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scene and business as Act I. Man in yellow dress, with drawn sword, at the door.
Password outside. Væ tyrannis.
Answer. Væ victis (repeated three times).
(Enter Conspirators, who form a semicircle, masked and cloaked.)
President. What hour is it?
First Consp. The hour to strike.
Pres. What day?
Second Consp. The day of Marat.
Pres. In what month?
Second Consp. The month of liberty.
Pres. What is our duty?
Fourth Consp. To obey.
Pres. Our creed?
Fifth Consp. Parbleu, Mons. le President, I never knew you had one.
Consps. A spy! A spy! Unmask! Unmask! A spy!
Pres. Let the doors be shut. There are others but Nihilists present.
Consps. Unmask! Unmask! Kill him! kill him! (Masked Conspirator unmasks.) Prince Paul!
Vera. Devil! Who lured you into the lion’s den?
Consps. Kill him! kill him!
Prince Paul. En vérité, Messieurs, you are not over-hospitable in your welcome.
Vera. Welcome! What welcome should we give you but the dagger or the noose?
Prince Paul. I had no idea, really, that the Nihilists were so exclusive. Let me assure you that if I had not always had an entree to the very best society, and the very worst conspiracies, I could never have been Prime Minister in Russia.
Vera. The tiger cannot change its nature, nor the snake lose its venom; but are you turned a lover of the people?
Prince Paul. Mon Dieu, non, Mademoiselle! I would much sooner talk scandal in a drawing-room than treason in a cellar. Besides, I hate the common mob, who smell of garlic, smoke bad tobacco, get up early, and dine off one dish.
Pres. What have you to gain, then, by a revolution?
Prince Paul. Mon ami, I have nothing left to lose. That scatter-brained boy, this new Czar, has banished me.
Vera. To Siberia?
Prince Paul. No, to Paris. He has confiscated my estates, robbed me of my office and my cook. I have nothing left but my decorations. I am here for revenge.
Pres. Then you have a right to be one of us. We also meet daily for revenge.
Prince Paul. You want money, of course. No one ever joins a conspiracy who has any. Here. (Throws money on table.) You have so many spies that I should think you want information. Well, you will find me the best informed man in Russia on the abuses of our Government. I made them nearly all myself.
Vera. President, I don’t trust this man. He has done us too much harm in Russia to let him go in safety.
Prince Paul. Believe me, Mademoiselle, you are wrong; I will be a most valuable addition to your circle; as for you, gentlemen, if I had not thought that you would be useful to me I shouldn’t have risked my neck among you, or dined an hour earlier than usual so as to be in time.
Pres. Ay, if he had wanted to spy on us, Vera, he wouldn’t have come himself.
Prince Paul (aside). No; I should have sent my best friend.
Pres. Besides, Vera, he is just the man to give us the information we want about some business we have in hand tonight.
Vera. Be it so if you wish it.
Pres. Brothers, is it your will that Prince Paul Maraloffski be admitted, and take the oath of the Nihilist?
Consps. It is! it is!
Pres. (holding out dagger and a paper). Prince Paul, the dagger or the oath?
Prince Paul (smiles sardonically). I would sooner annihilate than be annihilated. (Takes paper.)
Pres. Remember: Betray us, and as long as the earth holds poison or steel, as long as men can strike or woman betray, you shall not escape vengeance. The Nihilists never forget their friends, or forgive their enemies.
Prince Paul. Really? I did not think you were so civilized.
Vera (pacing up and down). Why is he not here? He will not keep the crown. I know him well.
Pres. Sign. (Prince Paul signs.) You said you thought we had no creed. You were wrong. Read it!
Vera. This is a dangerous thing, President. What can we do with this man?
Pres. We can use him.
Vera. And afterwards?
Pres. (shrugging his shoulders). Strangle him.
Prince Paul ( “Nature is not a temple, but a workshop: we demand the right to labour.” Ah, I shall surrender my own rights in that respect.reading). “The rights of humanity!” In the old times men carried out their rights for themselves as they lived, but nowadays every baby seems born with a social manifesto in its mouth much bigger than itself.
Vera (pacing up and down behind). Oh, will he never come? will he never come?
Prince Paul. “The family as subversive of true socialistic and communal unity is to be annihilated.” Yes, President, I agree completely with Article 5. A family is a terrible incumbrance, especially when one is not married. (Three knocks at the door.)
Vera. Alexis at last!
Password. Væ tyrannis!
Answer. Væ victis!
(Enter Michael Stroganoff.) Pres. Michael, the regicide! Brothers, let us do honour to a man who has killed a king.
Vera (aside). Oh, he will come yet.
Pres. Michael, you have saved Russia.
Mich. Ay, Russia was free for a moment when the tyrant fell, but the sun of liberty has set again like that false dawn which cheats our eyes in autumn.
Pres. The dread night of tyranny is not yet past for Russia.
Mich. ( One more blow, and the end is come indeed.clutching his knife).
Vera (aside). One more blow! What does he mean? Oh, impossible! but why is he not with us? Alexis! Alexis! why are you not here?
Pres. But how did you escape, Michael? They said you had been seized.
Mich. I was dressed in the uniform of the Imperial Guard. The Colonel on duty was a brother, and gave me the password. I drove through the troops in safety with it, and, thanks to my good horse, reached the walls before the gates were closed.
Pres. What a chance his coming out on the balcony was!
Mich. A chance? There is no such thing as chance. It was God’s finger led him there.
Pres. And where have you been these three days?
Mich. Hiding in the house of the priest Nicholas at the cross-roads.
Pres. Nicholas is an honest man.
Mich. Ay, honest enough for a priest. I am here now for vengeance on a traitor!
VERA (aside). O God, will he never come? Alexis! why are you not here? You cannot have turned traitor!
Mich. (seeing Prince Paul). Prince Paul Maraloffski here! By St. George, a lucky capture! This must have been Vera’s doing. She is the only one who could have lured that serpent into the trap.
Pres. Prince Paul has just taken the oath.
Vera. Alexis, the Czar, has banished him from Russia.
Mich. Bah! A blind to cheat us. We will keep Prince Paul here, and find some office for him in our reign of terror. He is well accustomed by this time to bloody work.
Prince