Либретто мюзикла "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (моя версия) AКТ I

nale — 25.04.2014 THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL

Characters in order of appearance:

ROBESPIERRE
CHAUVELIN
MARGUERITE SAINT-JUST
PERCY BLAKENEY
ARMAND SAINT-JUST

Percy’s friends, later -- the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel:
OZZY
FARLEY
ELTON
HAL
ANDREW
ANTHONY DEWHURST

COUNTESS DE TOURNAY
JESSOP Percy’s valet

ENSEMBLE: PARIS MOB, FRENCH NATIONAL GUARDS, CHAUVELIN’S AIDS and AGENTS, ROBESPIERRE’s SECRETARY, GUESTS at Percy and Marguerite’s wedding and, later, at Lord Grenville’s ball, MAIDS of Blakeney Manor.

The summer of 1793.


ACT I

SCENE: PARIS, PLACE DE LA RÉVOLUTION

[Execution at la place de la Révolution. CHAUVELIN, ROBESPIERRE, MOB, GUARDS, PRISONERS; ROBESPIERRE and CHAUVELIN watch from the steps of the building in silence. CHAUVELIN is not happy about the scene, but braces himself comme il fault in the presence of his superior]

[MOB, GAURDS, PRISONERS: MADAME GUILLOTINE]

MOB
I know the gutter and I know the stink of the street
Kicked like a dog, I have spat out the bile of defeat
All you beauties who towered above me
You who gave me the smack of your rod
Now I give you the gutter
I give you the judgment of God!

Vengeance victorious
These are the glorious days
Women of Paris,
Come gather your bloody bouquets!
Now gaze on our goddess of justice
With her shimmering, glimmering blade
As she kisses these traitors
She sings them a last serenade

Sing, swing
Savour the sting
As she severs you, Madame Guillotine
Slice, come paradise
You'll be smitten with Madame Guillotine

The world may be ugly,
But each man must do what he must
Give in pretty dear,
In a year you will be pretty dust
Now come let our lady possess you
In her breathtaking, hair-raising bed
She will tingle your spine
As she captures your heart and your head

Sing, swing
Savour the sting
As she severs you, Madame Guillotine
Slice, come paradise
Our Delilah will shave you razor clean

PRISONER
God, when did man lose his reason?
Save us, my God, if you're there
God, can you not feel the terror
Like a fire in the air?

MOB
Flash, slash!
Glisten and gash!
She will ravish you,
Madame Guillotine
Split, Madame just bit
Give her more to bite,
she's a hungry queen
Sing, savour the sting
As she severs you,
Madame Guillotine
Slice, come paradise
Hail her Majesty!
Madame Guillotine!

GUARD (addressing the MOB): All right, off you go, that’s all for today, more tomorrow, same as yesterday, same as the day before.

[The bystanders disperse, chatting indistinctly on their way]

CHAUVELIN: (looks at his pocket-watch) Well, that’s for the main course. Now I’m off for some dessert at La Comedie Française.

ROBESPIERRE: Why, my dear Chauvelin, I didn’t know you loved theatre.

CHAUVELIN: I don’t; I love one particular actress, mademoiselle Marguerite Saint-Just. It’s her last night, I cannot miss that. Our goddess and the cleverest woman in Europe decided to marry and leave the stage.

ROBESPIERRE: She is not marrying you, is she?

CHAUVELIN: No.

ROBESPIERRE: Good! I need you in your right mind and by my side. There are traitors everywhere.

CHAUVELIN: I go there just to say goodbye – and on some official business, too. I shall report later.

ROBESPIERRE: All right. To each his own Saint-Just, I suppose. Louis and I have piles of paperwork. Give my regards to his charming cousin for both of us. But remember that I expect you in my office first thing in the morning.

[Black out.]




SCENE: LA COMEDIE FRANÇAISE, ON STAGE

[STORYBOOK]

MARGUERITE
Listen to me, I have beautiful dreams I can spin you
Dreams to linger within you
Close your eyes and we'll ride my carousel
I'll sing you stories of lovers
Whose love used to fill me
And the lovers who will be
For, you see, love is one thing I do well
Come, let's believe
Love can be just as sweet as it seems
Let's live on dreams!

In my dreams such beautiful lovers have found me
Storybook lovers surround me
Nothing is real, but I'm flying, sighing
Where, where, where is my storybook ending?
Why does my golden pretending
Leave me with nothing to hold but my dreams?

Oh, is it only in dreams that we find our ideal love?
Are there lovers with real love?
If you know how to feel love, show me how
Ah, but my prince, if you can't be as sweet as you seem
I'd rather dream

Come and wake me!
Come be the love I can hold now
Storybook love leaves me cold now
Show me the way to stop dreaming
There is only one perfect storybook ending
That is the end of pretending
That is the moment I say, love me now!

Thank you, my dear friends, for sharing with me my last performance at La Comedie Française. I love you! (blows kisses) I am leaving you now to live through my own storybook ending, but remember, wherever I go, my heart stays here, in Paris!

Et sur mon manege, l'amour toujours est chantant
De mes reves, c'est le commencement
Et j'espere une fin heureuse
Mais la fin de l'histoire ne vient pas tres doucement
Pour l'histoire, il faut faire semblant
Certes je n'embrasse que mes reves
Seuls mes reves!

[MARGUERITE bows, smiles, blows kisses, etc.]




SCENE: LA COMEDIE FRANÇAISE, BACKSTAGE


[MARGUERITE’s room. During the scene MARGUERITE is removing her make-up, changing behind the screen, etc., then sits by her mirror. CHAUVELIN knocks on the door]

MARGUERITE: Come in, my dear! I told you, you don’t have to knock all the time!

[CHAUVELIN enters]

MARGUERITE: Oh, it’s you! Good evening! You found some time to visit an old friend in between the executions, after all?

CHAUVELIN: Touché. However someone has to do the dirty work. That’s how I serve our country, the country you are so eager to forsake to throw yourself into the arms of the most undeserving creature imaginable.

MARGUERITE: What gives you the right to speak of him in such a way?

CHAUVELIN: I’ve made my inquiries. Sir Percy Blakeney, baronet, the most brainless, spineless and useless fop in whole of the United Kingdom, born to an imbecile mother, quite probably an imbecile himself. A perfect specimen of English manhood.

MARGUERITE: He loves me.

CHAUVELIN: Who doesn’t? Yet you picked him, of all men.

MARGUERITE: Not only he loves me, but he also has the courage to declare it for all the world to see, which seems to be a herculean labour for some men. My fiancé is not one of them.

