midst of our discussion?

The Marquis
And you also are interested in this fellow Raoul?

The Duke
Are not you? Your fortune, your name, your future and your marriage,
all that is more to you than life, is now at stake!

The Marquis
If all these things are dependent upon this young man, I will
immediately demand satisfaction from him.

The Duke
What! A duel? If you had the wretched luck to kill him, the success of
your suite would be hopeless.

The Marquis
What then is to be done?

The Duke
Do like the politicians; wait!

The Marquis
If you are in danger, father, do you think I can remain quiet?

The Duke
Leave the burden to me; it would crush you.

The Marquis
Ah! but you will speak, father, you will tell me--

The Duke
Nothing! For we should both of us have too much to blush for.

SCENE THIRTEENTH.
The same persons and Vautrin.
(Vautrin is dressed all in black; at the beginning of the scene he
puts on an air of compunction and humility.)

Vautrin
Excuse me, your grace, for having forced my way in, but (whispering so
as not to be overheard) we have both of us been victimized by an abuse
of confidence--allow me to say a word or two to you alone.

The Duke (with a sign to his son to leave them)
Say on, sir.

Vautrin
In these days success is in the power of those alone who exert
themselves to obtain office, and this form of ambition pervades all
classes. Every man in France desires to be a colonel, and it is
difficult to see where the privates are to come from. As a matter of
fact society is threatened by disintegration, which will simply result
from this universal desire for high positions, accompanied with a
general disgust for the low places. Such is the fruit of revolutionary
equality. Religion is the sole remedy for this corruption.

The Duke
What are you driving at?

Vautrin
I beg pardon, but it is impossible to refrain from explaining to a
statesman, with whom I am going to work, the cause of a mistake which
annoys me. Has your grace confided any secrets to one of my people who
came to you this morning, with the foolish idea of supplanting me, and
in the hope of making himself known to you as one who could serve your
interests?

The Duke
What do you mean? That you are the Chevalier de Saint-Charles?

Vautrin
Let me tell your grace, that we are just what we desire to be. Neither
he nor I is simple enough to be his real self--it would cost us too
much.

The Duke
Remember, tha