DOCTOR WALTER
At the Chateau du Touchais. The Boudoir of the Dowager Marquise. There is a door on each side. At the rear, French doors give access to a balcony. We sea the sea in the distance. It is 10 a.m.
AT RISE, the stage is empty, then a side door opens and a servant enters, introducing Cécily, dressed simply.
CÉCILY: Would you call Reine? I would like to talk to her before seeing the Marquise.
(The servant goes to the door, opens it, and makes a sign. Reine enters as the servant leaves.)
CÉCILY: Did the Marquise spend a good night?
REINE: She seems to be fine this morning, and if this improvement continues, the doctor will certainly authorize her to resume her usual walks.
CÉCILY: Did you ask her if she would see her son today?
REINE: (in a strange tone) She told me she would agree to it.
(Chéri-Bibi enters holding Petit Bernard’s hand. They are in beach costumes. The boy goes to Cécily and shows her the boat under his arm.)
BERNARD: Look, Mama! The nice boat that Papa brought me from Dieppe.
CHÉRI-BIBI: Good morning, Reine. (she recoils slightly) What’s wrong with you? Do I frighten you?
REINE: (trembling) I will go inform Madame la Marquise of your arrival.
(She leaves.)
CÉCILY: It looks like Reine isn’t happy about your visit. Why would she have something against you, my friend?
CHÉRI-BIBI: I don’t know. But I didn’t behave well towards my mother and Reine is her faithful companion. So it’s likely she doesn’t keep me in her heart.
CÉCILY: I told her more than once that I would be happy if she joined me in my efforts to obtain your mother’s forgiveness. But I got the impression that she’s tried to undermine them.
(Petit Bernard goes to play on the balcony.)
CHÉRI-BIBI: Your perseverance has triumphed over the my mother’s resistance, and Reine’s doleful influence–if your impressions are correct. Let Reine think what she likes, it’s not important! What matters is that you trust me and have forgiven me.
(The door opens and the Dowager Marquise enters. Seeing Chéri-Bibi, she remains motionless. Chéri-Bibi seems very troubled.)
MARQUISE: (gripped by great emotion) Maxime!
CHÉRI-BIBI: (aside) Am I not about to commit some kind of sacrilege?
(Petit Bernard returns.)
BERNARD: Papa! Why aren’t you going to kiss Grandma?
(He takes Chéri-Bibi by the hand and leads him to the Marquise.)
MARQUISE: (kissing Chéri-Bibi) Maxime, my son!
CHÉRI-BIBI: Mother, I’ve done many wrongs to you, but I undertake to use the rest of my life to make you forget them.
MARQUISE: You’ve already begun, Maxime! Since you let me return to our chateau.
CHÉRI-BIBI: I am ashamed of having made you leave it.
MARQUISE: For a long time, I refused to see you, but then, I said to myself, I must embrace my son one last time.
CÉCILY: We are celebrating your return today.
MARQUISE: I don’t feel very well, my dear child. I am a very old woman, and Maxime has returned too late. Nonetheless, I will not sadden this day that you are going to spend with me.
CHÉRI-BIBI: But, mother, you’re still very healthy.
MARQUISE: Alas, that’s not the opinion of my doctor.
CÉCILY: I saw him at your bedside and he made a good impression on me.
MARQUISE: Indeed, and I decided that you should meet him, so I begged him to come to lunch with us, with his wife whom he wants to introduce to me.
CÉCILY: (to Chéri-Bibi) Doctor Walter recently set up practice in the region and has quickly gained an excellent reputation.
BERNARD: Mama, can I go sail my boat on the lake?
CÉCILY: Ask your grand-mother, because you’re at grandma’s place.
MARQUISE: Certainly, my darling.
(She pulls Bernard to her and kisses him. Cécily rings for a servant, who enters.)
CÉCILY: (to the servant) Take the child to the lake and ask Reine to watch him.
SERVANT: Very well, Madame (to the Dowager Marquise) Doctor Walter has just arrived; I asked him to wait in the grand salon.
MARQUISE: Ask him to come up here, please.
SERVANT: Yes, Madame.
(The servant leaves with Petit Bernard.)
CHÉRI-BIBI: Take it easy, mother. I would be devastated if your strength betrayed you on the very day you welcomed me back.
(The servant returns and announces:)
SERVANT: Doctor Walter.
(Doctor Walter enters–it is Le Kanak! He has hardly changed since the Bayard.)
