Spaniards in Denmark Act I
Spaniards in Denmark
Act I
Translated by Fini Løkke
Day I, Scene I
The Envoy’s Office
Spanish military music is heard in the distance
THE ENVOY
(alone)
La, la, la; damn their infernal music! – The parade has ended. I do not like to find myself among old tanned soldiers. (Looking out the window). Ah, there is General Romana galloping by; he enters his own rooms, so relax. God, how coarse a trade this is! My instructions demand that without delay I contact their officers. – I am going to spend an hour in their company…
Ugh! The tobacco seems to settle in my clothes.- In Paris I would not dare to stand forward in less than six weeks…but on the island of Funen, in the middle of Nowhere, you are not that delicate. (He sits down.)
Yuck! They almost frighten me with their long moustaches and their black and brown eyes. It’s as if they do not seem to like us French very much…and these poor Spanish devils are such ignorant fellows!…They cannot understand how my master wants only their happiness when he gives them his august brother as their King….They find the island a little cold….By God, I do too! – I certainly pay dearly for the honour that suit’s a mission like mine….For Heaven’s sake, when I joined the diplomatic corps, I imagined that at once I was going to be sent to Rome or to Naples, in a country with good manners…I am about to tell the minister…when during the conversation I unfortunately happen to tell him that I speak a little Spanish…”You speak Spanish,” he said to me.- I am thrilled. – When I come home I find passports and instructions – for Madrid, that is what I thought….Not at all…for the Spanish division of La Romana in the island of Funen!…the island of Funen! Good God, how they must have been surprised in Paris to know that I am in the island of Funen!….With that order, they made me march first to one place, then to another, as if I were a military man. Only when I was in Denmark with the Prince’s army did I find Frenchmen to talk to. – But what happens then, I must stay with a bunch of Spaniards, Danes, Hanoverians, Germans, you name it. All these brave men live together like cats and dogs. One has to spy on them, amuse them, make them listen to reason, adjust to nature and civilisation as my instructions prescribe me….They can’t get into their heads that the English with their sugary ways are their deadly enemies. They tried to take from the coffee trade islands and a hundred other things but after we have passed them, they too could pass. – My God, when we take England! It’s the English who force me to stay in this damned island together with these Spanish clowns. – Ah, the air was so humid today!….I am lucky if I do not catch pneumonia…I am tempted to go to bed; – and yet I will have to finish my report. – What a job! – never one instant of rest! A report! Why, what of it?….The Prince wrote to me that he had grounds for suspecting the fidelity of the Marquis de La Romana; he now wants me to observe his behaviour and probe the dispositions of the soldiers….Yes, probe, that’s easy to say; – so now let us see what’s on their mind…the skin of these Moorish people is so black that they aren’t easily seen through – Ah, why, that was well put! – If only I had somebody here to hear me. I am going to write that to the Prince of Ponte-Corvo; that will make him laugh, and it is by making people laugh that you get advancement. -That’s it.- I will also write that to them in Paris. – (He writes) -The idea is not bad at all…
A SERVANT
(entering)
A lady wishes to speak to monsieur.
THE ENVOY
A lady! And which kind of a lady?
THE SERVANT
But, monsieur, it is a French lady….She is well dressed, and she has a nice figure.
THE ENVOY
A French lady in the island of Funen! A French lady at Nyborg!
MADAME DE COULANGES
(enters in travelling clothes)
THE SERVANT
(announces Madame de Coulanges; he leaves)
THE ENVOY
(aside) Pest! No doubt the wife of a general. (Loudly) I am very sorry to have to receive you in the middle of diplomatic confusion in a room that…
MADAME DE COULANGES
Monsieur, would you be so kind as to read this letter.
THE ENVOY
Madame, before I do that, please be seated.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Monsieur…
THE ENVOY
Ah, please take this armchair.
MADAME DE COULANGES
If…
THE ENVOY
(without reading the letter)
Madame no doubt comes from Paris?
