[_Two
officers
of the town fix the edict to the wall, and
the_ CRIER _and the crowd depart.
the_ CRIER _and the crowd depart.
World's Greatest Books - Volume 17 - Poetry and Drama
You jest!
The Queen of Beauty?
Marion
In a place like this?
BRICHANTEAU: Saverny was attacked
Last night by footpads. They were killing him,
When a man beat them off, and took our friend
Into a house.
GASSE: But Marion de Lorme?
BRICHANTEAU: It was her house. Saverny's rescuer
Was the young man with whom she is in love.
ROCHEBARON: What is the man like?
BRICHANTEAU: Ask Saverny that.
THE TOWN CRIER (_arriving with a crowd_):
"Ordinance. Louis, by the grace of God,
King of France and Navarre, unto all men,
To whom these presents come, greeting! We will,
Ordain, and rule, henceforward, that all men,
Nobles or commoners, who break the law
By duelling, whether one survive or two,
Shall be hanged by the neck till they are dead.
Such is our good pleasure. "
GASSE: Hang us like thieves.
[_Two officers of the town fix the edict to the wall, and
the_ CRIER _and the crowd depart. _ SAVERNY _enters.
The street grows dark. _
SAVERNY: Fair Marion de Lorme has left her house.
I cannot find her.
GASSE: What was the man like?
SAVERNY: I do not know. On entering the house
I recognised sweet Marion, and began
To speak to her. Before I could turn round
And thank the man to whom I owed my life,
He knocked the candle over. I withdrew,
Seeing I was not wanted. All I know
Is that his name is Didier.
ROCHEBARON: It smacks
Of vulgar origin. To think a man
With such a name should carry Marion off--
Marion, the queen of beauty and of love!
SAVERNY: There may be men with greater names, but none
With greater hearts. To leap from Marion's arms,
And fight with footpads for a stranger's life!
The thing's heroic!
In a place like this?
BRICHANTEAU: Saverny was attacked
Last night by footpads. They were killing him,
When a man beat them off, and took our friend
Into a house.
GASSE: But Marion de Lorme?
BRICHANTEAU: It was her house. Saverny's rescuer
Was the young man with whom she is in love.
ROCHEBARON: What is the man like?
BRICHANTEAU: Ask Saverny that.
THE TOWN CRIER (_arriving with a crowd_):
"Ordinance. Louis, by the grace of God,
King of France and Navarre, unto all men,
To whom these presents come, greeting! We will,
Ordain, and rule, henceforward, that all men,
Nobles or commoners, who break the law
By duelling, whether one survive or two,
Shall be hanged by the neck till they are dead.
Such is our good pleasure. "
GASSE: Hang us like thieves.
[_Two officers of the town fix the edict to the wall, and
the_ CRIER _and the crowd depart. _ SAVERNY _enters.
The street grows dark. _
SAVERNY: Fair Marion de Lorme has left her house.
I cannot find her.
GASSE: What was the man like?
SAVERNY: I do not know. On entering the house
I recognised sweet Marion, and began
To speak to her. Before I could turn round
And thank the man to whom I owed my life,
He knocked the candle over. I withdrew,
Seeing I was not wanted. All I know
Is that his name is Didier.
ROCHEBARON: It smacks
Of vulgar origin. To think a man
With such a name should carry Marion off--
Marion, the queen of beauty and of love!
SAVERNY: There may be men with greater names, but none
With greater hearts. To leap from Marion's arms,
And fight with footpads for a stranger's life!
The thing's heroic!
