--MARIANNE, FROSINE, MASTER JACQUES.
FRO. Do you know if your master is at home?
JAC. Yes, he is indeed; I know it but too well.
FRO. Tell him, please, that we are here.
SCENE VIII.--MARIANNE, FROSINE.
MAR. Ah! Frosine, how strange I feel, and how I dread this interview!
FRO. Why should you? What can you possibly dread?
MAR. Alas! can you ask me? Can you not understand the alarms of a
person about to see the instrument of torture to which she is to be
tied.
FRO. I see very well that to die agreeably, Harpagon is not the
torture you would embrace; and I can judge by your looks that the fair
young man you spoke of to me is still in your thoughts.
MAR. Yes, Frosine; it is a thing I do not wish to deny. The respectful
visits he has paid at our house have left, I confess, a great
impression on my heart.
FRO. But do you know who he is?
MAR. No, I do not. All I know is that he is made to be loved; that if
things were left to my choice, I would much rather marry him than any
other, and that he adds not a little to the horrible dread that I have
of the husband they want to force upon me.
FRO. Oh yes! All those dandies are very pleasant, and can talk
agreeably enough, but most of them are as poor as church mice; and it
is much better for you to marry an old husband, who gives you plenty
of money. I fully acknowledge that the senses somewhat clash with the
end I propose, and that there are certain little inconveniences to be
endured with such a husband; but all that won't last; and his death,
believe me, will soon put you in a position to take a more pleasant
husband, who will make amends for all.
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