MADAME DE COULANGES
Yes, monsieur. This letter…
THE ENVOY
I hardly dare to expect. Madame, that you will so gracious as to prolong your stay in this awful country?…
MADAME DE COULANGES
I don’t know; but if you would please read this letter…
THE ENVOY
(in the same way, very quickly)
Nyborg is very boring. It is here that the Spaniards are cantoned. They are more bored here than even with the Germans. We have almost no French. Unfortunately they are in Denmark on the other side of the Belt with the Prince of Ponte-Corvo. In the meantime your stay at Nyborg will suffice for attracting all the staff of the Prince. – A desert inhabited by a monk as you see…
MADAME DE COULANGES
Monsieur, if…
THE ENVOY
(in the same way)
I cannot tell you, madame, how thrilled I am in these eternal snows to meet…a rose of Paris…hi hi hi! Such an amiable compatriot…I wish so much that I can be of help with something. If you need, madame…
MADAME DE COULANGES
Be so kind as to read this letter.
THE ENVOY
If you will allow me….(He opens the letter and reads.) Br, brrr, br….Ho! Ho! Pest! One should not blush at that….But which devil is it that you want me to say, my pretty lady?
MADAME DE COULANGES
Please let me see the Marquis de La Romana.
THE ENVOY
But…what do you want me to say to you? – I have observed him very closely. There is nothing to do with a man like him. He is buttoned up to his chin. He is, you see, he is old…and however pretty yours eyes are, they do not have the power to resuscitate the dead, he he he! (He moves his armchair closer to Madame de Coulanges.)
MADAME DE COULANGES
(withdrawing)
Perhaps he has a friend, an intimate friend who has his full trust.
THE ENVOY
Yes, there is one, a funny guy, though. It’s his aide-de-camp and his nephew. He has no secrets from him, that’s what I have been told. By the way, this aide-de-camp is a bad character, a rowdy…who, less than a fortnight ago killed a French officer with the highest hopes of advancement. And do you know why? Because this French officer had said to him, as he proposed a toast to his Majesty the Emperor, that he would cut his ears off if he did not drink. He did not drink, and he killed him.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Besides, what kind of man is he?….His character?…
THE ENVOY
His character?…well…what do you want me to say…I don’t know…he is always tending his moustache….Ah! And he is a smoker, a confirmed smoker. Yes, sometimes he spends hours in the company of the marquis, engulfed in smoking in the strangest manner…with small paper cigars they have made themselves. What I tell you is accurate; I have seen it myself.
MADAME DE COULANGES
No doubt you must have received some vouchers on his accounts?
THE ENVOY
To be honest with you, I have received some. But I really don’t know what has become of them. I have so many papers….It was very little since I don’t remember it any more.
MADAME DE COULANGES
I see. But at least you must be able to tell me his name?
THE ENVOY
He calls himself don…you know all the Spaniards call themselves don…Don Juan Diaz….He also has another name but at the moment I don’t remember it any more….He lives at the Three Crowns, an inn at the seashore.
MADAME DE COULANGES
That’s fine. I thank you for giving me this information. – He owes me a thousand dollars.
THE ENVOY
You will have them. You have an unlimited credit in the letter and in your figure….Hé hé hé!
MADAME DE COULANGES
Might it be possible, monsieur, that I could, with you as intermediary, pass the money to a brother I have who is a sergeant of the guard….This money is going to provide for some French commodities that I have sold in Germany.
THE ENVOY
Without the least difficulty. I myself always send my friends smoked beef through diplomatic courier. But perhaps I could count on a little gratuity? Hé hé hé!
MADAME DE COULANGES
The cheque is paid at sight?
THE ENVOY
At sight by messieurs Moor & Company. – This monsieur Juan Diaz is a lucky fellow….Because we others who make diplomacy, understand at once how matters will end…you will seduce him…Hé hé hé! I should like to be in on this, hé hé hé!
