Count de Guiche and Roxane

Count de Guiche and Roxane are joined by an unreciprocated declaration of love and by Roxane’s effort to influence how De Guiche treats Cyrano de Bergerac. Their scenes contrast his belief that her heart may be touched with her measured responses and her direct intervention on Cyrano’s behalf.

First Appearance

At the Hotel de Bourgogne, an elegant nobleman wearing a blue ribbon across his breast enters Roxane’s box and speaks with her while she stands. The stage direction identifies their meeting in public, but the brief exchange supplied here does not establish what they discuss or how Roxane regards him at this point.

De Guiche’s Pursuit

In a later scene, De Guiche appears while Roxane and her duenna are present. When he identifies a regiment, Roxane answers “Bravo!” indifferently; a subsequent stage direction marks her as startled. The fragment does not disclose what prompts that change, but it shows her reactions shifting rather than settling into uncomplicated approval.

De Guiche soon comes close to Roxane and declares that he loves her intensely. He says he ought to depart that night, yet questions how he can leave when he believes her heart has been touched. That is De Guiche’s interpretation of her response, not confirmation from Roxane that she returns his love. His declaration makes the imbalance in their exchange plain: he speaks openly of his passion, while the available evidence presents Roxane as guarded and purposeful.

Roxane and Cyrano

Roxane confronts De Guiche about what she understands as his revenge on Cyrano. She asks whether he means to put Cyrano amid the gunfire and argues that such a posting would suit him rather than wound him. Her challenge reveals both De Guiche’s apparent hostility toward Cyrano and Roxane’s knowledge of Cyrano’s fearlessness. Instead of accepting De Guiche’s position without question, she presses him on the consequences of his plan and warns that it will not achieve the injury he intends.

The Shape of the Relationship

The evidence holds attraction and political pressure in the same encounters. De Guiche’s declaration turns their connection into an explicit pursuit, but Roxane’s indifference in one exchange and her intervention over Cyrano complicate any assumption that his passion is reciprocated. The surviving moments leave the outcome of his appeal unresolved; what they establish is a relationship in which his ardor is direct while Roxane’s words are directed toward circumstances and choices beyond their courtship.