Second scene: the seminary of Saint-Sulpice.
The Chevalier des Grieux is on the point of becoming a priest. We hear first a group of ladies admiring a sermon this young man has delivered, and praising his modest, sober conduct. His father the Count comes to visit him and to try to turn him from his resolve to enter the priesthood. But the young man is fixed in his final determination, and after his father goes away disappointed he does not conceal the reason: he is entering the Church only to forget Manon. Presently he sings the song "Ah, depart, sweet vision."
Hardly has he left the stage when the "sweet vision" herself appears — Manon — come to ask for Des Grieux. The porter goes to call him, and she hears the choir
chanting, her lips murmuring in prayer. Des Grieux returns and tries to harden his heart against the temptation she embodies, but he cannot withstand her tears and her entreaties that he return to her arms. In a long, moving song that the two sing together, Des Grieux weakens little by little. At last he cries out, "Ah, come, Manon — I love you!" and forsakes the Church. The two rush out of the door together.
Act Four
The scene: the Hôtel de Transylvanie, one of the gambling clubs of Paris.
Manon and Des Grieux, united once more, come to a sumptuous, elegant hall given over to gambling and thronged with gamblers. Manon, arrayed in the most splendid finery and decked
in the costliest jewels, urges her companion to try his luck. Though he shows some hesitation at first, he is soon persuaded to join the play, especially after being challenged by Guillot, who has been set upon revenge ever since Manon turned away from him at Amiens. While the two are deep in wagers of enormous sums, Manon's voice rings out in a song that carries her philosophy of life: "Youth passes, and beauty fades; let us turn all our desires to drinking deep of pleasures."
Meanwhile fortune favors Des Grieux. Guillot, the loser, rises in a fury of rage and accuses him of cheating. The young Chevalier denies the charge with heat and sharpness. But Guillot hurries outside, and before long returns accompanied by several policemen, who
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Crisco
Delicious taste — quick digestion
The pure vegetable shortening
With no trace of fat or grease in it
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For all dishes and light fried foods and every kind of sweets