MADAME DE COULANGES
It would not be any easier, monsieur, than to reveal your secrets. I am sorry to have disturbed you for such a trifle in your diplomatic activities.
THE ENVOY
Allow me, pretty lady, some time to divert myself from politics in your company?
MADAME DE COULANGES
Pardon me, monsieur, no doubt you do not realize that I must not receive the French envoy in the island of Funen.
THE ENVOY
I’ll be damned! You have a point there….But with a big dark cloak as the Spaniards wear them…at night, in a fog…
MADAME DE COULANGES
No, this is my first and last visit. My mother will take care of bringing the letters to the Prince as I have addressed them. (She takes her veil to leave.)
THE ENVOY
Allow me at least…
THE SERVANT
(enters)
This aide-de-camp, you know…the aide-de-camp of General La Romana, he wishes to see you.
THE ENVOY
Damn him! Lafleur, show madame the way to the small secret staircase. Quickly, quickly! Good-bye, pretty lady! (Madame de Coulanges leaves.) What a pity! I have never been so elated. And everything was going so well. How inconvenient! Never a single moment to yourself!
DON JUAN
(enters)
Ah, monsieur, I have the honour to welcome you, and how are you? I am so glad to see you. And the General? Still the same? Wonderful! Please take a seat.
DON JUAN
Would you please listen to me?
THE ENVOY
Entirely at your service. You can depend on me.
DON JUAN
For six months, monsieur, we have had no news from Spain. For several reasons we, that is I and the other officers in our division, that you, monsieur, have had orders from your government to intercept them, and…
THE ENVOY
Pardon me, monsieur le colonel, you are completely wrong, and in order to correct your mistake I will be happy to let you have the dispatches from your country which I have just received. Here is a proclamation from his Highness the Grand-Duke de Berg; here a bulletin announcing…
DON JUAN
Eh! What do I care about your proclamations and bulletins? It is exactly that which worries us. News about our families, and not those about the Grand-Duke de Berg, that is what we need.
THE ENVOY
Monsieur, so many things are happening which could prevent a letter from arriving at its address! Perhaps, just to give you an example, they have forgotten to put stamps on your letters in Spain; that happens all the time, or something…
DON JUAN
Fine excuse!
THE ENVOY
Would you do me the honour to dine with me?
DON JUAN
No thanks, monsieur envoy. At my place I have contraband chocolate waiting for me, and I certainly prefer it to your imperial coffee.
THE ENVOY
Ah, young man, young man, perhaps you forget the irreparable damage you can do to commerce. Has this chocolate not been transported by our most cruel enemies?
DON JUAN
What does it matter? If only it is good.
THE ENVOY
Monsieur, monsieur, the chocolate of the tyrants of the seas must always be distasteful to an officer who has the honour to serve under the victorious standards of His Imperial Majesty.
DON JUAN
And his Imperial Majesty no doubt will offer us all the bad continental drugs we must swallow on account of his blockade.
THE ENVOY
No doubt, monsieur. Isn’t His Majesty going to let the sun of Civilisation shine on the other side of the Pyrenees while the fog of Anarchy will only let through a faint glimmer for you to see.
DON JUAN
Ha! Ha! Ha! Which parental solicitude! How touching! But frankly, monsieur, I admit that we cherish the shade in Spain, and we do not suddenly run into his sun.
THE ENVOY
Another proof that you need a legislator who can strengthen you morally. Allow me, colonel, here to express my thought clearly. You are not, you other Spaniards, abreast of the century; and who would believe it? You would repel the light that we bring you. – Listen, monsieur, I gather that you have never read Voltaire?
DON JUAN
Please, monsieur; I know a great deal of his works by heart.