CHAUVELIN: And, coincidentally, such a good catch, cherie. The diamond he gave you can blind the last row of the gallery, and, him being so close to the Prince of Wales, you will be petted and fêted all over London. My congratulations. Oh, imagine that! You, turning so ancien regime, settling down, mingling with royalty. That’s not the girl I once knew. Just remember that day! Your rendition of La Marseillaise was the most passionate I had ever heard. To me you were France unbound. The way you looked during the procession – I’ll never forget. And the night after that…

MARGUERITE: My God, Chauvelin! Let it go already. We were together that one time, drunk on dream and freedom, caught up in the moment, almost two years ago, and you still keep bringing it up. It was nothing.

CHAUVELIN: (chuckles) Four times, to be precise. Anyway, I did not come here to dwell in those delicious memories. I am here on state business. Will you cooperate?

MARGUERITE: What do you want me to do?

CHAUVELIN: Do you remember marquis de St.Cir?

MARGUERITE: I wish I don’t. The monster! What of him?

CHAUVELIN: How is your brother, by the way?

MARGUERITE: How would you be, having been thrashed within an inch of your life by half a dozen footmen? It’s been only a month, he’s still a wreck, but Armand is such a brave boy. Percy says we must take him to Bath, the waters work wonders. Why do you ask?

CHAUVELIN: You can avenge your brother, you know. That’s why I came. Call it my farewell gift to you. We can bring the marquis to justice and make him pay.

MARGUERITE: What do you mean?

CHAUVELIN: I have irrefutable proof that he is conspiring with the Austrians, but if I arrest him for that, the gossip will be all over Paris in an hour, his accomplices will lie low and it will take me forever to capture them. But as long as he is summoned to answer just for the attempted murder of you brother, it will arise no suspicion, and I shall have him where I want him without the fuss. You and Armand shall testify, the police will start the investigation, accidently find out about his Austrian connections, hand him over to me, then… Well, the rest is no concern of yours.

MARGUERITE: What if I refuse?

CHAUVELIN: Think! Your Armand… but a child! Such a sweet, handsome, intelligent aspiring young man, almost murdered in such a brutal way – and why? Because St.Cir imagined him to be in love with one of his daughters. If you refuse, St.Cir will continue doing as he pleases, giving offense right and left and undermining the Republic. If he and his confederates succeed, we’ll see La Belle France ravished by alien mercenaries from all over Europe. You call what I do bloodshed; you will find Convention a nursery compared to those fellows. I shall say no more. You are the cleverest woman in Europe and a patriot. You know what to do, and you will write the paper I ask you for.

MARGUERITE: High treason is a capital offense, and times being what they are, this would mean not only the marquis’s execution, but his family’s as well. Yes, I do want him to pay for what he did, but that’s too harsh. What if I don’t write it?

CHAUVELIN: Oh, you will. I’m sure your future husband would be more than interested to know some of your, you know, boudoir secrets, things you like, things you don’t like…

MARGUERITE: I like your nerve. Reminding me of our liaison brought you nowhere, and you resort to blackmail, and what kind of blackmail! For shame! Still, what if I don’t?

CHAUVELIN: Then I’m prepared to do it for you.

[PERCY enters and hears the last remark]

PERCY: Sink me! Prepared to do what? My darling, you don’t say that this gentleman will double for you at La Comedie Française when I steal you away?

MARGUERITE: I doubt if citizen Robespierre will be able to spare him. Percy, meet my old friend, citizen Chauvelin, chief agent of the Committee of National Security. Sir Percy Blakeney, baronet, my fiancé.

PERCY: Enchanté.

CHAUVELIN: Ditto. So, you are robbing us of the cleverest woman in Europe, the most talented actress and, above all, such a rare beauty?

PERCY: So I am. A fragrant rose in full bloom doesn’t belong in a butcher shop.

CHAUVELIN: Transplantation is a tricky business. Take good care of the rose, lest it withered on strange soil.

MARGUERITE: Gentlemen, you are both very clever, I’m sure, but I’m starving. Percy, please, take me somewhere before we leave. Say good bye to each other nicely, and let us go. (PERCY nods.)

CHAUVELIN: Bon voyage! M-lle Saint-Just, if you ever get too cold or bored in Britain, France will always be willing to welcome you back. As for the trifle I told you about, don’t trouble yourself, I shall see it through, your presence isn’t that necessary.

MARGUERITE: DON’T!.. Don’t! I absolutely forbid you!..(stops short) Well, adieu!
[MARGUERITE and PERCY leave]

CHAUVELIN (alone): Au revoir!

[Black out]




SCENE: THE GARDEN OF BLAKENEY MANOR

[MARGUERITE and PERCY down-stage: YOU ARE MY HOME]

PERCY
From this day on, I give myself to you
Here in my arms, you will be free
I only want you as you are
Give me your trust
Grow old with me

MARGUERITE
I promise you to cherish and to hold
Now and as long as we both live
I'll make you laugh; I'll keep you warm
There is so much I want to give

(Hand in hand)

PERCY AND MARGUERITE
You are my home
You make me strong
And in this world of strangers
I belong to someone
You are all I know
You're all I have
I won't let go

PERCY
May God above shine through this love
To make us man and wife
This is what I've wanted all my life

[The curtain rises, we see the GUESTS and ARMAND; ARMAND looks very much unwell, has to use a walking stick as an aid rather than as an accessory, and spends the most part of the scene in his chair]

PERCY, MARGUERITE AND COMPANY
You are my home
You make me strong
And in this world of strangers
I belong to someone
You are all I know
You're all I have
I need you so
I won't let go
You are my home

[They kiss, the guests applaud.]

PERCY: Welcome to England, darling! Any questions?

MARGUERITE: Yes, Percy, in England when do the wedding guests leave the bride and groom alone?

PERCY: Tally-ho, time to go, bed-time, everyone!

OZZY: Not before we dance with the bride.

PERCY: And so you shall. But do be careful, don’t tread on her feet. Lady Blakeney is made of crystal! A more tender, pure and perfect creature never walked this Earth.

[OZZY leads MARGUERITE off to dance]

ARMAND (good-naturedly): Don’t you talk like that around Margot, brother-in-law, don’t spoil her. My big sister is proud and presumptuous as it is, her tongue as sharp as the cut of your frock-coat. If she constantly hears things like that, she will become completely impossible.

PERCY (good-naturedly): Don’t spoil her?! The things you say, my dear chap, that’s what's impossible.

