MAR. Oh, Frosine! What a strange state of things that, in order to be
happy, we must look forward to the death of another. Yet death will
not fall in with all the projects we make.
FRO. You are joking. You marry him with the express understanding that
he will soon leave you a widow; it must be one of the articles of the
marriage contract. It would be very wrong in him not to die before
three months are over. Here he is himself.
MAR. Ah! dear Frosine, what a face!
SCENE IX.--HARPAGON, MARIANNE, FROSINE.
HAR. (_to_ MARIANNE). Do not be offended, fair one, if I come to
you with my glasses on. I know that your beauty is great enough to be
seen with the naked eye; but, still, it is with glasses that we look
at the stars, and I maintain and uphold that you are a star, the most
beautiful and in the land of stars. Frosine, she does not answer,
star, it seems to me, shows no joy at the sight of me.
FRO. It is because she is still quite awe-struck, and young girls are
always shy at first, and afraid of showing what they feel.
HAR. (_to_ FROSINE). You are right. (_To_ MARIANNE) My
pretty darling, there is my daughter coming to welcome you.
SCENE X.--HARPAGON, ELISE, MARIANNE, FROSINE.
MAR. I am very late in acquitting myself of the visit I owed you.
ELI. You have done what I ought to have done. It was for me to have
come and seen you first.
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