THE ENVOY
In that case I will not speak about them. But after all, you are once more infatuated…(not you, monsieur who are strong in spirit like a Frenchman but the masses of your compatriots) you are once again infatuated by your superstitions. You should not respect it more than monasticism….Is it not so that you rather serve them than importing the philosophy of the nineteenth century and part with your old prejudice, children of ignorance and error?
DON JUAN
Monsieur, we always welcome philosophy with open arms when someone sends us it in good book- cases. But really, the cortege of twenty four thousand soldiers which accompany it today does not make us very kindly disposed.
THE ENVOY
His Majesty will pull you out from the yoke of the insular despots.
DON JUAN
A propos, it is said that in Portugal, at the seashore, close to a certain place called Vimeira…
THE ENVOY
Oh, monsieur, you are certainly misinformed.
DON JUAN
What do you mean? I have not said anything yet.
THE ENVOY
But I guess what you are going to say. Allow me to repeat the facts. The English have debarked at Vimeira, that is is true; up to that point you are well informed. But we have attacked them, we have turned them around, cut them off….It became a terrible bloodbath. – It even seems that several of their generals have been killed. Their army has been brought to the most awful disorder…after which out brave troops according to higher orders have embarked for Brest in France. That is the exact truth, monsieur.
DON JUAN
Why, how admirable! I thank you a thousand times. I will let my friends know the news you have given me…
THE ENVOY
If you will allow me, I will give you a less concise and clearer version.
DON JUAN
Oh, your version is excellent and clear enough…and I will stick to that. Good-bye, monsieur, and good appetite. You will need it to drink the coffee of the great nation.
THE ENVOY
Please send my respect to the Marquis, monsieur. (Alone) What a giggler he is. Because he wants to laugh the way he does I fooled him with my story of the Battle of Vimeira. Extraordinary! As long as I have been in the diplomatic service I feel an aplomb, not being afraid of making errors which I hadn’t thought myself capable of; it has now been a year. I really make bulletins as well as a major-general. Patience, patience! I am not locked away on this island forever. Some day I may wake up with the portfolio of the foreign affairs under my pillow.
Day I, Scene II
A suite of rooms in the Three Crowns Inn.
THE MARQUIS
(alone, walking anxiously up and down; he takes out his pocket watch)
He should have been here an hour ago….I cannot stay here….Perhaps I could discover something over here. (He opens a window to the sea.) No, not a single boat at sea….As far as sight can reach waves, nothing but waves…not one black point to give me a glimpse of hope…. (He walks up and down) Perhaps they think that this bad time…on the contrary it was them they should choose….If only I could be sure they had not embarked!…. (Looking out the window.) The sloop is all at sea….So they will keep me another day in torture….However…in due time, the admiral wrote to me, you will receive the news….I feel as if I was burning….Not an embarkation….If they were taken, in spite of their passports, by some coast guards?…would they then have taken precautions to hide their dispatches?….I had recommended them so!….My head is splitting!….I would rather be in the middle of bullets in the battlefield than in this chamber waiting for the boat without being able to further its arrival one moment…
DON JUAN
(backstage)
Lorenzo, unsaddle the mare. It is too slow to leave, – (Enters) Damned country with its fogs and showers! – Ah, general, I kiss the hands of your Excellency. Have you been looking out the window since I left you? – Oh, tell me, have you counted how many ‘waves’ there are in the Belt?
THE MARQUIS
Don Juan, what do you think of this country?
DON JUAN
Like an anteroom to Purgatory, and I hope I will get rebate in the other world for the years I have spent here on those that I must roast to suffer for my sins…
THE MARQUIS
The sea is no longer tenable. I hope they have not embarked.
DON JUAN
And it always rains if it does not snow. The women are all blondes or redheads; never great like the open blue of the sky; no small foot, no black eye. Oh, Spain, Spain! How I dream of your Aquinas, the lovely dancing shoes, your black eyes, bright as carbuncles!
THE MARQUIS
Yes, but are you capable of one serious thought?
