The Duchess of Langeais (Ne touchez pas la hache )

Don't touch the axe

The lsle of Majorca, 1823.

After the fall of Cadiz to the French army,

and the restoration of King Ferdinand Vll

to the Spanish throne.

In the Carmelite convent,

General de Montriveau hears a mass.

In honour of the solemnity,

the choir curtains are drawn,

but the nuns are secluded in the organ loft.

Thus, France is everywhere?

Gentlemen, I hope you will forgive me.

A passing illness obliged me to leave the church.

I had to breathe the air of the sea.

The Governor prays you not to forget you are invited tonight.

You are to preside the dinner.

I fear my state will not permit it. I am so sorry.

I will take bed promptly.

M. de Montriveau,

my house is yours if you so desire.

Thank you.

I think I will prolong my stay.

Gaillard, you are free.

Come for my instructions in the morning.

The following day

Enter!

Gaillard, will you take a message?

Yes, General.

Major General,

I am sorry to say I am suffering

a passing illness

which obliges me to hand over to a colonel

the command of the troops.

Et cetera, et cetera.

Tage river I flee your gay edges

To your shores I bid adieu

Rock, drink from the shore

Echo! Plaintive Nymph!

Alas! I shall, Leave you, forever!

Antoinette!

General, I was told you were out.

You are no longer ill?

Your troops have taken to sea.

Forgive me, I didn't expect to see

such devotion in a French soldier.

The music, Monsieur.

Music, religion, love,

are they not the expression...

of the need of expansion of a noble soul?

Come and eat with me.

I fear I am not an amusing guest.

I invited our Carmelites' confessor.

Well then...

lt's a contemplative order.

Our saint, Theresa of Avila, set its rule in her book

the "lnterior castle".

This castle, may they leave it?

The nuns have chosen to be cloistered.

The rule is strict.

May they be seen?

A man may not enter a convent of the Barefoot Carmelites.

But yourself...

Unless one is, as I, a priest, attached by the Archbishop.

They are all from your country?

Not at all...

Among them, there is a Frenchwoman:

Sister Theresa.

She directs the music of the chapel.

Indeed! A Frenchwoman?

She must rejoice: A Bourbon on the throne of Spain.

I told them the object of the mass.

They are always a bit curious.

This Sister Theresa may have family in France.

She might want news of them.

I don't think so.

She would have told me.

Father, as a compatriot,

I would be curious to meet her.

If it's possible, if Mother Superior consents.

Behind the grille, even in Mother Superior's presence,

an interview is impossible.

But...

for the saviour of the Catholic throne and holy religion,

despite the Mother's severity,

the rule might... rest a bit.

I will speak about it.

That night

Duchess, does your companion speak French?

There is no duchess here.

You are before Sister Theresa.

My companion, as you say, is my mother in God,

my superior on earth.

She speaks but Latin and Spanish.

I speak neither.

Dear Antoinette, excuse me to her.

My brother, I am Sister Theresa.

Dear Mother,

this gentleman presents his respects,

but does not speak the two languages you speak.

Do you know this gentleman?

Yes, Mother.

Return to your cell my child.

Mother, this Frenchman is my brother.

You may stay my child.

You see, my brother, what I dare to speak a moment

for your salvation.

I commit a mortal sin.

I have lied.

How many days of penance to redeem this lie,

I shall suffer for you.

But I may hear you and be still now.

Antoinette, I must see you!

Don't call me Antoinette, I beg of you.

Memories of the past are painful.

These words, so humbly said,

struck the General like a lightning bolt.

You will leave this tomb...

You belonged to me,

not free to give yourself, even to God.

I looked for you the world over.

For five years, you were my only thought.

My friends, powerful friends, as you know,

helped me search the convents of France,

of Italy, Spain, Sicily, America.

You forget I am not free.

The Duke is dead.

May heaven take him.

I did not mean those ties.

You mean your vows!

I shall go to Rome,

plead all the powers on earth.

Do not speak so!

I love you more than ever before.

I don't see you with the eyes of the body.

How can you outweigh that?

My reply is I love you.

If you follow me,

I shall hear no other voice,

see no other face than yours.

Antoinette, will you follow me?

I am not leaving you.

I live here for you, in God!

If He is just, you will be happy.

Words!

You preferred me to society before,

now it's God, my blessing!

You don't love me!

You have never loved me!

Oh, my brother... You say you love my soul?

You will lose this soul forever.

I will kill myself.

Mother, I have lied to you,

this man is my lover!

Five years ago, in Paris, at the Countess de Sérizy's.

My dear child,

you were at Mlle de Rochefide's yesterday, you are everywhere!

I am so sad, aunt.

Childishness.

Go, reap your harvest of flatteries, and impassioned gazes.

The day ends and you are all the more pretty.

We know you.

None more than you, my aunt.

Scolded by the princess?

But so kindly.

I love and admire that woman.

None can hold a snuffbox like her.

When she sits, the skirts set with such grace.

Clara, who is that man?

You have heard of him, the Marquis de Montriveau.

It's him.

The Empire's hero, is he not?

Went to the centre of Africa.

Held prisoner by savages for two years, before fleeing.

Makes an interesting man of him.

Introduce me, he must be amusing.

None is more dull or sombre, but he is the fashion.

Monsieur, my friend would like to meet you,

let me introduce you.

Armand de Montriveau, this is Antoinette de Langeais.

All of Paris talks of your courage,

and constancy of soul.

A man like you must dislike the attention.

After months of inhuman solitude, I can't complain, Madame.

You went up to the source of the Nile.

You almost died?

I had a desert to cross.

"A desert to cross"...

May I hear the story?

...despite the suffering,

ashamed to complain to my guide,

I kept my hardship secret.

Having walked a third of the day,

my strength failing and feet bleeding,

I asked if we would be arriving soon.

"In one hour", said my guide.

The hour went by with no sight, even on the horizon,

of palm trees or crests

meaning the end of my suffering.

I stopped,

threatened the guide, refusing to go further.