LE KANAK: (going to the Marquise and doing a baisemain) Madame la Marquise!
(Chéri-Bibi stares at Le Kanak with horrified eyes, murmuring some unintelligible words, trembling, then leaning on a chair.)
CÉCILY: What’s wrong with you, Maxime?
(She rushes to him and helps him sit in an armchair.)
LE KANAK: (naturally) A slight dizziness, perhaps?
CÉCILY: (to Chéri-Bibi) Speak! You’re scaring me.
CHÉRI-BIBI: (regaining control of himself) It’s nothing. (aside) It’s him!
LE KANAK: It must be the heat. It’s very muggy this morning. Stretch out on this sofa. I’ll examine you. (pulling out a stethoscope.)
CHÉRI-BIBI: (stiffening) No, thank you.
LE KANAK: (going to the window and opening it) Let’s get some air in. (to the Marquise) Would you take my arm, Madame la Marquise, and walk in the park? I’m sure your son’s malaise is only temporary.
MARQUISE: Is Madame Walter below?
LE KANAK: Indeed. My wife was very happy to accept your kind invitation.
CÉCILY: (to Chéri-Bibi) I’ll stay with you.
CHÉRI-BIBI: No, really, I prefer to be alone for a minute. I feel much better already.
(Le Kanak and the Dowager Marquise leave. Cécily follows them, after having placed a cushion under Chéri-Bibi’s head. As soon as they are gone, Chéri-Bibi rises abruptly from the sofa.)
CHÉRI-BIBI: Le Kanak! Alive! Such a striking resemblance! His bearing, his voice... It’s really him!
(A door opens and La Ficelle enters.)
LA FICELLE: (out of breath) You’re not going to believe me, but I just saw Petit-Bon-Dieu!
CHÉRI-BIBI: And I just saw Le Kanak!
LA FICELLE: (shaking) Him, too!
CHÉRI-BIBI: He’s calling himself Doctor Walter now. Where did you see Petit-Bon-Dieu?
LA FICELLE: I was walking through the harbor when I saw him at the window of a winery.
CHÉRI-BIBI: Did he speak to you?
LA FICELLE: Yes. He told me that he’d fulfilled his life’s dream and was at last established as a wine merchant and restaurateur.
CHÉRI-BIBI: He’s working with Le Kanak! What are they trying to do? I’m cursed. Fatality! I understand now why he left that indelible mark on my breast. Ah! He’s got me!
LA FICELLE:: You will defend yourself... We will defend ourselves!
CHÉRI-BIBI: I was so peaceful, so happy! Too happy! It couldn’t last. (a pause) You really saw Petit-Bon-Dieu?
LA FICELLE: As I see you. And you are really sure it was Le Kanak?
CHÉRI-BIBI: Yes (pause) Heavens! Look!
(Chéri-Bibi indicates with a gesture that La Ficelle should look outside.)
CHÉRI-BIBI: The woman by his side who is speaking right now to Cécily...
LA FICELLE: It’s the Countess! (pause) They’re coming up the stairs. In a moment, they’ll be here!
CHÉRI-BIBI: They didn’t see you come in? (negative gesture by La Ficelle) In that case, get out of here.
LA FICELLE: But I could be useful...
CHÉRI-BIBI: It’s better if Le Kanak doesn’t suspect your presence.
LA FICELLE: Do you think he’s going to try something against you?
CHÉRI-BIBI: His interest is to act carefully, at least for the moment. Come to my place this evening. I’ll tell you what I’ve decided. Get going now, I hear them coming!
(La Ficelle leaves. The Dowager Marquise, Cécily, Le Kanak and the Countess enter.)
LE KANAK: Are you feeling better, Monsieur le Marquis?
CHÉRI-BIBI (resuming his countenance) Yes, thank you again.
KANAK: (pointing to the Countess) Allow me to introduce you Madame Walter, my wife, who’s returned from a voyage overseas.
CHÉRI-BIBI (with his old self-assurance) Overseas, Madame?
COUNTESS: Yes. I was in India.
(Cécily passes out glasses of Port which a servant brings on a platter.)
CÉCILY: (to Le Kanak) Some Port?
LE KANAK: Thank you, Madame. (to Chéri-Bibi) But I understand that you’ve traveled greatly, too, Marquis. No one has forgotten the terrible story of the Bayard where you were taken prisoner by escaped convicts. I would love to hear you tell us your adventures.