DON JUAN
By God, if you were not my general, I would tell you one reason that was serious enough to make me want to see Spain again.
THE MARQUIS
Speak your mind.
DON JUAN
And you will not arrest me, promise.
THE MARQUIS
Always kidding.
DON JUAN
And you want me to be serious? Well, if I want to see Spain again it’s in order to see its oppressors face to face; it’s to plant the standard of Liberty in Galicia; it’s to die for it if I cannot live in freedom there.
THE MARQUIS
Oh Don Juan! I did not even know you. You have the heart of a real Spaniard in spite of your wanton appearance. It is to their heart, Don Juan, that I will confide a secret it is worthy to learn. Although we are not wearing chains we are all captives in this island to such an extent that we live in an immense prison. Here a great number of auxiliaries watch us. On the other side of the Belt the Prince of Ponte-Corvo’s army could in a couple of hours unite with the Danish and Germans to crush us. But this sea which closes the way back to our country, this sea…
THE HOST
This is the suite of rooms so that you would only have to go through the room; the most distinguished company is assembled here. The general La Romana at this moment occupies the wings of the house where your apartment is. You see that it is impossible to find a hotel more frequented than this. The noble company of the town assembles here every evening.
MADAME DE TOURVILLE
That is certainly very agreeable.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Louise, have my trunks carried into our chambers.
MADAME DE TOURVILLE
I go with you. I like to be acquainted with the house. (Lowly to Madame de Coulanges)Close the door, now! Here you are, in the presence of the enemy; it is important to begin the right way.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Good. I stay here while you tidy up a little. (Pretending to be surprised) Ha! But is anyone here?
THE HOST
It is the general I told you about. And his first aide-de-camp.
DON JUAN
(lowly to the general)
Excellency, look who arrives with us; veritable Andalusian apples of the eye or give the devil his due!
THE MARQUIS
Don Juan, come here.
THE HOST
Monsieur Marquis, a French lady who is going to be your neighbour. – Madame de Coulanges. – Madame, monsieur general La Romana, colonel Don Juan Diaz.
MADAME DE COULANGES
(to the host)
So would you please get me a servant?
THE HOST
I will go find one. Pardon me for leaving you; no doubt these gentlemen will do you the favour…
DON JUAN
Madame, it is our duty as the lodger who has stayed here the longest, to be your host in this simple house. Please sit down. This may just be a shipwreck, madame, that brings you to this damned island; it has been for quite a while that I implored Heaven for one but I did not dare to hope it would bring us a…
MADAME DE COULANGES
Pardon me, monsieur colonel, your vows must not have been heard because I have arrived yesterday with the packet boat, and I who do not praise myself for having any courage have not felt one instant of fear. When I look at the sea today, I am glad I passed yesterday.
THE MARQUIS
Don Juan?…
DON JUAN
You speak Spanish too well, madame, not to be one of our compatriots. You have a compassion for us other poor exiles.
MADAME DE COULANGES
No, monsieur, I am not Spanish but I have lived for a long while in your beautiful country.
DON JUAN
I would have sworn you were Andalusian judging from your excellent pronunciation, and especially from the brilliance of your eyes and the smallness of your feet. Is it not so, Excellency, that you would have thought Madame were from Seville?
MADAME DE COULANGES
On my part, judging from your compliments, I would have been inclined to take you for Parisians; you have said so many words, and complimentary at that. I must tell you that I do not take them too seriously.
DON JUAN
Oh, Madame! Pardon me: it is so long since I last saw a pretty woman!
THE MARQUIS
Don Juan, I expect you in here with me.
MADAME DE COULANGES
The general seems to have something to tell you?
DON JUAN
Oh, good that he is waiting; I do not leave the company of a young lady to go speak of barracks and guards corps with an old general. – Can we hope, madame, to keep you here for a long time?
MADAME DE COULANGES
I do not know. After the death of my husband I have left Poland; I now await my uncle who plans to join your army corps.
