ent a letter before
him from which Colombe will learn her fate; and the handful of courtiers
who have stayed to see the drama out are disputing as to who shall
deliver it. Valence, an advocate of Cleves, arrives at this juncture,
with a petition from his townspeople who are starving; and is allowed to
place it in the Duchess's hands, on condition of presenting the Prince's
letter at the same time. He does this in ignorance of its contents; he
is very indignant when he knows them; and the incident naturally
constitutes him Colombe's adviser and friend; while the reverence with
which he owns himself her subject, also determines her if possible to
remain his sovereign.

Prince Berthold arrives unprepared for any show of resistance; and is a
little startled to find that Colombe defies him, and that one of her
courtiers (not choosing to be outdone by Valence) has the courage to
tell him so; but he treats the Duchess and her adviser with all the
courtesy of a man whose right is secure; and Valence, to whom he
entrusts his credentials, is soon convinced that it is so. But he has a
far-sighted ambition which keeps him alive to all possible risks: and it
occurs to him as wiser to secure the little sovereignty by marrying its
heiress than by dispossessing her. He desires Valence to convey to the
young Duchess the offer of his hand. The offer is worth considering,
since as he asserts, it may mean the Empire: to which the Duchy is, in
his case, but a necessary stepping-stone; and Valence, who has loved
Colombe since his first glimpse of her at Cleves, a year ago; who has
begun to hope that his affection is returned; and who knows that the
Prince's message is not only a test of her higher nature, but a snare to
it, feels nevertheless bound to leave her choice free. This choice lies
clearly between love and power; for Berthold parades a cynicism half
affected, half real; and on being questioned as to his feeling for the
lady, has dismissed the question as irrelevant.

Valence is, throughout the play, an advocate in the best sense of the
word. As he has pleaded the wrongs of an oppressed people, he sets forth
the happiness of a successful prince--the happiness which the young
Duchess is invited to share; and he departs from all the
conventionalities of fiction, by showing her the true poetry, not the
artificial splendours, of worldly success. Colombe is almost as grateful
as the young Prince could desire, for she assumes that he has