MANON LESCAUT

One bright summer evening towards the end of the eighteenth century, a merry group of students and idlers were gathered together in the courtyard of an inn at Amiens, near the Paris Gate; and as they there awaited the arrival of the diligence, they passed the time pleasantly in joking, drinking, singing snatches of gay songs and flirting with the pretty work-girls who were just returning from their daily labours, and who were glad enough to join in the merriment of the lively youths, whose favours they very willingly accepted.

One of these students, however, held aloof from the others; for the work-girls' loud jollity had no attraction for his sensitive, poetic nature, and, in spite of being rallied by his companions for his indifference to the girlish charms around him, he stood apart, wrapped in his own dreamy thoughts.

This fastidious youth was the Chevalier des Grieux, a young man of high birth and good breeding, who was also possessed of a fine, passionate nature and the true artistic temperament which could only be satisfied with the highest in beauty, and art, and love; and though his giddy companions, in their raillery, now declared his gloomy looks portended that he must be a victim to the darts of Cupid, his heart had never yet been touched.

Presently the diligence entered the courtyard, and amongst the passengers who alighted was a beautiful young girl, who was accompanied by her brother and an elderly fop, whose elegantly rich attire and lordly airs proclaimed him to be a person of wealth and importance.

The young girl was Manon Lescaut, a maiden of exquisite loveliness, who, in spite of her extreme youth and beauty, was even now being conducted by her brother to a convent, the life of a nun being the fate destined for her by her parents, who feared that the snares of the world might prove too much for one so fair, whom they believed could only be kept safe from temptation by taking the veil.

Manon, however, had a rich, passionate nature that craved for light, warmth, beauty and all the joys of a happy, full life; and she was sad at the thought that the cup of pleasure which she so ardently desired to drain was to be snatched from her lips ere she had scarce tasted of it.

Her brother, also, felt that it was a mistake to deprive so fair and radiant a young life of the joy that should certainly be its due; and he had already determined to disobey the instructions he had received and to prevent the incarceration of his young sister's charms. His motive, however, was far from being disinterested, since his nature was a depraved one; and in order to gratify his desire for low pleasures and his mercenary, avaricious instincts, he determined to use his sister's beauty as a decoy for securing wealth for them both.

To this end he had already encouraged the very obvious attentions of the rich, elderly libertine, Baron Geronte de Ravoir, who had travelled with them in the diligence, and who had become so fascinated with Manon's young loveliness that he desired above all things to possess her; and when the foppish, amorous Baron presently invited the brother and sister to join him at supper, Lescaut eagerly accepted for both.

Meanwhile the handsome young student, Des Grieux, had no sooner beheld the fair Manon than he had become so enthralled by her exquisite, ethereal beauty and delicate grace, that he could scarce take his eyes from her face; and eagerly making his way towards her, he soon found an opportunity to enter into conversation with her, and asked her name and destination.

Manon replied simply and shyly, but her tones were so sad and she sighed so deeply as she spoke of the convent life awaiting her at her journey's end, that Des Grieux, filled with pity and distress, besought her not to think any more of taking the veil, but to allow him to contrive some means of escape for her.

As the pair gazed into each other's eyes and talked thus eagerly together, a deep love sprang up spontaneously in their hearts; for both were young, fair, and of ardent temperaments, and were, moreover, mutually attracted to one another by a strange, but sweet magnetism which neither could resist.

Des Grieux was overjoyed to find in Manon the answering sympathy of a delicate, sensitive, highly-strung and passionate nature for which his own poetic temperament had longed; and he eagerly besought her to meet him again later on in the evening. Finally, Manon agreed to do so; and then, hearing her brother calling to her, she hurried away into the inn, leaving Des Grieux to wander apart from the merry throng once more and to indulge in his new rapturous thoughts alone.

Meanwhile the well-seasoned roué, Baron Geronte, had not been idling his time; for, having already determined to carry Manon off by force with him to Paris, there to become his mistress, he secretly called aside the landlord of the inn and arranged with him to have a post-chaise ready in a secluded spot behind the inn at a certain time during the evening.

It happened, however, that this conversation was overheard by Edmond, one of the young students, who, having noticed the mutual attraction of love between Manon and Des Grieux, now approached the latter and informed him of Geronte's plan for the abduction of the beautiful girl.

Full of dismay at this news, Des Grieux entreated the assistance of Edmond, who declared that the only thing to be done was for Des Grieux himself to make use of the waiting post-chaise and to depart in it with Manon before the old roué could complete his plans.

Des Grieux hailed this scheme with relief and joy; and Edmond, eager to help in such a mischievous trick, ran off to make arrangements for the post-chaise to be got ready at once.

Meanwhile, Lescaut, ever ready to satisfy his gambling craze, was already engaged with his new companion in playing cards and dice, and in drinking with some of the wilder students; and so absorbed were both he and Geronte, that they did not notice that Manon had again come out into the courtyard and was talking with Des Grieux in a quiet corner.

Des Grieux quickly told the beautiful girl of Geronte's plot for her abduction, and of his own plans for her rescue; and again declaring his deep love for her, entreated her to go with him instead to Paris, where they would dwell together in perfect happiness.

At first, Manon tried to resist; but her love for Des Grieux overwhelmed every other feeling, and she declared she would gladly go with him wherever he would. The lovers, therefore, crept stealthily to the back of the courtyard, where they found the post-chaise already waiting; and it was not until they had entered the vehicle and were driving along at a merry rate that Geronte and Lescaut saw what had happened.