DON JUAN
A military man?
MADAME DE COULANGES
He is a colonel of the dragoons.
DON JUAN
And the number of his regiment?
MADAME DE COULANGES
I tremble. (Loudly) But…the fourteenth, I suppose.
DON JUAN
It must be colonel Durand with whom I have served. But his regiment was in Holstein, and he left for Spain some time ago.
MADAME DE COULANGES
The name of my uncle is Monsieur de Tourville….But I think he is now attached to the Staff….For a while he commanded this regiment, or perhaps I confounded the numbers.
DON JUAN
You have left Spain before the invasion…(he dresses again) before the French entered Spain.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Yes, monsieur. – The French are rather detested in Spain today.
DON JUAN
French ladies like you, madame, are loved in all countries, and I am sure that our rebels as you call them…
VOICE
(behind the stage)
They are lost! They have been taken by the current.
DON JUAN
Oh God! Some wretched people who are shipwrecked.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Oh, that boat down there with the three people. Good Heavens, what an enormous wave!
DON JUAN
They will be crushed on the sand banks if they don’t get help. But no one dares to as far as it seems.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Oh, if only I were a man!
DON JUAN
I will go there, now.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Stop! Stop, monsieur, you are going to lose your life, stay, I implore you.
DON JUAN
No, no! I could not rest calmly if I saw these people in danger of perishing.
MADAME DE COULANGES
But you are not a sailor….Stop, in the name of Heaven! Monsieur, you will perish with them, stay, stay. (She takes hold of his clothes. Don Juan lets her stand with them in her hands and leaves.) They are going to die! What kind of help can you offer them?…monsieur (to the window) Colonel! Colonel Don Juan!….There he is going out in a small barge with two men as brave as he; poor them! And the waves are higher than the house.
THE MARQUIS
(enters)
What is that? From where comes this uproar?
MADAME DE COULANGES
Alas!…your aide-de-camp…
THE MARQUIS
And?
MADAME DE COULANGES
He has plunged himself…in spite of me…
THE MARQUIS
Where is he?
MADAME DE COULANGES
Look, there he is!….Alas!
THE MARQUIS
Don Juan! Don Juan!
MADAME DE COULANGES
Oh God! How dreadful a tempest…and their barge is so small.
THE MARQUIS
(to the window)
Messieurs, go stop that boat…they are going to…they are heading for disaster. Look, there’s my purse…but go!
MADAME DE COULANGES
Alas! The danger is so great that no one dares face it.
THE MARQUIS
What do you mean – that they should be cowards? Should they let you lose your comrades right in front of you?….Ah, I am blinded!….I don’t see anything….Tell me, are they still there?
MADAME DE COULANGES
Yes, they are still there. They grind away with their oars…
THE MARQUIS
My God! Will you sacrifice him for his generosity?
MADAME DE COULANGES
Oh…they are submerged, God have mercy on them!
THE MARQUIS
No! Don Juan’s boat is still floating!…but the others…
MADAME DE COULANGES
I cannot break away from this awful spectacle although it kills me.
THE MARQUIS
Good Heavens! He has disappeared.
MADAME DE COULANGES
I can no longer see his red sash!
THE MARQUIS
Poor him! What shall I tell his mother?
MADAME DE COULANGES
My eyes get filled with tears….I am about to pass out. (She lets herself fall on the window sill.)
THE MARQUIS
He is dead; he is dead! And his mother who had confided him to me! (He paces frantically up and down.)
CRIES
(behind the stage)
There they are! There they are!
THE MARQUIS
They are rescued!….I see it!….Don Juan…Don Juan…Madame…he is saved!
MADAME DE COULANGES
What…he is not dead?
THE MARQUIS
Look, there is their boat!….They have taken the people from the other boat on board….One more effort, Don Juan!
MADAME DE COULANGES
(waving her handkerchief)
Courage, brave young lad, you are not made to die here!
