t Dorante, the suitor chosen for
her, until she has had an opportunity to study him in secret. She
therefore modifies her dress to suit the role of her maid Lisette, which
she assumes; but Dorante, who is no more willing to be mismated than is
Silvia, determines upon the same stratagem, and arrives in the livery of
Harlequin, who in turn is to play the part of the master.

This artifice is not absolutely new to the French stage, and it is
possible, as Fleury[119] thinks, that the idea of the double disguise may
have been borrowed from a short play by Legrand, _le Galant Coureur_, The
situation, most difficult to handle successfully, is treated with
inimitable skill by Marivaux, especially that of the two lovers, whose
disguise as servants is not enough to guarantee their hearts. The
prejudice of birth, against which Marivaux contended so often, is
overthrown, and the lovers are willing, if necessary, to yield all for
love. Silvia is still struggling with her sense of duty, when she
discovers Dorante's identity, but is unwilling to disclose herself and say
the final word, until she is convinced that Dorante loves her for herself
alone. The scenes between Harlequin and Lisette, their language, now
exaggerated, now trivial, and their haste to fall in love, lend the comic
to the play.

_Le Legs_, a comedy in one act, was produced at the Theatre-Francais,
January 11, 1736. Its reception was rather cold the first night, but
enthusiastic on subsequent performances. Lenient says of it: "_Le Legs_
est entre toutes ses oeuvres le specimen de la bluette reduite a sa plus
simple expression, joignant la finesse et la tenuite de la trame a
l'exiguite de la donnee. Tout cela tiendrait dans une coquille de noix, et
finit par remplir un acte. Les personnages, aussi legers, aussi volatils
que le sujet lui-meme, s'appellent le _Marquis_, la _Comtesse_, le
_Chevalier_; ils representent, comme nous l'avons dit, des especes plus
encore que des individus."[120]

A relative has left the _Marquis_ six hundred thousand francs on condition
that he marry Hortense, and if not, that he pay over to her two hundred
thousand. The _Marquis_, in love with the _Comtesse_, to whom, through
excessive timidity,--and here we have the motive of the play,--he dares
not declare his passion, although encouraged in every way, is in business
matters of a decidedly less timid nature, and seeks to secure all of the
property, and at the same time preserve his heart