The disappointed roué stamped and raved about the courtyard, nearly choking with rage at having his fair victim thus snatched from his grasp under his very nose; but Lescaut soon found a means of pacifying him. Knowing his sister's love of luxury and comfort, Lescaut believed that she could only be happy whilst the means of gratifying her naturally extravagant desires were forthcoming; and, therefore, he bade Geronte not to despair of winning her yet, since, when the young student's slender purse was exhausted, Manon might be enticed away from him by the offer of such magnificent living as Geronte would have to offer her.

This, indeed, proved to be the case; for when Des Grieux had lavished all the means at his immediate disposal upon gratifying the artistic longings of the ardent girl whom he had taken under his protection, he found himself helpless to retain so bright a creature within the restrictions of a narrowly-limited purse.

Manon loved Des Grieux passionately; but her voluptuous, pleasure-loving soul craved for luxury and extravagant amusements such as Des Grieux could not possibly gratify in the humble little cottage to which he had taken her. The consequence was that when the Baron Geronte at length arrived on the scene during Des Grieux's absence, his offer of a magnificent house, and all the glittering delights that wealth could purchase, was too strong a temptation for the sunshine-loving Manon, who thus allowed herself to be lured away from her true lover to become the mistress and petted favourite of one for whom she had no real affection.

Geronte's admiration, however, was pleasing to her; and for some weeks Manon lived a life of continual pleasure and luxury in the Baron's magnificent hotel, where her every whim was gratified and where she reigned almost as a queen.

Her brother, Lescaut, was well pleased with the turn events had taken, since he, also, now lived a life of luxury at the expense of his sister's wealthy protector; but he was clever enough to see that Manon would not long be satisfied with her present distractions, since her ever-changing moods and iridescent nature demanded variety, and that satiety of even luxury must inevitably come. He realised, also, that her love for Des Grieux was not dead, but only awaited his reappearance to burst forth into full bloom once more; and he knew that Des Grieux alone would have lasting influence in his sister's life.

For his own ends, therefore, and for the sake of having future means of gratifying his low tastes, Lescaut sought out the wretched Des Grieux once more, and encouraged him to gamble desperately, enticing him to this course by telling him that he would thus secure the wealth that should eventually enable him to win back the radiant Manon whom he still so fondly loved. He even went further still, and arranged for an interview between the pair; but dire misfortune came of this.

One day Geronte had arranged for a grand entertainment to be given before his beautiful mistress in their hotel, having secured the services of certain musicians and singers to give renderings of some high-flown verses which he had himself composed in praise of her beauty; and he engaged also a dancing-master to give her instructions in the minuet and other fashionable dances of the period; but finding that the spoilt beauty soon showed signs of boredom, he left the hotel with his friends to take a stroll along the Boulevards, somewhat piqued, asking her to join him later on, but intending to return himself shortly to see how she amused herself during his absence.

This was the very hour for which Lescaut had arranged the meeting between Des Grieux and Manon; and a few minutes after the departure of the Baron, the lovers were in each other's arms.

Manon was overjoyed at finding herself once more in the presence of her beloved Des Grieux; and the latter so quickly fell under the magic spell of her fatal fascination, that his first reproaches were soon forgotten in the passionate words of love and endearment which he could not repress.

So absorbed in their joy were the lovers that, oblivious of their surroundings, they paid no heed to the passing of time; and thus it came to pass that they were presently discovered by Geronte, still folded in each other's arms.

Furiously jealous at the sight, Geronte instantly rushed out from the hotel and denounced Manon to the authorities as a person of ill repute; and, in spite of her tears and entreaties, the unhappy girl was dragged off to prison and subsequently condemned to deportation.

Lescaut, still acting for his own selfish ends, made several endeavours, assisted by the almost frantic Des Grieux, to save the wretched victim from her awful fate; but all the efforts they made were in vain.

Des Grieux was overcome with grief and despair at the failure of his attempts to effect Manon's escape from prison on the day before she sailed, and, rather than be parted from his beloved one, when the last chance of rescue had vanished, he offered himself as a cabin-boy on board the vessel that conveyed her to America.

He was thus enabled to be of some small comfort to her on her arrival in the strange land she had dreaded so much; but, even here, fate was still against the lovers. Manon's fatal beauty was the means of placing further perils in her path, and, in order to escape a worse danger than any which had threatened her before, she was compelled to make a sudden hurried flight, accompanied by the ever-faithful Des Grieux.

The lovers now were forced to wander as fugitives in a vast solitary wilderness, far from human habitation and aid, and where starvation soon met them face to face.

All too quickly, poor Manon wasted and drooped, her bright butterfly nature utterly crushed by such terrible reverses; and at last, one day, as the pair toiled on their way, she sank to the ground dying from exhaustion.

Full of despair, Des Grieux vainly sought for water and refreshment, to save the precious life he loved so well; but Manon, knowing herself to be past all human aid, called him back to her side once more, and, folded closely in his trembling arms, she expired, declaring her love for him with her last breath.

Heart-broken, Des Grieux, with a cry of woe, fell senseless beside the dead body of his beloved Manon—that Manon, so fair and so alluring, such a bewildering contrast of passionate love and mischievous coquetry, a fascinating, sunshine-loving butterfly with the tender heart of a true woman.