[Enter TONY, HIS COUSIN and COUNTESS DE TOURNAY. MARGUERITE and the GUESTS continue dancing up-stage.]

PERCY: Dewhurst, what took you so long? I thought you were not coming at all. Welcome, welcome!

TONY: Please excuse my attire, I have only just arrived, but I couldn’t miss it altogether. I also crave your permission to introduce you my cousin and one of her French relations, countess de Tournay. We all came straight from Paris, it’s a really long and sad story, I shall explain later. I hope you don’t mind.

PERCY: Well, of course not, it is a pleasure. Sink me, I am so happy that I would extend the invitation to the whole Europe. Let me welcome you on behalf of Britain! And you must meet my wife. God, but I love the sound of it – “My wife!” Marguerite, my darling, we have some new guests! Oh, no. She’s engaged at this precise moment – everyone wants to dance with her.

COUNTESS DE TOURNAY (seeing MARGUERITE from across the stage): Marguerite Saint-Just?! I won’t stay here a moment longer! I don’t want to have anything to do with that woman. She has blood on her hands!

PERCY: I beg your pardon?

COUNTESS DE TOURNAY: She sent the marquis de St.Cir and his entire family to the guillotine, the innocent children as well.

PERCY: Nonsense! My dear countess, do you even know my wife?

COUNTESS DE TOURNAY: Do you? The marquis had her brother beaten, and that was her revenge. If you don’t believe me, take any Parisian paper and read for yourself.

PERCY: Tony, please, take the countess somewhere, give her champagne or something. (in a low voice, to TONY) Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, and I won’t turn the countess out of my house, not on the happiest day of my life, but this is simply preposterous!

TONY: Oh, absolutely! M-lle Saint-Just… lady Blakeney has nothing but disgust for this new regime, we all know it. It must have been her cousin! I’ve brought some papers with me from France; I may even have a couple on me. I’ll look through them – I am absolutely sure that the countess is mistaken. I’ll prove her wrong.

[TONY leads the COUNTESS DE TOURNAY offstage; the dance ends, MARGUERITE comes down-stage to PERCY].

MARGUERITE: Percy, did you call?

PERCY: Oh, it’s nothing.

MARGUERITE: You seem to be upset.

PERCY: Upset? I’m raving mad, that is all.

MARGUERITE: Tell me.

PERCY: You don’t want to hear this. An insolent malicious lie. Had it been a man who told me this, I’d be fighting him right now, in spite of the cake and His Royal Majesty’s decree…

MARGUERITE: Well?

PERCY (mumbling): There was this woman that Tony brought, this countess…

MARGUERITE (getting bored): Why, a newly-wed husband, who is about to share his bridal night with a beautiful loving bride, keeps thinking of other women (kisses him). It’s the happiest day of my life! Tell me again that you love me.

PERCY: God knows I do. So, this countess, she accused you of the most preposterous thing… I didn’t believe my ears; I can hardly repeat it…

MARGUERITE: (playfully) Then don’t! If you love me, you must trust me blindly and take me as I am, no matter what society accuses me of and what sinister secrets my past holds. Just as I trust you.

PERCY: Sinister secrets, my darling? What might those be?

MARGUERITE: (playfully) If you love me that must not matter to you. Are you not my slave?

PERCY: God knows I am.

MARGUERITE: Then obey your charming little wife. Oh, the music starts again. I promised the next dance to lord Hastings. (flies off)

[TONY enters; he has a paper in his hand.]

PERCY: Tony? Oh, come on, out with it!

TONY (gives PERCY the paper): Percy, I am so sorry.

PERCY (reads): Oh, dear God…

[THE GUESTS continue dancing, then couple by couple bow out. PERCY shakes hands with his friends, MARGUERITE kisses ladies on the cheek, etc. At last they are alone. The lights dim.]

MARGUERITE: (kisses him) Percy, what is it after all?

PERCY: I am sorry… but… I must talk to you.

MARGUERITE (kisses him): Charmant! I can almost hear you say ‘I am sorry, but I must exercise my rights as a husband on you’ (laughs). Pray talk, but be brief – at long last we are alone!

PERCY: God knows I don’t want to bring it up now, but I must know (hands the paper over to MARGUERITE). Is any of this true?

MARGUERITE (reads, gasps, then slowly gives the paper back; a long pause): We have been waiting this whole spring for tonight. Please, don’t ruin it.

PERCY: Don’t you think that I am entitled to some kind of explanation? Is that all you are going to say to me?

MARGUERITE (as a challenge): Do you love me?

PERCY: I do.

MARGUERITE: Then, as I said, obey your loving, charming, sweet little French wife, be a good boy and go to bed. (She pats him on the cheek, he catches her hand by the wrist and takes it away)

PERCY: In a moment, darling. I must get some air. (MARGUERITE shrugs, sniffs and leaves)

[PRAYER]

No, stay
I don't care what you've said or done
Don't go away
Not now, when life had just begun

Come back, and be the woman who I knew
Help me to believe in you
What on earth am I to do?

She's gone, this vision who was not quite real
I must move on despite the pain
The pain will heal

Oh, Lord, how could you let me love like this?
No one dies upon a kiss
And only fools believe in bliss

And yes, God knows I am a fool
A man deluded by his wife
A figure ripe for ridicule
Who's lived a vain and useless life

So be it then, I'll play that game
I do not give a tinker's damn
I'll be a fool, it's all the same
It truly doesn't matter what I am

God, no!

I'm broken, but I'm still alive
And slowly I will feel my soul revive
With time, I'll find a way to right this wrong
If it takes my whole life long
I'll fight my battles all alone
But make me strong




SCENE: SIR PERCY’S LIBRARY

[The day breaks. PERCY tears his coat off, collapses into his chair and falls fast-asleep.]

[Enter Percy’s FRIENDS: TONY, ANDREW, HAL, OZZY, ELTON, FARLEY accompanied by JESSOP, the valet. PERCY wakes up.]

ELTON: …It’s our tradition. The morning after the groom must leave the bride and play cricket with the boys.

JESSOP: Yes, but in this case the groom has been up all night.

OZZY: Up all night? I should hope so. (JESSOP exits)

ANDREW: My dear chap, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost! What happened? Come on, you know you can trust us all.

TONY: Percy, do forgive me! Is it… is it lady Blakeney?

[PERCY demands silence, but it’s too late]

OZZY: What of this charming creature? She obviously loves you, my lad, otherwise you would not be this exhausted after your bridal night. She could not possibly waste ALL of your fortune on silk and diamonds in one day and leave you in debt! (laughs out loud)

PERCY: Oh, indeed I am in debt. Neck deep.

