame Raquin's
feet) Tears are choking me. I am a wretch. If you could raise your
hand, I would deliver my head to you. There, right there, so you could
crush it. Pity, have pity!
Madame Raquin (leaning on the table, her voice as if shrugging)
Pity? Did you have any pity for that poor child that I adored?
Don't ask me for any from you. I have no more pity because you've torn
out my heart.
(Laurent falls to his knees at the right.)
Madame Raquin
No, I will not save you from yourselves. I will let remorse
continue to set you against each other like maddened beasts. No, I
won't give you up to justice. You are mine, mine alone, and I will keep
you.
Therese
Impunity is too heave. We judge ourselves and we condemn ourselves.
(Therese picks up the flask of prussic acid and drinks it avidly. She falls at the feet of Madame Raquin. Laurent, who has torn the flask from her, drinks in his turn, and falls at the right, behind the work table.
Madame Raquin (sitting down slowly)
They died very quickly!
CURTAIN