L'Aiglon

by Edmond Rostand

None. But he was a noble Prince. I kneel

  To-day not only to the Lamb of God!

  Hartmann.

  The Prelate has uncovered the Ciborium!

  All.

  Oh!

  Hartmann.

  Rigid silence! I'm about to open!

  All.

  [With emotion.]

  Oh!

  Hartmann.

  I open!

  [He silently thrusts the wings of the folding-doors

  open. All the Court is prostrate. There is a

  vague glimpse of candle light. A moment's

  pause of profound emotion and silence. Theresa

  slowly rises to look across the kneeling

  forms; she looks and sees.]

  Theresa.

  [Amid the sobs which overmaster her.]

  Oh! to behold him thus!

  [Movement. General Hartmann has swiftly

  closed the doors. Everybody has risen.]

  Hartmann.

  Retire! He heard the sobbing!

  [All have hurried toward the door on the right,

  but the door on the left opens quickly; the Duke

  appears on the threshold and sees them all standing

  before him. After a long look which takes

  in the situation:]

  The Duke.

  Ah!—I see.

  [He draws himself up, and comes toward them

  with sudden majesty.]

  I thank the breaking heart that broke the silence;

  Let her who wept feel no remorse for weeping:

  They had no right to rob me of my death.

  [To the Archdukes and Archduchesses, who

  withdraw respectfully.]

  But leave me now, my Austrian family!

  "My son was born a Frenchman; until death

  Let him remember that." And I remember.

  [To the Princes who are leaving.]

  Farewell.

  [To the others.]

  Whose was the breaking heart?

  Theresa.

  [Who has remained humbly on her knees in a corner.]

  My Lord—!

  The Duke.

  [Approaching her, and speaking with great tenderness.]

  You are not very reasonable! Once

  Over your book you wept to see me live

  An Austrian Prince with flowers in my coat;

  And now you weep because that life has killed me.

  Theresa.

  The tryst—

  The Duke.

  Well?

  Theresa.

  I was there.

  The Duke.

  Alas, poor soul!

  Theresa.

  Yes—

  The Duke.

  Why?

  Theresa.

  Because I love you.

  The Duke.

  [To the Countess.]

  Madam,

  You hid this from me. Why?

  The Countess.

  Because I love you.

  The Duke.

  [To Theresa and the Countess.]

  Who brought you both to see me?

  [Theresa and the Countess look at the Archduchess.]

  The Duke.

  [To the Archduchess.]

  You?

  The Archduchess.

  Myself.

  The Duke.

  Why so much thoughtfulness?

  The Archduchess.

  Because I love you.

  The Duke.

  Women have loved me as they love a child—

  [The Three Women make a gesture of protest.]

  Ah, yes! The child they pity, spoil, and shelter—

  And with maternal fingers, on my brow

  Still sought the golden curls which Lawrence painted.

  The Countess.

  No, no! We knew the struggles of your soul!

  The Duke.

  And history itself will not record

  The Prince whose soul was seared with all ambitions,

  But see the solemn, rosy, fair-haired child

  Tricked out in laces in his little goat-cart,

  Holding the globe as 'twere an air-balloon.

  Maria Louisa.

  Speak to me! I am here! Give me a word

  To soothe remorse, for through no fault of mine

  I was too small beside your mighty dreams.

  I have the thriftless conscience of a bird!

  The tinkling bells that jangle in my brain

  Have never ceased till now. Look at me now!

  Speak to me now! Forgive me now!

  The Duke.

  O God!

  Inspire me with the deep, yet tender word

  With which a son forgives his mother.

  Maria Louisa.

  Franz,

  The cradle which you asked them for last night—

  A Lackey.

  'Tis here.

  [He goes out to fetch it.]

  The Duke.

  [Looking at Metternich.]

  Ah, my Lord Chancellor, I die

  Too soon for you; and you should weep.

  Metternich.

  My Lord—!

  The Duke.

  I was your weapon and my death disarms you!

  Europe, which never dared to say you nay,

  When you were he who could unchain the Eaglet,

  Listening to-morrow, will take heart, and say

  "I do not hear it stirring in its cage!"

  Metternich.

  My Lord! My Lord!

  [The great enamelled cradle is brought in.]

  The Duke.

  The cradle Paris gave me!

  My splendid cradle, Prudhon's masterpiece!

  Amidst its gold and mother-o'-pearl I slept,

  A babe, whose christening was a coronation.

  Place it beside this little bed, whereon

  My Father slept when victory fanned his slumbers.

  Closer! until its laces graze the sheets.

  Alas! how near my cradle to my death-bed!

  [ He points to the gap between the cradle and the

  bed.]

  And all my life lies in that narrow space!

  Theresa.

  Oh!—

  The Duke.

  In that gap, too narrow and too dark,

  Fate ne'er let fall a single pin of glory.

  Lay me upon the bed.

  Dietrichstein.

  How pale he grows!

  The Duke.

  Ah, I was greater in my cradle, than

  I am upon this bed; and women rocked me—

  Yes, I had three to rock me, and they sang

  Their strange old songs: dear songs of Mistress Marchand!

  Oh, who will lull me now with cradle-songs?

  Maria Louisa.

  Is not your mother here to sing to you?

  The Duke.

  Do you know any songs of France?

  Maria Louisa.

  Why—no.

  The Duke.

  [To Theresa.]

  And you?

  Theresa.

  Perhaps.

  The Duke.

  Oh, sing below your breath.

  "The rain falls, Shepherdess" and "May is come,"

  And sing "Upon the bridge that spans the Rhone,"

  That I may sleep, rocked on the people's fancy.

  There was a song I used to love; sing that:—

  There was a little man,

  And he was clad in gray—

  Theresa.