TONY: Leave him alone!

PERCY: No, don’t leave me alone. Rather tell me, what should one do when the world turns upside down?

ELTON: Play cricket!

PERCY: I’ll hardly be able to enjoy it when our brothers and sisters across the Channel are massacred every day and innocent blood fills the gutters.

FARLEY: Just what I was thinking! It’s all pretty appalling.

ALL: Hear, hear!

OZZY: Since when do you count the French your brothers? We are at war with them since time immemorial.

PERCY: When this madness, this barbarian bloodshed is brought to an end, I shall with greatest pleasure consider myself in state of war with France again, and meanwhile… I, for one, am no longer content to sit back on my pampered British ass and do nothing.

HAL: By all means! We must write a pamphlet against all this. I volunteer to draw the frontispiece!

PERCY (loses his temper): That’s not good enough! I say we fight them.

ELTON: Did he say ‘fight’? As in ‘fight the French’? Percy, use your head.

PERCY: That’s precisely what I have in mind. Use our heads. Of course, you are right, we cannot rush in like madmen with swords and pistols. We won’t last a day and will save no one. We are desperately outnumbered, hence we must find a way to do what we can under cover using every trick, diversion and disguise we can think of. They outnumber us, we outwit them.

OZZY: Whom do you mean by “we”?

PERCY: Me… and myself.

TONY: I cannot possibly let you do that alone. I understand you perfectly. You can count on me.

FARLEY: Me too! I just never knew where to start. We’ll show them!

ANDREW: It’s not only the question of ‘them’. What of His Royal Majesty, God bless him? What of His Royal Highness? The war is in the air, but is not declared yet. It would not be the way of a gentleman to start it behind their backs.

PERCY: No, no, this isn’t to become a French-English war, this is our own private war. You are right; we must take care so that our escapades remain a secret. Luckily no one will suspect useless dilettantes like us.

FARLEY: Are you calling me a useless dilettante?

PERCY: Are you not? You made an exceptional shot last Monday and work wonders on the dance floor, but, other than that, what are you?

FARLEY: I mean that we are accomplished men, all of us. I took up chemistry to fill an idle hour, but now it might be quite helpful. Fireworks are made with gunpowder, you know.

PERCY: I am sorry, my friend. I guess I wanted to say that we don’t have to take any special care at home; no one really take us seriously, and we might just want to go one step further in our triviality. Take fashion, for example. The perfect camouflage. Only a few are able to grasp the idea that love for fine lace can go with love for humanity. The common sad misconception will help us, and we need all the help we can get.

HAL: My mind is made up. It is a noble cause, and quite a sport, just what a gentleman needs. Lead on, I shall follow.

ALL: Hear, hear! Me too!, etc.

OZZY: Oh, I am too old for this!

PERCY: It’s all right, I cannot ask any of you to put your lives on the line. All I beg for is secrecy.

OZZY: I did not say no, young man! I just meant that I’ll try to keep up.

PERCY (laughs): Good! We need a symbol, a kind of a password, something to be recognized by.

ELTON: A rose? A royal lily?

PERCY: A humble English wayside flower. The Scarlet Pimpernel. That sounds good.

TONY: It’s red as blood.

PERCY: No, it’s red as bonnie lass’s lips, as holly berries of December, as sunrise of June. For each poor soul we save we shall send a note with the sign of the Scarlet Pimpernel to Robespierre himself.

ANDREW: Seven men against thousands, in a strange land drowning in its own blood. How much can we do? Suppose we trick or buy the French and work some impossible wonder – how many we shall be able to save? A dozen? What difference will it make?

PERCY: A huge difference for those who live. We cannot save all, but we can create a legend, give hope to those in despair and set an example. We are few, we are, all of us, afraid, but we must begin somewhere.

[During the number the LEAGUE practice fencing and try on various disguises; the scene transforms into PERCY’s schooner, then into la place de la Révolution]

[INTO THE FIRE]

PERCY

David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail

Into valleys, into waters
Into jungles, into hell
Let us ride, let us ride home again with a story to tell
Into darkness, into danger
Into storms that rip the night
Don't give in, but give up
But give thanks for the glorious fight

You can tremble, you can fear it
But keep your fighting spirit alive boys
Let the shiver of it sting you
Fling into battle, spring to your feet boys
Never hold back your step for a moment
Never doubt that your courage will grow
Hold your head even higher and into the fire we go

Are there mountains that surround us?
Are there walls that block the way?
Knock 'em down, strip 'em back boys
And forward and into the fray
Into terror, into valour
Charge ahead, no, never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn

Someone has to face the valley
Rush in, we have to rally and win boys
When the world is saying not to
By God, you know you've got to march on, boys
Never hold back your step for a moment
Never doubt that your courage will grow
Hold your head ever higher and into the fire we go

Let the lightning strike
Let the flash of it shock you
Choke your fears away
Pull as tight as a wire
Let the fever spike
Let the force of it rock you
We will have our day, sailing into the fire

Someone has to face the valley
Rush in! We have to rally and win boys
When the world is saying not to
By God, you know you've got to march on, boys
Never hold back your step for a moment
Look alive! Oh, your courage will grow
Yes, it's higher and higher and into the fire we go
Into fire!
Onward, ho!

[By now the LEAGUE is completely transformed, and so is the stage.]




SCENE: PARIS, LA PLACE DE LA RÉVOLUTION

[The LEAGUE mingles into the crowd awaiting for the execution and virtually disappears. UNDERSCORE: MADAME GUILLOTINE. The MOB moves about as the time passes, then start rumbling; the GUARDS trot to and fro looking baffled. One of the GUARDS briefly disappears and brings CHAUVELIN down-stage. CHAUVELIN looks around, listens to what 1st GUARD whispers him and snaps]

CHAUVELIN: Oh, for the love of… not again!

1st GRUARD: Citizen Chauvelin, we…

CHAUVELIN: The audience expects an execution. You are ruining everybody’s afternoon. Should I have you beheaded instead? Wait. First I want a formal report, each and every detail, however small, I need everything.

2nd GUARD: There was this note he gave me…

CHAUVELIN: Give it to me. Well, of course. And this time in verse! Our little hero is quite a poet. “They seek him here, they seek him there, Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in Heaven, is he in Hell, That demmed, elusive Pimpernel?”. Can you read at all?

2nd GUARD: That’s not French, that’s some gibberish. He said it was a code our superiors would understand.

