University of Virginia Library

SCENE VI.

The interior of the Chapel of the Carmelite Convent— On the foreground, Courtiers, Ladies, &c.—At the back of the stage, the altar, only partially seen through the surrounding throng—The Officials pass to and fro, swinging the censers—The stage darkened— Lights suspended along the aisle, and tapers by the altar.
(As the Scene opens, solemn music, to which is chaunted the following—)
HYMN.
Come from the world, O weary soul,
For run the race and near the goal!
Flee from the net, O lonely dove,
Thy nest is built the clouds above!
Turn, wild and worn with panting fear,
And slake thy thirst, thou wounded deer,
In Jordan's holy springs!
Arise! O fearful soul, arise!
For broke the chain and calm the skies!
As moths fly upward to the star,
The light allures thee from afar.
Though earth is lost, and space is wide,
The smile of God shall be thy guide,
And Faith and Hope thy wings!

(As the Hymn ends, Bragelone enters, and stands apart in the background.)
FIRST COURTIER.
Three minutes more, and earth has lost La Vallière!

SECOND COURTIER.
So young!—so fair!

THIRD COURTIER.
'Twas whispered, that the King
Would save her yet!

FIRST COURTIER.
What! snatch her from the altar?
He durst not, man!

Enter Louis, Grammont, and Lauzun.
LOUIS.
Hold! we forbid the rites!
(As the King advances hastily up the aisle, Bragelone places himself before him.)
Back, monk! revere the presence of the King!

BRAGELONE.
And thou the palace of the King of kings!

LOUIS.
Dotard! we claim our subject.

BRAGELONE.
She hath past
The limit of your realm. Ye priests of God,
Complete your solemn task!—The church's curse
Hangs on the air. Descendant of Saint Louis,
Move—and the avalanche falls!

(The Duchess de la Vallière, still drest in the bridal and gorgeous attire assumed before the taking of the veil, descends from the altar.)
DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
No, holy friend!
I need it not; my soul is my protector.
Nay, thou mayst trust me.

BRAGELONE
(after a pause.)
Thou art right.—I trust thee?

LOUIS.
(Leading the Duchess de la Vallière to the front of the stage.)
Thou hast not ta'en the veil?—Ev'n Time had mercy.
Thou art saved!—thou art saved!—to love—to life!

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
Ah, Sire!

LOUIS.
Call me not Sire!—forget that dreary time
When thou wert Duchess, and myself the King.
Fly back, fly back, to those delicious hours
When I was but thy lover and thy Louis!
And thou my dream—my bird—my fairy flower—
My violet, shrinking in the modest shade
Until transplanted to this breast—to haunt
The common air with odours! Oh, Louise!
Hear me!—the fickle lust of change allured me,
The pride thy virtues wounded armed against thee,
Until I dreamed I loved thyself no longer;
But now this dread resolve, this awe of parting,
Re-binds me to thee—bares my soul before me—
Dispels the lying mists that veiled thine image,
And tells me that I never loved but thee!

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
I am not then despised!—thou lov'st me still!
And when I pray for thee, my heart may feel
That it hath nothing to forgive!

LOUIS.
Louise!
Thou dost renounce this gloomy purpose?

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
Never!
It is not gloomy!—think'st thou it is gloom
To feel that, as my soul becomes more pure,
Heaven will more kindly listen to the prayers
That rise for thee?—is that thought gloom, my Louis?

LOUIS.
Oh! slay me not with tenderness! Return!
And if thy conscience startle at my love,
Be still my friend—my angel!

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
I am weak,
But, in the knowledge of my weakness, strong!
I could not breathe the air that's sweet with thee,
Nor cease to love!—in flight my only safety;
And were that flight not made by solemn vows
Eternal, it were bootless; for the wings
Of my wild soul know but two bournes to speed to—
Louis and Heaven! And, oh! in Heaven at last
My soul, unsinning, may unite with Louis!

LOUIS.
I do implore thee!—

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
No; thou canst not tempt me!
My heart already is the nun.

LOUIS.
Thou know'st not
I have dismissed thy rival from the court.
Return!—though mine no more, at least thy Louis
Shall know no second love!

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
What! wilt thou, Louis,
Renounce for me eternally my rival,
And live alone for—

LOUIS.
Thee! Louise, I swear it!