  Break, tender heart, as broke the heart of iron—

  The Countess.

  A crystal, shattered by a brazen echo—

  The Archduchess.

  A harp-string, shattered by a battle-song—

  Theresa.

  A lily sinking silently on laurels.

  The Doctor.

  My Lord is very ill. Stand more apart.

  Theresa.

  Farewell, François—!

  The Archduchess.

  Farewell, Franz!


  The Countess.

  Farewell, Bonaparte!

  Maria Louisa.

  Alas, his head grows heavy on my shoulder!

  The Archduchess.

  Duke of Reichstadt!

  The Countess.

  King of Rome!

  Theresa.

  Poor child!

  The Duke.

  [Deliriously.]

  The horses! horses!

  The Prelate [Wagner].

  Let us fall to prayer!

  The Duke.

  Horses! that I may ride to meet my father!

  Maria Louisa.

  Will you not let me wipe away your tears?

  The Duke.

  No, for the Victories, my sisters—Lo!

  I see them! see them! in a headlong flight

  Draw nigh to lave their glory in my tears!

  Maria Louisa.

  What are you saying?

  The Duke.

  Nothing. Did I speak?

  Hush! Father, that's our secret: yours and mine!—

  My funeral will be ugly. Mumbling women;

  Lackeys with torches; droning Capuchins;

  And then they'll lock me in their crypt—and then—

  Maria Louisa.

  Tell me your sufferings, child!

  The Duke.

  Oh! Superhuman!—

  And then, official mourning for six weeks.

  The Countess.

  He snatches at the cradle's lace, as if

  To make a winding sheet—

  The Duke.

  It will be ugly—

  I must remember how they christen better

  In Paris than they bury in Vienna.

  General Hartmann!

  Hartmann.

  Prince!

  The Duke.

  Yes—while I wait

  For death, I'll rock my childhood—

  [He hands General Hartmann a book from

  under his pillow.]

  Here—

  [General Hartmann takes the book. The Duke

  falls to rocking the cradle.]

  I rock

  My past—I rock my past—As though

  The Duke of Reichstadt rocked the King of Rome.

  General—I marked a place—

  Hartmann.

  I see it.

  The Duke.

  Good. While I'm dying, read aloud—

  Maria Louisa.

  No, no!

  You shall not die!

  The Duke.

  You may begin to read.

  Hartmann.

  [Standing at the foot of the bed and reading.]

  "Toward seven o'clock the Calvary appear,

  Forming the head of the procession—"

  Maria Louisa.

  [Falling on her knees in a paroxysm of sobs.]

  Franz!

  Hartmann.

  "The people, shaken with great sobs of joy,

  Utter a shout:—'Long live the King of Rome!'—"

  Maria Louisa.

  Franz!

  Hartmann.

  "And the guns salute; the Cardinal

  Receives their Majesties, and so the pageant

  Moves up the aisle as ancient rules prescribe.

  The Ushers, Kings-at-Arms, their chief, the pages,

  The various officers of the staff, the—"

  [Noticing that the Duke has closed his eyes, he

  stops.]

  The Duke.

  [Opening his eyes.]

  Yes?

  Hartmann.

  "The Chamberlains, the Prefects of the palace,

  Ministers, Masters of the Horse—"

  The Duke.

  [With failing voice.]

  Go on.

  Hartmann.

  "Marshals of France, Grand Eagles; and Princess

  Aldobrandini holds the chrisom-cloth;

  The Countesses Vilain and de Beauvau

  Bring in the ewer and the salt-cellar—"

  The Duke.

  [Still paler and growing rigid.]

  Read on, sir. Mother—mother—lift me up.

  [Maria Louisa, assisted by the Prelate and

  Doctor Malfatti, raises him on his pillows.]

  Hartmann.

  "Then the Grand Duke, who took on this occasion

  The Austrian Emperor's place as Sponsor: then

  Queen Hortense, and the Imperial Godmother;

  Lastly, the King of Rome, borne by Her Grace,

  The Duchess of Montesquieu. His Majesty,

  Whose healthy mien the crowd observed with joy,

  Wore a great silver mantle, lined with ermine,

  Whose train His Grace the Duke of Valmy bore.

  Princes—"

  The Duke.

  Omit the Princes.

  Hartmann.

  [Turning over a page.]

  "Kings—"

  The Duke.

  Omit

  The Kings. The end, sir; read the end—

  Hartmann.

  [Turning over several pages.]

  "And when—"

  The Duke.

  I cannot hear you. Louder.

  Doctor Malfatti.

  [To Wagner.]

  The last agony.

  Hartmann.

  [Raising his voice.]

  "And when the Herald thrice within the choir

  Had cried 'Long live the King of Rome!' before

  They handed back the baby to its nurse,

  The Emperor gently took it from—"

  [He hesitates, with a glance at Maria Louisa.]

  The Duke.

  [With infinite nobility and placing his hand with tender

  forgiveness on the head of Maria Louisa, who is kneeling

  at his side.]

  The Empress!

  Hartmann.

  "And raised it to receive the acclamation.

  The loud—"

  The Duke.

  [Whose head drops.]

  Mamma!

  Maria Louisa.

  [Throwing herself across his body.]

  François!

  The Duke.

  [Opening his eyes.]

  Napoleon!

  [He sinks back.]

  Hartmann.

  "The loud Te Deum filled the sanctuary.

  And all that night, throughout the realm of France,

  With equal pomp, solemnity, and joy—"

  Doctor Malfatti.

  [Putting his hand on the General's arm.]

  Dead!

  [Silence. The General closes the book.]

  Metternich.

  Clothe him in his Austrian uniform.

  Curtain.

  * * *

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