May it suffice you both to enjoy a fortune
you deserve; as for myself, I owe the dead a secret as well as the
living.
SOPHRONINE:
I have only one fear; it's that that priest of Ceres, over whom you've
preferred me will avenge Aglaea's refusals on you. He's a man really
to be feared.
SOCRATES:
Eh! What can be feared when one is doing one's duty? I know the rage
of my enemies. I know all their slanders; but when one only tries to
do good to men and when one does not offend heaven, one can fear
nothing, neither during life, nor after death.
SOPHRONINE:
Nothing is more true; but I would die of sorrow if the happiness I owe
you allowed your enemies to force you to put your heroic constancy to
use.
AGLAEA: (entering)
My benefactor, my father, man above all men, I embrace your knees.
Second me, Sophronine, it's he, it's Socrates who is marrying us at
the expense of his fortune, who is paying my dowry, who is depriving
himself of the greatest share of his wealth for us. No. We won't
suffer it; we won't be rich at this price. The more grateful our
heart, the more we must imitate the nobility of his.
SOPHRONINE:
Like Aglaea, I am throwing myself at your feet.
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