CHÉRI-BIBI You must have read the details in the newspapers. They were full of them at the time.
LE KANAK: It is true that, after that brazen display of savagery, that awful Chéri-Bibi became somewhat of a celebrity.
CHÉRI-BIBI: Don’t forget his accomplices, including one Le Kanak who particularly distinguished himself.
LE KANAK: Ah yes. They were some popular figures there. I believe there was a woman nicknamed the Countess on board...
CHÉRI-BIBI Yes. She was Le Kanak’s girl-friend.
LE KANAK: But they said she was in love with Chéri-Bibi, too. Was that true?
CHÉRI-BIBI: I wouldn’t know. She didn’t confide in me.
KANAK: (abruptly) Do you think Chéri-Bibi is really dead?
CHÉRI-BIBI: Yes, I do! Chéri-Bibi is dead! I myself saw his corpse thrown into the sea in a sack. His sister, a nun who lives nearby, was there, like me, at the sad funeral of this terrible bandit! He is dead! And I beg you to believe that he won’t ever return.
CÉCILY: Why do you say that, my dear?
CHÉRI-BIBI: Because Doctor Walter seems to doubt my word.
(Cécily goes to the balcony.)
LE KANAK: It’s just because Chéri-Bibi was such an extraordinary man that one can hardly imagine meeting an end that was so... trivial. Two years ago, I was vacationing in Dieppe when I had the luck to meet a certain Police Inspector.
CHÉRI-BIBI: You mean, Inspector Costaud?
LE KANAK: Yes, that’s it. Well, Monsieur Costaud also didn’t believe in Chéri-Bibi’s death. It was futile to tell him what you just told us. He invariably replied: “Chéri-Bibi isn’t dead! He just disappeared and, mark my words, you’ll see that one day, he’ll return under another name or another face.” I recently met Inspector Costaud again, who told me: “I wasn’t mistaken. I can still smell the presence of Chéri-Bibi in the air. The mysterious murder of Baroness Proskoff at the Abbey of Thélème is his work. I’m certain Chéri-Bibi will reappear on stage in the neighborhood of Dieppe. He’ll be back.” I will confess that his conviction amused me to the highest degree. Can you imagine them arresting this bandit one night in the casino? If the Inspector is correct, Chéri-Bibi must have had the skill of impersonating a lord, a baron, a count–perhaps even a marquis!
CHÉRI-BIBI: You have a fertile imagination, Doctor.
MARQUISE: We will have to wait and see then. I feel warm. I’ll go out on the balcony for a while.
(She joins Cécily on the balcony.)
CÉCILY: (to the Dowager Marquise) Here’s the ferry from Newhaven pulling up to the pier.
(Le Kanak joins Cécily and the Marquise. Chéri-Bibi approaches the Countess.)
CHÉRI-BIBI: (whispering) Why are you here?
COUNTESS: To save you. Le Kanak and Petit-Bon-Dieu are plotting against you.
CHÉRI-BIBI: I suspected as much.
COUNTESS: Nothing is lost if you still love me a little.
CHÉRI-BIBI: (ominously) I can rid myself of Le Kanak.
COUNTESS: I warn you, he has taken precautions. He wrote a will in which he revealed your true identity and gives proof of it.
CHÉRI-BIBI: Fatality! In that case, I can’t harm him.
COUNTESS: That’s why he’s so confident.
CHÉRI-BIBI: But he got a million. How much more money can he want?
COUNTESS: It’s not that. You are his masterpiece. He’s not going to let you go–not after succeeding so brilliantly in reshaping your face. The million you gave him no longer matters; in fact, he lost it all in Monte Carlo, while he sent me away of a wild goose’s chase in India. But I still love you, and intend to save you! Le Kanak’s will is at Petit-Bon-Dieu’s winery, in the room on the first floor, hidden in a desk in a corner. Steal it. Then you can decide if you want to rid yourself of Le Kanak.
(The clock strikes noon. The Dowager Marquise, Cécily and Le Kanak return.)
MARQUISE: Let’s have lunch. (to the Countess) Allow me to show you the way, Madame.
(The Dowager Marquise, supported by Cécily and followed by the Countess, heads toward the door that the servant has opened wide.)
LE KANAK: I hope that the Marquise’s appetite has returned.
CHÉRI-BIBI: As for the Marquis du Touchais, his appetite will be more than a match for that of Le Kanak.
LE KANAK: We shall see... Chéri-Bibi!
C U R T A I N