CHAUVELIN: Never mind. I shall keep it for my collection. Such elegant hand. (returns to his position on the steps beside ROBESPIERRE, beckoning the GUARDS to follow him; during the dialogue the bystanders disperse)

ROBESPIERRE (in a low voice, losing his temper from time to time): This is downright ridiculous. What was it this time? More plague-ridden peasants? Yet another arson? Pretend mob rule suppressed by fake national guard? Some busty wench offering free wine laced with rum? Which? Which of a thousand diversions and million disguises?

1st GUARD: Actually, he was an officer carrying a special order of… of…

CHAUVELIN: Out with it, you fool!

1st GUARD: Of citizen Robespierre.

ROBESPIERRE: Of all the nerve!

2nd GUARD: He said the prisoners turned out to know some important information about some escape plot and must be questioned by citizen…

CHAUVELIN: Go on.

1st GUARD: Citizen Robespierre himself in his secret residence.

ROBESPIERRE: My secret residence! And where might that be?

2nd GUARD: Rue du Renard-Saint-Merri, number 4.

(ROBESPIERRE stomps, CHAUVELIN bursts out laughing.)

1st GUARD: So, we helped him to escort the prisoners. The house looked really seedy. His men took them inside, and he ordered us to guard the door. That was it. Then he gave us a sol for our pains each, this note and left.

CHAUVELIN: Pains, indeed.

ROBESPIERRE: The guards they send us nowadays!

2nd GUARD: That’s what he said.

CHAUVELIN: Where do you even come from, young men?

1st GUARD: Normandy, citizen. Recruited not a month past.

CHAUVELIN: Then of course how could you know all the brothels in the city. (dismisses the GUARDS with a gesture; they retire to a respectful distance and wait) This Scarlet Pimpernel is a damned genius; he thinks of everything and knows everyone!

ROBESPIERRE: I want this man torn limb from limb. Then I’d burn what’s left of him and dump the ashes into the sewer.

CHAUVELIN: First we must catch him, or at least some of his accomplices.

ROBESPIERRE: The Pimpernel’s right hand man is standing before me! He would have never succeeded, had you had your job done.

CHAUVELIN: With all due respect, citizen, it’s hardly my job to guard the prisoners, or drive the carts.

ROBESPIERRE: Now it is. This nuisance must cease. From now on you are personally responsible for each prisoner or suspect who escapes with the help of this Scarlet Pimpernel.

CHAUVELIN: Don’t you think that I can be better employed rather than hunt a damned shadow, that doesn’t actually do that much harm? He has spared barely a handful out of thousands.

ROBESPIERRE: You heard me. I don’t care if some wretched ci-devants flee, they don’t belong here and to hell with them, but I do care about the image of France. If the Republic can be so easily fooled by this cursed phantom again and again, what sort of police and army does it have? To be the laughing stock of the whole Europe because of one meddlesome Englishman?

CHAUVELIN: There are at least a dozen.

ROBESPIERRE: (barks) There must be none! (storms offstage)

[FALCON IN THE DIVE]

CHAUVELIN
Hunt for the man
Comb the city, every street, every grate
You put a guard at every gate
Drag him out, shout the moment that you find him!
Damn!
Knock in the doors, lock up the city
Track him down through this town
And be quick about it...now!
How the devil do I ever prevail
when I'm only a man?
But I'll never be duped by this scurrilous phantom again

I wasn't born to walk on water
I wasn't born to sack and slaughter
But on my soul, I wasn't born
To stoop, to scorn, and knuckle under
A man can learn to steal some thunder
A man can learn to work some wonder
And when the guantlet's down,
it's time to rise and climb the sky
And soon the moon will smoulder
And the winds will drive
Yes, a man grows older
but his soul remains alive
All those tremulous stars still glitter
and I will survive!
Let my heart grow colder and as bitter
as a falcon in the dive

There was a dream, a dying ember
There was a dream, I don't remember
But I will resurrect that dream
Though rivers stream and hills grow steeper
For here in hell where life gets cheaper
Oh, here in hell the blood runs deeper
And when the final duel is near
I'll lift my spear and fly
Piercing into the sky and higher
And the strong will thrive
Yes, the weak will cower
while the fittest will survive
If we wait for the darkest hour
Till we spring alive
Then with claws of fire,
we devour like a falcon in the dive

These are the days! Yes!
Days of glory, days of rage, and the dream
And the dream of Paris preys on my bones
Gnawing night and day and
clawing through my brain and
Never kneel! No, never bend!
Rend him to bits! Bite!
Now, the beauty of the fight
I'm not a man to hunger for blood, but the spirit can cry
To be younger and fiercer and fly
Piercing into the sky and higher
And the strong will thrive
Yes, the weak will cower
while the fittest will survive
If we wait for the darkest hour
Till we spring alive
Then with claws of fire,
we devour like a falcon in the dive

[Blackout]




SCENE: BLAKENEY MANOR, SIR PERCY’S LIBRARY

[Enter PERCY and ARMAND. PERCY comes all the way to the center of the stage and ‘looks in the mirror’ adjusting his clothes, humming. Hesitating ARMAND comes up to him. He is still with his walking stick and rather pale; from time to time he winces in pain, sits down and stands up with difficulty, etc.]

ARMAND (clears his throat): Sir Percy, I must talk to you.

PERCY: Pray talk, my lad.

ARMAND: I must talk to you as a brother. Well, not as your brother, but as your wife’s and my sister’s – as Marguerite’s brother, as your brother-in-law. Man to man.

PERCY: Man to man, eh? I am all ears, as a brother, my dear brother-in-law.

ARMAND: Right. It’s damn awkward. I have never done this before. Don’t tell Margot, she will kill me. So... I cannot help but see that… (pause)

PERCY: Yes?

ARMAND: That she is unhappy.

PERCY: Pray go on.

ARMAND: I have stayed with you for quite a while now, and I am certain of it. What happened? You used to worship the ground she treaded on. And now you are always gone, even when you are here. It’s all silly jokes, and bon-mots, and yacht trips, and fishing in Scotland, and I know not what, and she is left all by herself in this… gilded cage, or has to go to social functions alone.

PERCY: Gilded cage, eh? That’s something that she would say. So strange, though. She is the belle of every ball, courted by everybody, from what I hear.

ARMAND: Everybody save you!

PERCY: Sink me, my dear, I am her husband!

ARMAND: That’s not an explanation, and I demand one. As a brother.

PERCY (after a pause): Man to man, I, too, demanded one from your sister on a certain matter and never got it. That did create some coolness.

ARMAND: What “certain matter” was it?