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE
(raising her arms to Heaven.)
Father! at length, I dare to hope for pardon,
For now remorse may prove itself sincere!
Bear witness, Heaven! I never loved this man
So well as now! and never seemed his love
Built on so sure a rock! Upon thine altar
I lay the offering. I revoke the past;
For Louis, Heaven was left—and now I leave
Louis, when tenfold more beloved, for Heaven!
Ah! pray with me! Be this our latest token—
This memory of sweet moments—sweet, though sinless!
Ah! pray with me! that I may hive till death
The thought—‘we prayed together for forgiveness!’

LOUIS.
Oh! wherefore never knew I till this hour
The treasure I shall lose! I dare not call thee
Back from the Heaven where thou art half already!
Thy soul demands celestial destinies,
And stoops no more to earth. Be thine the peace,
And mine the penance! Yet these awful walls,
The rigid laws of this severest order,
Yon spectral shapes, this human sepulchre,—
And thou, the soft, the delicate, the highborn,
The adored delight of Europe's mightiest king,—
Thou canst not bear it!

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
I have borne much worse—
Thy change and thy desertion!—Let it pass!
There is no terror in the things without;
Our souls alone the palace or the prison;
And the one thought, that I have fled from sin
Will fill the cell with images more glorious,
And haunt its silence with a mightier music,
Than ever thronged illumined halls, or broke
From harps by mortal strung!

LOUIS.
I will not hear thee!
I cannot brave these thoughts. Thy angel voice
But tells me what a sun of heavenly beauty
Glides from the earth, and leaves my soul to darkness.
This is my work!—'twas I for whom that soul
Forsook its native element; for me,
Sorrow consumed thy youth, and conscience gnawed
That patient, tender, unreproachful heart.
And now this crowns the whole! the priest—the altar—
The sacrifice—the victim! Touch me not!
Speak not! I am unmann'd enough already.
I—I—I choke! These tears—let them speak for me.
Now! now thy hand—O, God! farewell, for ever!
[Exit Louis.

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
For ever! till the angel's trump shall wake
Affection from the grave. Ah! blessed thought.
For ever! that's no word for earth; but angels
Shall cry ‘for ever’ when we meet again:
Be firm, my heart, be firm!
(After a pause, turning to Bragelone, with a slight smile.)
'Tis past! we've conquered!

(The Duchess de la Vallière re-ascends to the altar— the crowd close around.)
Music.
CHORUS.
Hark! to the nuptial train are opened wide
The Eternal Gates. Hosanna to the bride!

GRAMMONT.
She has ta'en the veil—the last dread rite is done.

ABBESS
(from the altar.)
Sister Louise! before the eternal grate
Becomes thy barrier from the living world,
It is allowed thee once more to behold
The face of men, and bid farewell to friendship.

BRAGELONE
(aside.)
Why do I shudder? why shrinks back my being
From our last gaze, like Nature from the Grave?
One moment, and one look, and o'er her image
Thick darkness falls, till Death, that morning star,
Heralds immortal day. I hear her steps
Treading the mournful silence; o'er my soul
Pauses the freezing time. O Lord, support me!
One effort more—one effort!—Wake, my soul!
'Tis thy last trial; wilt thou play the craven?

(The crowd give way, the Duchess de la Vallière, in the habit of the Carmelite nuns, passes down the steps of the altar, led by the Abbess—As she pauses to address those whom she recognises in the crowd, the chorus chaunts)—

Sister, look and speak thy last,
From the world thou'rt dying fast:
While farewell to life thou'rt giving,
Dead already to the living.

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE
(coming to the front of the stage, sees Lauzun.)
Lauzun! thou serv'st a King, whate'er his faults,
Who merits all thy homage: honour—love him.
His glory needs no friendship; but in sickness,
Or sorrow, kings need love. Be faithful, Lauzun!
And, far from thy loud world, one lowly voice
Shall not forget thee.

BRAGELONE
(aside.)
All the strife is hushed!
My heart's wild sea lies mute, and o'er the waves
The Saviour walks.

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE
(approaching Bragelone, and kneeling to him.)
And now, oh! friend and father,
Bless the poor Nun!

BRAGELONE.
As Duchess of La Vallière
Thou wert not happy; as the Carmelite Sister,
Say—art thou happy?

DUCHESS DE LA VALLIÈRE.
Yes!

BRAGELONE
(laying his hand on her head.)
O Father, bless her!

CHORUS.
Hark! in heaven is mirth!
Jubilate!
Grief leaves guilt on earth!
Jubilate!
Joy for sin forgiven!
Jubilate!
Come, O Bride of Heaven!
Jubilate!

Curtain falls slowly.