THE MARQUIS
Keep steady on the rudder, Don Juan….Once more this wave…courage!…
MADAME DE COULANGES
Oh, I cannot stand it. (Sits down)
THE MARQUIS
Don Juan!….Don Juan!
CRIES
(behind the stage)
They are saved.
THE MARQUIS
Good!…just one more…it’s the last one….Victory. They are ashore….I am so delighted I could die….Madame, madame, come and see how he carries the miserable man he has rescued in his arms….Isn’t that courage?
MADAME DE COULANGES
Look at him, this Don Juan!….Poor me!….I had hoped to find a fop…and then I find a hero!….Ah, how different the man is from what was formed in my imagination.
DON JUAN
(enters, carrying the fainted Wallis; the Marquis, Madame de Tourville,
the host, some valets)
Thank God!….I am so happy that I know how to swim!….Ah, you are still here, madame…please make a little room here.
THE HOST
Careful with the settee…put this napkin under him.
DON JUAN
It’s all about your sofa! Put him down, gentlemen, please!
THE MARQUIS
(embracing him)
My son! My dear Don Juan!
THE HOST
(to the valets)
Go and prepare a warm bed; I will go looking for a doctor.
DON JUAN
(to Madame de Coulanges)
I bet you have smelling-salts on you; all pretty women have it.
MADAME DE COULANGES
I will see if I can find some.
She leaves.
DON JUAN
He will not suffer from it, he did not stay that long in the water. – Look, Excellency, under this bad vest, this shirt frill….For a Norwegian fisherman this certainly is very elegant.
THE MARQUIS
Do not say a word!
DON JUAN
Why? – Please rub his temples from your side, and the palm of his hands….But how he hides both of them on his chest….Ah, a little locket at the end of a string?….There is love in that or I’ll be damned.
MADAME DE TOURVILLE
Let me see.
THE MARQUIS
(as he takes the box)
Let us tend to the patient.
MADAME DE TOURVILLE
We may have to take him by the feet to let him disgorge the water he has swallowed.
THE MARQUIS
Yes. That may be the right way to make him come round.
WALLIS
Where am I?
DON JUAN
With friends, comrade. And how are you doing?
WALLIS
(puts his hands to his neck)
My locket?
DON JUAN
It is safe; it is the Marquis de La Romana who has it. He will give it back to you; you can be sure of that, and drink what I have here.
WALLIS
The Marquis?
DON JUAN
Please, drink this pick-me-up.
THE MARQUIS
Have him carried to the bed of Pedro, my chamber valet.
DON JUAN
Look, Madame, look at this poor sailor. In him you see the model of lovers. Hidden on his breast he kept a little locket that the Marquis just took and which holds a woman’s portrait which His Excellency is going to show you.
THE MARQUIS
Don Juan, please respect this young man’s secrets.
DON JUAN
Certainly, but I will be disappointed if he doesn’t one day show me if she is beautiful or not.
WALLIS
Where is he who has saved me?
ALL
There he is.
WALLIS
Monsieur, give me your hand.
DON JUAN
Fine, my friend, but try to sleep, and later, to make you forget the dirty water you swallowed, I will make you empty a bottle of real genuine sherry that will be good for your heart.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Monsieur.
DON JUAN
I will give I know not how much to see that portrait.
MADAME DE COULANGES
I wish I could find the right words to express my admiration to you.
DON JUAN
It’s a very simple matter for someone who knows how to swim as I do. Anybody in my place would have done the same; but in this instance I have never dived so well. Which strength you find in such a moment!
MADAME DE COULANGES
Ah monsieur…I cannot resist embracing you.
DON JUAN
Good God! I almost wished that we had shipwrecked beneath our windows every day. – But, a propos, Madame, there were three persons in the boat we have rescued.
MADAME DE COULANGES
(embracing him)
There….And once more….Oh, I am such a fool!…but I have never been so moved. (She cries.)
