satisfied directly. You shall see whether I am deceiving you, and
whether they have not pledged their troth for more than a year past.

AR. Is it likely she could thus have agreed to this engagement without
telling me?--me! who in everything, from her infancy, ever displayed
towards her a complete readiness to please, and who a hundred times
protested I would never force her inclinations.

SGAN. Well, your own eyes shall judge of the matter. I have already
brought here a magistrate and a notary. We are concerned that the
promised marriage shall at once restore to her the honour she has lost;
for I do not suppose you are so mean-spirited as to wish to marry her
with this stain upon her, unless you have still some arguments to raise
you above all kinds of ridicule.

AR. For my part, I shall never be so weak as wish to possess a heart in
spite of itself. But, after all, I cannot believe...

SGAN. What speeches you make! Come, this might go on for ever.




SCENE VII.--SGANARELLE, ARISTE, A MAGISTRATE, A NOTARY.


MAG. There is no need to use any compulsion here, gentlemen. If you wish
to have them married, your anger may be appeased on the spot. Both are
equally inclined to it; Valère has already given under his hand a
statement that he considers her who is now with him as his wife.