Roxane and De Guiche’s Conflict and Reconciliation

Roxane and Count de Guiche’s relationship is shaped by a reversal: in the besieged camp, she holds him responsible for the danger around them, yet neither ultimately abandons the other to it. Roxane’s refusal to leave forces their conflict into the open; De Guiche chooses to stay as well, and later carries her from danger when the battle demands it. Their final exchange, in which he asks whether she has forgiven him and she answers that she has because she is there, suggests reconciliation grounded in shared presence rather than a neatly settled account of the past.

Siege, Hunger, and Accusation

Their confrontation unfolds in a camp under severe pressure. The French are besieging Arras but are themselves trapped and besieged, while the soldiers are short of food. Le Bret calls the situation complicated: the besiegers have become the besieged. The material crisis matters to Roxane and De Guiche’s relationship because their personal decisions take place within a military emergency, not apart from it.

De Guiche reports that the Marshal made a secret final effort to bring provisions to the camp. He took a substantial force with him, leaving half the army absent. The news exposes how vulnerable the remaining force has become: if the Spanish attack, the reduced camp may be in serious danger. In this setting, an argument over who has placed Roxane at risk carries immediate weight. Cyrano says that De Guiche has put them there; Roxane makes the personal consequence explicit by asking, “So, Sir, you would have made a widow of me?” De Guiche answers, “Nay, on my oath. . .” The exchange records her accusation and his denial, without resolving the underlying responsibility.

Roxane refuses to respond to danger by retreating. She declares, “I will not go! I am reckless now, and I shall not stir from here!--Besides, 'tis amusing!” Her defiance is both a decision about her own safety and a direct challenge to the expectation that she will leave the camp. She then reveals that she is famished and asks for pasties, cold fricassee, and old wines to be brought. The request sets bodily need beside the camp’s military peril: the soldiers are starving even as she insists that the company eat. Her presence does not remove the siege’s privations, but it changes the immediate scene from an argument about departure into a demand to stay and share the camp’s circumstances.

A Decision to Remain

When De Guiche asks what decision she will take, Roxane answers simply, “I stay here.” The brevity gives her refusal its force: the decision is hers, stated without qualification. De Guiche then declares, “Because I too--mean to remain.” His choice aligns his position with hers, though it does not erase their earlier dispute. He explains, “I leave no woman in peril.” The declaration gives his decision a protective rationale and makes their changed relation visible in action: the man she has accused of endangering her now commits himself to remaining where she is in danger.

The camp’s resources are meager, but De Guiche offers a concrete means of defense: he has one cannon left and has had it carried into a corner for the men to use if necessary. This detail places his pledge within the practical conditions of the siege. His protection is not an abstract assurance; it accompanies the limited weaponry available to the defenders. At the same time, his promise does not make Roxane passive. She has already refused to leave, and his decision to stay follows hers rather than replacing it.

Protection and Separation

Later, Cyrano tells De Guiche that he has proved his valor and urges him to fly and save Roxane. De Guiche rushes to her and carries her away in his arms. The gesture completes the protective promise in a changed form: earlier he had resolved to remain because she was in peril; now saving her requires taking her from the immediate danger. His response is decisive, not merely verbal. He accepts Cyrano’s instruction and acts at once.

De Guiche also frames the retreat in relation to the battle’s outcome, telling the defenders to gain time because the victory is theirs. The words make Roxane’s removal part of a larger military calculation rather than a private escape alone. Their relationship is therefore caught between personal protection and collective danger. Roxane’s earlier insistence on staying and De Guiche’s later act of carrying her away are not identical choices, but each answers the circumstances confronting them: she refuses to be sent away before the danger peaks, and he removes her when Cyrano judges that her rescue matters.

Forgiveness and the Later Relationship

In a later scene, De Guiche is addressed as the Duke. After a pause, he asks Roxane, “Am I forgiven?” She answers, “Ay, since I am here.” The pauses surrounding the exchange make forgiveness a considered, restrained moment rather than a casual courtesy. Roxane’s answer ties it to the fact of her presence: she does not give a long explanation or recount the camp’s earlier dispute, but grants forgiveness in the circumstance of being there with him.

The exchange establishes a real change without claiming that every past grievance has been explained away. The earlier relationship is marked by accusation, denial, and the threat that Roxane might be made a widow; at the siege, it shifts into a mutual decision to remain and an act of rescue. The later question and answer give that history a quiet resolution. De Guiche seeks pardon, and Roxane grants it, making their relationship one of conflict transformed by shared danger and ultimately acknowledged through forgiveness.