DON JUAN
Are you quite well?….You frighten me. You are more pale than our drowning man.
MADAME DE COULANGES
Oh! Monsieur…it’s nothing…but I can’t prevent myself from crying – oh I am such a fool!
DON JUAN
Oh, where is my coat?. I left my coat in your hands like the chaste Joseph…
MADAME DE COULANGES
Take good care of yourself….Go change, quickly…I implore you….
DON JUAN
At once, but allow me to lead you back to your apartment….And perhaps I might hear if you had any news?
MADAME DE COULANGES
Yes, monsieur…at any time. (She leaves, supported by Don Juan as she takes her handkerchief to her eyes.)
DON JUAN
(comes back alone)
An intrigue well begun…a man drawn out of the water, a secret to learn. – That way she has an agreeable end to her day. – She is really pretty, this lady, and she seems to have a good character. There is nothing I loathe more than sincere and straightforward people who have qualms. – Now I must go change because I begin to get cold. (He is leaving as the Marquis enters.)
THE MARQUIS
We are alone, Don Juan. You are a brave Spaniard. I am going to open my heart to you.
DON JUAN
Speak up, general, I am burning with impatience…(lowly) and I am dying with cold.
THE MARQUIS
Do you know whom you have saved?
DON JUAN
A fisherman…perhaps a smuggler?
THE MARQUIS
An English officer, lieutenant on the Royal George, sent by the admiral of the guard ship with which for some time I have corresponded.
DON JUAN
I understand…bravo! I see…my, how it pleases me…and this fine admiral will perhaps pull us away from this Devil’s Island?
THE MARQUIS
And take us back to our old Spain.
DON JUAN
Spain! Oh my dear country, after all I shall see you again!
THE MARQUIS
Defend it, Don Juan!
DON JUAN
To die for it, for freedom! Oh, death seems mild on the shores of Spain! – But, can we really take all the division with us?
THE MARQUIS
All my soldiers will follow me. Everything is taken care of: the British fleet will drop the anchor in this bay before the Prince can come running with his French soldiers to oppose our plan.
DON JUAN
And as regards the strangers garrisoned on the island with us…
THE MARQUIS
We have weapons…
DON JUAN
And we are going with them?….But, damn it, that spoils somewhat my conquest a minute ago…
THE MARQUIS
Don Juan, is it really possible that you have other things on your mind in such a moment?
DON JUAN
And why not? My country first and then…a little love to amuse oneself.
THE MARQUIS
You are a fool but a brave boy; listen, I will test your zeal a little.
DON JUAN
That is exactly what I want from you! You will see that even if I am sometimes inclined to laugh, I never forget the honour for an amorous affair.
THE MARQUIS
I knew, you are a good young man! Be sure that if the winds do not change in the next few days we shall have left our prison.
DON JUAN
You overwhelm me with joy. – By the way, how is this Englishman?
THE MARQUIS
Thanks to you he could give useful information. You will have to accompany him on board his ship so that he can report the latest word from his admiral to me.
DON JUAN
I am at your service. – They were, no doubt, the letters from the admiral that he carried around his neck together with his sweetheart’s portrait?
THE MARQUIS
Precisely. – And you wanted me to present them!
DON JUAN
The poor devil! They would have been torn out of his hands even before he lost consciousness. Did you notice that the first word he uttered was to ask for his locket?
THE MARQUIS
And this brave man exposes himself to an ignominious death for an enterprise that is of only mediocre interest to his country. With that ardour should we then not be inflamed, we who are going to revenge our country that has been betrayed with such laxity, to fight together for all that honourable men value the most!
DON JUAN
I hope they will speak of us some day!
THE MARQUIS
What does it matter if posterity forgets our names if only it senses the effects of our combined efforts. – Don Juan, do the good for goodness’ sake. – And afterwards, thank Heaven if it sends us a Homer.
END OF FIRST DAY