The Lady of Lyons; or, Love and Pride
Summary
In gas-lit Lyons, a single camellia tossed onto a silk-cushioned balcony becomes the fuse for an operatic conflagration of pride: Claude Melnotte, brush-wielding son of a moss-bitten gardener, dares to adore Pauline Deschappelles, haughty pearl of the mercantile elite. She crushes the blossom and its note beneath her dainty heel, unaware that the same foot will one day cross the threshold of a peasant cottage as its mistress. Enter Beauseant, silk-gloved predator nursing a bruised ego; he mints Claude into a counterfeit Prince of Como—velvet cloaks, rented diamonds, a crest like a borrowed constellation—then unleashes the gilded impostor upon ballrooms where chandeliers drip like frozen waterfalls. Pauline, drunk on crests and carriages, weds the chimera, only to awaken in a thatched bedroom where chickens wander over the flagstones. Shame scorches her; Claude, stripped of tinsel but not of love, offers her freedom on a silver plate of despair, then vanishes into cannon smoke. Two carnage-soaked years temper the gardener’s boy into Colonel Melnotte, scion of scarred valor; he returns to find Pauline’s bankrupt father ready to trade her for Beauseant’s ledger of debts. At the altar’s brink, steel-clad Claude reclaims his bride—not with princely gold but with the unvarnished currency of constancy. Pauline, chastened, melts into the arms of the only man who ever offered her not what she wanted, but what she needed: the truth beneath the paint.
Synopsis
Claude Melnotte, an artist of lowly birth, is spurned by the proud Pauline, daughter of the wealthy Lyons merchant, Deschappelles. Beauseant, a rich gentleman who has been refused with levity by Pauline, plans to be revenged for the insult. He sees Claude Melnotte place a bouquet on the windowsill of Pauline's room. Pauline finds a note in the bouquet and when she discovers that her secret admirer is Claude Melnotte, the son of a gardener, she throws the flowers into the street. Beauseant follows Claude home, and persuades him to assume the fictitious title of "Prince of Como" for which purpose Beauseant furnishes money. Claude signs a contract, agreeing not to reveal his true identity until Beauseant gives him permission. Beauseant equips him with the valuable dress and trinkets of his supposed princely rank, introduces him to the leading society, and obtains for him an invitation to the home of the merchant Deschappelles. Pauline is enchanted with the Prince, and his rank and apparent wealth prove too much for her when Claude proposes marriage. She accepts him and the wedding takes place with great pomp and splendor. Meanwhile Claude has told his mother of his deception and has asked her to help him to comfort Pauline when she is disillusioned. He has to take Pauline to his mother's home as he has no other home for her. Pauline is heartbroken when she finds that she is the guest of a poor cottager instead of the mistress of a wonderful castle. Finding Pauline inconsolable Claude suggests that she divorce him, and having no hope in life left him, he enlists, goes to war, and Pauline returns to her father's home. He is promoted for bravery and returns two years later as Col. Melnotte. During Claude's absence Deschappelles has lost his money and Beauseant has come to the rescue, making the hand of Pauline his condition. Claude is just in time to prevent the marriage, and win Pauline for his own again. The scene closes with Pauline in the arms of Claude.
