MADAME ARGANTE.
...  Parle-moi a coeur ouvert; fais-moi ta confidente.

ANGELIQUE. 
Vous, la confidente de votre fille?

MADAME ARGANTE. 
Oh! votre fille, et qui te parle d’elle?  Ce n’est point ta mere qui veut
etre ta confidente; c’est ton amie, encore une fois.

ANGELIQUE, riant. 
D’accord; mais mon amie redira tout a ma mere; l’une est inseparable de
l’autre.

MADAME ARGANTE.  Eh bien! je les separe, moi; je t’en fais serment.  Oui, mets-toi dans l’esprit que ce que tu me confieras sur ce pied-la, c’est comme si ta mere ne l’entendait pas....

Little by little the mother gains the daughter’s confidence, until at last, emboldened, Angelique confesses: 

Vous m’avez demande si on avait attaque mon coeur?  Que trop, puisque j’aime!

MADAME ARGANTE, d’un air serieux. 
Vous aimez?...

ANGELIQUE, riant. 
Eh bien! ne voila-t-il pas cette mere qui est absente?  C’est pourtant elle
qui me repond; mais rassurez-vous, car je badine.[123]

Nothing could be more graceful or more natural.  This, then, is that marivaudage, against which so much has been said!

Madame Argante has discovered the secret, and, fearful for her daughter’s welfare, she allows the mother nature to assume the upper hand, and points out the danger of her course to Angelique, who, at last, comprehends, and agrees to renounce her lover.  This she attempts to do, but love will have its way, and will not be put down.  An elopement is arranged, which is interrupted by the arrival of Madame Argante, who takes Dorante to task for his indifference to the real happiness of Angelique.  He is covered with confusion, confesses his mistake, and by his manly attitude gains the mother’s heart and the daughter’s hand.  Ergaste, the rejected suitor, proves to be an uncle of Dorante, and in a spirit of self-abnegation, well nigh superhuman, devotes himself to celibacy and his fortune to the lovers.  Lisette plays the role of the intrigante and temptress of her mistress.  The comic of the piece is in the hands of Lubin, a peasant in the service of the family, who is bribed by each party to spy upon the other.

Lack of space forbids more than a mere mention of the remaining plays, many of which are worthy of being compared favourably with those which have been outlined.  We have seen enough to convince us that, although his drama may be classified in general as psychological and feminin there is great diversity in the individual plays, and never monotony.