Scene IV
The same. Councilor of the Great Chamber, in full dress, The Jailer, Guards
THE JAILER (announcing).
The Councilor of the King!
COUNCILOR (saluting Saverny and Didier in turn).
My mission’s painful and the law severe—
SAVERNY.
I understand: there is no hope! Speak, sir!
COUNCILOR (unfolds a parchment and reads).
“We, Louis, King of France and of Navarre,
Reject appeals made by these men condemned,
But moved by pity, change the punishment
And order them beheaded.”
SAVERNY (joyfully).
God be praised!
COUNCILOR (saluting them once more).
You are to hold yourselves in readiness;
It will take place to-day.
[He salutes and prepares to exit.
DIDIER (who has remained in the same thoughtful attitude, to Saverny).
As I was saying,
After this death, although the corpse be mangled,
Though every limb be stamped with hideous wounds,
Though arms be twisted, broken every bone,
Though through the mire the body has been dragged,
From out that putrid, bleeding, awful flesh
The soul shall rise, unstained, untouched, and pure.
COUNCILOR (coming back, to Didier).
’Tis well to occupy yourselves with such
Great thoughts.
DIDIER (gently).
Please do not interrupt me, sir.
SAVERNY (gayly to Didier).
No gallows!
Didier.
Order of the fête is changed,
I know. The Cardinal travels with his headsman,
And he must be employed; the ax will rust.
SAVERNY.
You’re cool about it, yet the stake is great.
[To The Councilor.] Thank you for such good news.
COUNCILOR.
I wish ’twere better!
Good sir, my zeal—
SAVERNY.
Excuse me. What’s the hour?
COUNCILOR.
At nine o’clock to-night.
Didier.
I hope the sky
Will be as dark as is my soul.
SAVERNY.
The place?
COUNCILOR (indicating the neighboring court).
Here in the court. The Cardinal will come.
[Councilor exits with his escort. The two prisoners remain alone. Day begins to fade. The halberds of the two sentinels, who silently promenade before the breach, are all that can be seen.
DIDIER (solemnly, after a pause).
At this portentous hour we must reflect
Upon the fate awaiting us. Our years
Are equal, though I’m older far than you.
It is but just, therefore, that mine should be
The voice to cheer and to exhort you, since
I am the cause of all your misery.
’Twas I who challenged you. You were content
And happy: ’twas enough for me to pass
Across your life to ruin it. My fate
Pressed down upon yours ’til it crushed it. Now,
Together, we are soon to face the tomb.
We’ll take each other’s hand—
[Sound of hammering.
SAVERNY.
What is that noise?
DIDIER.
It is our scaffold which they’re building, or
Our coffins they are nailing.
[Saverny sits on the stone bench.
When the hour
Has tolled, sometimes the heart of man gives way.
Life holds us in a thousand secret ways.
[A bell strikes.
I think a voice is calling to us. Hark!
[Another bell.
SAVERNY.
The hour is striking.
[A third bell.
DIDIER.
Yes, the hour!
[A fourth bell.
SAVERNY.
In chapel!
[Four more bells.
DIDIER.
It is a voice that calls us, just the same.
SAVERNY.
Another hour!
[He leans his elbows on the stone table and drops his head on his hands. The Guard is changed.
DIDIER.
My friend, do not give way!
Don’t falter on this threshold we must cross.
The tomb they’re fitting up for us is low,
And won’t permit the entrance of a head.
Let’s go to meet them with a fearless tread.
The scaffold can afford to shake, not we.
They claim our heads; and since no fault is ours,
We’ll bear them proudly to the fatal block.
[Approaches Saverny, who is motionless.
Courage!
[Touches his arm and finds he is asleep.
Asleep! While I’ve been preaching courage
This man has slept! What is my bravery
Compared to his? Sleep on, you who can sleep.
My turn will come—provided all things die,
That nothing of the heart survives within
The tomb, to hate what it has loved too much.
[It is night. While Didier has become absorbed in his thoughts, Marion and The Jailer enter through the opening in the wall; The Jailer precedes her. He carries a dark-lantern and a bundle, both of which he places on the ground, then advances cautiously toward Marion, who has remained standing on the threshold, pale, motionless, half-wild.