PERCY: Oh, just a trifle I chanced upon in a paper. Here. I don’t go anywhere without it. Just to remember why I feel the way I feel. (takes out of his breast pocket the paper and hands it over)

ARMAND: (reads; then, shocked and angry, repeats aloud) “Denounced by a noble daughter of our Motherland, m-lle Saint-Juste. Brava, prima donna!”?! Nonsense!

PERCY: That’s what I was thinking. But, from what she said, looks like it must be true and she just played with me like with a lovesick fool I was. Some revenge! She must love you very much indeed. And thus she demanded of my love a humiliating allegiance it was not prepared to give, she demanded that I should forfeit my honour…

ARMAND (returns the paper to PERCY; he puts it back into his breast pocket): And that’s why you ceased to love her. What a tragedy!

PERCY: Ceased? I shall love her to the day I die, that is the tragedy.

ARMAND (completely crushed): Now I understand. And what am I supposed to do now? The marquis was the devil incarnate, and good riddance, but his family!.. How can I face her or myself? Oh, dear God, such cruelty, such hate! All for my sake, all for love. And now nothing can be done, they are gone and I am damned. Oh, if only I could turn back time and do something!

PERCY: If you really mean it, there is something you can do now.

ARMAND: Really, sir Percy?

PERCY: Yes. But you must swear, by all you hold sacred, that you won’t reveal to anyone what I am about to tell you.

[PERCY looks around, takes ARMAND up-stage, talks to him indistinctly, gesturing; UNDERSCORE: INTO THE FIRE. As PERCY talks on, ARMAND looks shocked, surprised, enthusiastic. Music swells; ARMAND and PERCY shake hands and embrace: ARMAND is in! Both turn to the audience, demand silence with a gesture, and quickly walk into opposite wings].




SCENE: THE GARDEN OF BLAKENEY MANOR

[Tea table in the garden of Blakeney Manor. MARGUERITE sits by the table with a piece of needlework, MAIDS go about their chores.]

[THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL]

MAID
Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel?

(Each MAID separately)
I'm told he swaggers on a heath
With several daggers in his teeth
They say he cracks the longest whip
And has the stiffest upper lip
I've heard he's had his skin tattooed
And dances in the nude

ALL
Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel?

[Enter ARMAND and PERCY and join in the song. PERCY is wearing a rather extravagant incroyable coat; ARMAND’s attire bears a striking resemblance to it, though looks a little bit more modest. He is now without his walking stick, looks well and strong. MARGUERITE serves them tea.]

PERCY:
Now really, girls- you can't believe just anything you hear
For accuracy I look to the daily press
Today they say the fellows a Venetian gondolier

MARGUERITE
A lusty Latin lover

PERCY
Yes, well, more or less
And although he's feeble minded
They report he's all the rage
When he travels with his twelve foot spear
He was seen the other day
Hacking off a Frenchie's ear

MAIDS
He's always at it tooth and nail

PERCY
There's always someone to impale
But he relaxes now and then
To take a sail upon the Seine

MARGUERITE
I wish he'd sail away with me

PERCY
Or simply come to tea?

FEMALE SERVANTS
This plucky ne'er-do-well

PERCY
This lucky bloody swell

ALL
Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel?

PERCY: Since the Scarlet Pimpernel decided not to grace us with his presence today, there will be only me. It’s a dangerous business, my dear, falling in love with a phantom. For all you know, he can be a married man, deeply in love with his wife.

MARGUERITE: I am not in love with him. I only admire his courage and his kind heart. Now that’s a real man! I wish there would be more like him.

PERCY: Odds fish, my dear, one is quite enough. He has already made our lives damn inconvenient. Because of him it’s nearly impossible to talk to your customs with my English accent.

MARGUERITE: Don’t even get me started on your stupid, reckless French trips. I won’t be surprised if next week you decide to go to Paris for some new buttons or other.

PERCY: Nonsense! First of all, last time I went to Scotland. And the time before that Dewhurst showed me some new property he inherited in Yorkshire.

MARGUERITE: Was that the time when your dear friend showed you also his new gun and almost shot you?

PERCY: It was but a scratch! And my own fault by the way; so, please, don’t blame Tony. Armand, help me.

ARMAND: Percy is absolutely right! It wasn’t lord Dewhurst, it was the National gu…

PERCY (interrupting): So, we are not going to Paris! Going to Paris would be really unwise…

MARGUERITE: Oh, good!

PERCY: …We are going to Lyon. (MARGUERITE glares at him) You see, there is this tailor, he fled from Paris and settled there, he is desperate, and my boys and I are like his only clients. He promised me the most amazing new incroyable patterns. You’ll love them!

MARGUERITE: Why not wait till others bring them here?

PERCY: And be the last person in London to wear them? Thank you, madam. I see: you don’t want your husband to be perfect.

MARGUERITE: I don’t want my husband to get drowned or shot. Though I see so little of him, I might as well be a widow. Risking your life for a pair of new lace cuffs! (to ARMAND) And you! You are as bad as he is. Armand, I know you are fond of Percy, but do you really have to copy everything he does? Even those stupid trips to the continent. Now, when you have just recovered. It’s lunacy!

ARMAND: I can’t help it. I admire him. You have no idea. He is the best man I’ve ever known. He…

PERCY (interrupting): More tea for monsieur Armand!

ARMAND: Right. Well, Marguerite, I promise you, I will be careful. And our name is a shield in itself, thanks to our distinguished cousin. It’s so funny when you hire horses, or talk to the customs, or guards…

PERCY (interrupting): Cake, Armand? Or some toffee, perhaps?

ARMAND: Right. Well, I must go pack, I guess.

PERCY: Off you go, lad, tomorrow we sail with the tide. (ARMAND leaves) And this ball in the evening! I must get some sleep. Those trips are damn exhausting, but the finery won’t get here itself. (yawns) Thank you for the tea, darling. You were lovely, as usual. (lounges in the armchair and closes his eyes)

MARGUERITE: (after a big pause) Why have you changed? I barely recognize you.

