until--

SCENE TWELFTH.
The same persons and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey on one side of the stage,
Saint-Charles on the other, and domestics.

Mademoiselle de Vaudrey
Here he is! (To Vautrin) Begone! At once!

The Duchess (to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey)
You are ruining everything.

Saint-Charles (to the servants)
Behold their ringleader and accomplice! Whatever he may say, seize
him!

The Duchess (to the company)
I command you to leave me alone with this man.

Vautrin
What is it, chevalier?

Saint-Charles
You are a puzzle to me, baron.

Vautrin (whispering to the duchess)
You behold in this man the murderer of the viscount whom you loved so
well.

The Duchess
He the murderer?

Vautrin (to the duchess)
Let him be closely watched, or he will slip through your fingers like
money.

The Duchess
Joseph!

Vautrin (to Joseph)
What happened upstairs?

Joseph
His lordship the marquis drew his sword, and being attacked from the
rear, defended himself, and was twice slightly wounded. His grace the
duke is with him now.

The Duchess (to her aunt)
Return to Albert's room, I implore you. (To Joseph, pointing out
Saint-Charles) I shall hold you responsible for this man's detention.

Vautrin (to Joseph)
So shall I.

Saint-Charles (to Vautrin)
I see the situation, you have got ahead of me.

Vautrin
I bear no malice towards you, my dear fellow.

Saint-Charles (to Joseph)
Take me before the duke.

(Exeunt.)

SCENE THIRTEENTH.
Vautrin and the Duchess.

Vautrin (aside)
He has a father, an ancestral family, a mother. What a climax! In whom
shall I henceforth find an interest? Whom shall I be able to love?
After ten years of paternity, the loss is irreparable.

The Duchess (approaching Vautrin)
What is it?

Vautrin
What is it? It is, that I can never give back to you your son, madame;
it is, that I do not feel brave enough to survive his separation from
me, nor his contempt for me. The loss of such as Raoul is
irretrievable! My life has been bound up in his.

The Duchess
But could he feel affection for you, you a criminal whom one could at
any moment give up--

Vautrin
To justice do you mean? I thought you would have been more tender. But
you do not, I perceive, see the abyss in which I am dragging you, your
son and the duke, and which all descend in company.

The Duchess
Oh! What have you made of my poor child?

Vautrin
A man of honor.

The Duchess
And he loves you?

Vautrin
He love