PERCY: (yawns, eyes closed) You didn’t expect me to wear the same breeches as I wore at luncheon. Gentleman always changes. (pretends to fall fast-asleep)

MARGUERITE: [WHEN I LOOK AT YOU]

When I look at you, what I always see
Is the face of someone else
Who once belonged to me
Still I can hear him laugh
And even though that melody plays on,
He's gone

When I look at you, he is standing there
I can almost breathe him in like summer in the air
Why do you smile his smile?
That heaven I'd forgotten eases through,
In you

If you could look at me once more
With all the love you felt before
If you and I could disappear into the past
And find that love we knew
I'd never take my eyes away from you

When I look at you, he is touching me
I would reach for him,
But who can hold a memory?
And love isn't everything
That moonlight on the bed will melt away,
Someday

Oh, you were once that someone
Whom I followed like a star
Then suddenly you changed,
And now I don't know who you are
Or could it be
That I never really knew you from the start?
Did I create a dream?
Was he a fantasy?
Even a memory is paradise
For all the fools like me
Now remembering is all that I can do
Because I miss him so when I look at you

[MARGUERITE leaves, crying. PERCY ‘wakes up’, takes the piece of needlework MARGUERITE left behind]

PERCY [WHEN I LOOK AT YOU]

Oh, you were once that someone
Whom I followed like a star
Then suddenly you changed,
And now I don't know who you are
Or could it be
That I never really knew you from the start?
Did I create a dream?
Was she a fantasy?
Even a memory is paradise
For all the fools like me
Now remembering is all that I can do
Because I miss her so when I look at you

[PERCY leaves in the opposite direction]

[Enter CHAUVELIN followed by a VALET]

CHAUVELIN (gives to the VALET his cloak and hat): Citizen Chauvelin, special envoy of the French Republic. I am here to see lady Blakeney.

VALET: Is my lady expecting you?

CHAUVELIN: She would be, if she knew I was coming. I brought her some really exciting news from Paris. Go, my dear fellow, I shall wait. (paces the garden looking around)

[PERCY enters, unseen. The VALET on his way whispers something in his ear, PERCY nods. After a moment’s hesitation PERCY rushes to CHAUVELIN with open arms. CHAUVELIN, who has not seen him coming, is shocked. PERCY embraces him.]

PERCY (assumes the manner and throughout the conversation keeps invading CHAUVELIN’s personal space): My dear monsieur… Chauvelin – is it? Do not say a single word! My house is your house; stay as long as you like until we find some decent property for you to rent. How bitterly you must have suffered! Pale as death, dressed in these horrid rags…

CHAUVELIN: My lord?

PERCY: Oh, stiff upper lip! You take it all as a real gentleman should, I salute you!

CHAUVELIN: Take what?

PERCY: Why, your situation! The murderous dog of the revolution is turning upon the very hands that fed it! Oh, the irony; oh, the horror. Never mind, let us put it all behind. The point is that you are safe now. I have some influence, you know. I shall tell your sad story to my good friend Pitt, he could use a smart fellow like you!

CHAUVELIN: I am flattered, but my allegiance currently lies with the French Republic.

PERCY: Wait a minute! Why are you here then? I thought you were one of those poor souls who seek refuge from the terror.

CHAUVELIN: Guessed as much. No, I came here as a special envoy and I am seeking something quite different. I regret that I cannot elaborate – it’s a highly confidential state business. I only came to pay my respects to lady Blakeney, with whom we were great friends.

PERCY: But of course; my lady will be here in a moment, I am sure. (lowers his voice) But if you are not a refugee, then why the attire? You must be on a secret mission and in disguise? What are you? A grocer?

CHAUVELIN: Is it always so warm in Surrey this time of year?

PERCY: Oh! I see! (laughs) Highly confidential! But you must understand, England is positively flooded with emigrés, and I naturally assumed… I meant to offense.

CHAUVELIN: None taken.

PERCY: Well… Sadly, revolutions are never bloodless, and the most noble enterprise that began as a dream can turn into a nightmare. Still, I am sure Robespierre is a clever politician. I have seen him once in Paris. A great man. A dashed smart dresser! Some think that he has gone too far, though I must say that I am completely with Robespierre when it comes to the cut of the sleeve. By the way, as a Parisian, how do you find my new frock-coat? Be honest! Je crois it’s incroyable enough, and lady Blakeney croit that the collar should be higher, the waist shorter and the stripes wider. Should they?

CHAUVELIN: A tad.

PERCY: She also suggests that I should wear my hair loose, but, as I say, the line must be drawn somewhere. Must it?

CHAUVELIN: It absolutely must! May be I come visit some other time?

PERCY: Please, do stay for dinner, I had a question or two about the hats.

CHAUVELIN: I wouldn’t presume to give advice on such a vital matter to a universally recognized paragon of style. I take my leave of you; please, give my regards to lady Blakeney and tell her… (MARGUERITE enters; under his breath) Thank God.

PERCY: My darling, there you are! Look what we have here. Monsieur Chauvelin! Straight from Paris, on a secret mission, disguised as a shop-keeper! Uncanny! And guess what? You were right about the stripes after all. But where do I get wider stripes? May be, I should place a special order for the fabric. I must write the letter at once! Marguerite, my heart, do try to make monsieur Chauvelin stay for dinner, we have the most important hat matter to discuss. (leaves, then returns and, unseen, stands by.)

CHAUVELIN: Lady Blakeney.

MARGUERITE: Citizen Chauvelin.

CHAUVELIN: So… I hope this marriage has turned out to be everything you were looking for.

MARGUERITE: It has.

CHAUVELIN: I can see that. Your husband seems to care for nothing whatsoever except you. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our conversation; you should have heard it. I have never felt so dwarfed in my life, nor have I ever met so dangerous an intellectual. Wider stripes, eh? Marguerite! My heart bleeds when I see a woman of your taste and intelligence waste herself on such a fool. What did you see in him?

MARGUERITE: It was all different. It does not matter now.

CHAUVELIN: It does to me! You must not pretend with me, I see you right through, I always have. You suffer, I feel it. Wider stripes! You are a woman of great passion; you deserve a man who can satisfy your desires. Tell me, Marguerite, what sort of lover is your husband? My god, you don’t know, do you? Oh, how much you must have changed! The girl I knew would not tolerate such neglect.

[WHERE’S THE GIRL?]

I remember days full of restlessness and fury
I remember nights that were drunk on dreams
I remember someone who hungered for the glory
I remember her, but it seems
She's gone

Where's the girl?
Where's the girl with the blaze in her eyes?
Where's the girl with that gaze of surprise?
Now and then I still dream she's beside me
Where's the girl
Who could turn on the edge of a knife?
Where's the girl who was burning for life?
I can still feel her breathing beside me

And I know she remembers how fearless it feels
To take off with the wind at her heels
She and I took this world like a storm
Come again!
Let the girl in your heart tumble free
Bring your renegade heart home to me
In the dark of the morning,
I'll warm you
I'll rouse you

Marguerite, don't forget I know who you are
We were cut from the same surly star
Like two jewels in the sky sharing fire
Where's the girl so alive and still aching for more?
We had dreams that were worth dying for
We were caught in the eye of a storm
Come again!
Let the girl in your heart tumble free
Bring your renegade heart home to me
In the dark of the morning,
I'll warm you
I'll rouse you

[CHAUVELIN kisses MARGUERITE, PERCY hangs his head and leaves]

Where's the girl?
Is she gazing at me with surprise?
Do I still see that blaze in her eyes?
Am I dreaming, or is she beside me now?

MARGUERITE: No.

CHAUVELIN (rises, as he was standing on one knee, and clears his throat): Actually, that’s not why I came. I have a state business to discuss with you.

MARGUERITE (petulantly): Why, my dear Chauvelin, you always have to pretend that you must talk business with me when I reject your advances? (a pause) Where were you when I wasn’t married? Why this sudden ardour now? Oh yes, you came on business. Go ahead then. Discuss. Oh, where are all the men? There’s only this Scarlet Pimpernel, but nobody ever saw him, so there’s officially no one.

CHAUVELIN: It’s most amusing that you mentioned the name. That’s exactly why I am here. I am trying to find him and I came to enlist your aid.

MARGUERITE: First of all, you are mad. And why should I help you after you maliciously used my name to carry out your scheme with St.Cir? I believe that’s what ruined my marriage, after all. I thank God that at least Armand does not know anything! Now you want to use me again, to feed more people to your beloved guillotine! Whoever the man is, he is brave, noble and compassionate, and even if I knew him I wouldn’t betray him, not for the world.

CHAUVELIN: Not for the world? And how about the head of your brother?

MARGUERITE: What on earth Armand has to do with all this?

CHAUVELIN: Oh, it’s a good story. I ran into him not two weeks ago on Pont Neuf, of all places! Can you believe it? For all I knew he was to be sea-bathing in Brighton or other. He pretended not to recognise me. I thought it even stranger, and followed him. He came to a certain deserted house certain suspects had been hiding in. I had had them watched but they tricked my idiots and fled. And Armand took out of his pocket and pinned on the window sill this scrap of paper. (hands it over) See? “They seek him here, they seek him there…”? I already had like dozens of them, but this one – o, this one is priceless.

MARGUERITE: Oh my God!

CHAUVELIN: If that sly fox has ever made a single mistake - that was the employment of your brother. Ah, Armand, Armand… So young. The tricoteuses will weep, old cynical hags as they are. And Robespierre will love that. He likes to root out enemies in our midst. A cousin of Louis-Antoine Saint-Just – even he must not be spared, if he turns out to be a spy. Amicus Plato and all that, you know.

MARGUERITE: But surely there can be no evidence that Armand in fact is the Scarlet Pimpernel!

CHUAVELIN: Evidence? Marguerite, please! Armand is a perfect candidate. He could buy me at least a month. Meanwhile, I’ll try to catch the real one, or, in fact, you will catch him for me. He is an English nobleman close to the Prince of Wales, I know this much.

MARGUERITE: What makes you think that?

CHAUVELIN: Should I waste your time on the ABCs of my profession? He is clever, but no match for me, and, much like myself, surrounded by idiots. And with the piles of money he apparently has to throw about on disguises, hideaways, horses and bribes, the list of suspects becomes even shorter.

MARGUERITE: A rich English nobleman close to the Prince of Wales? Look no further, and take, for instance, my dear husband.

CHAUVELIN (laughs): Good one. Now, lady Blakeney, I am being serious. Anyone who’s anyone will be tonight at Lord Grenville’s ball. I’m invited, too. I suspect, I’ll be slighted by one and all, but such is the sad lot of a special envoy in a hostile country. Anyway, that’s a perfect opportunity for us. Nothing is impossible for the cleverest woman in Europe. If all else fails, I’ll have Armand talk. Don’t make me do it.

MARGUERITE: You wouldn’t dare!

CHAUVELIN (to her ear): That’s what you said that night; do you remember what happened next? As for Armand, I cannot arrest him here, of course, but the moment he steps on French soil, he is done for. I’ve already left instruction.

MARGUERITE: So, if I help you catch the Scarlet Pimpernel, Armand will be safe.

CHAUVELIN: I promise.

MARGUERITE: Can I trust you?

CHAUVELIN: Can I trust you?

[THE RIDDLE]

CHAUVELIN
See the moon slink down in the sky, darling
Let your fantasies fly, darling
Life is cold,
And the game is old

MARGUERITE
Just see how virtue repays you
You turn and someone betrays you
Betray him first
And the game's reversed!

CAUVELIN AND MARGUERITE:
For we all are caught in the middle
Of one long treacherous riddle
Can I trust you?
Should you trust me too?

CHAUVELIN
We shamble on through this hell

MFRGUERITE
Taking on more secrets to sell

CHAUVELIN AND MARGUERITE
Till there comes a day
When we sell our souls away!

[As MARGUERITE and CHAUVELIN sing, they come down-stage right; down-stage left enter PERCY and ARMAND]

PERCY [UNDERSCORE: THE RIDDLE]: Armand, there is a change of plans. You will have to go without me. I must stay and find out what Chauvelin is up to and how much he knows. At least I’ll try to keep him here as long as I can. You know all new passwords and rendez-vous points. Explain everything to the boys and our men across the Channel. I’d rather keep you here, too, but if we don’t turn up, they might suspect the worst and do something rash. So, go right now without delay!

ARMAND: I won’t fail!

PERCY: Now hurry! God speed! And be safe.

[ARMAND leaves.]

PERCY
Through the mist your lover is beckoning
Comes that moment of reckoning
Faces change,
Even smiles grow strange

ALL
And we all have so many faces
The real self often erases
Enticing lies
Flicker through our eyes
Feel the terror draw ever nearer
The more you stare in the mirror
But hold your own
Face the wind alone

CHFUVELIN
Reel on, love! Toughen your scars
Year by year we're falling like stars

ALL
Till there comes a day
When we sell our souls away!

PERCY
Can I run to you? Are you true to me?

CHAUVELIN
I'll do unto you as you do to me!

MARGUERITE
And we slowly learn
Someone has to burn

ALL
Better you than me!

PERCY
Oh, every Judas once loved a Jesus

MARGUERITE
But finally treason will seize us

CHAUVELIN
And only fools
follow golden rules

ALL
We all are caught in the middle
Of one long treacherous riddle
Of who trusts who,
Maybe I'll trust you
But can you trust me?
Wait and see!

[END ACT I]

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