Fact1: Merteuil calls to do deed offering him own sexual favors as reward, Fact2: Searching for leverage he instructs Azolan, Fact3: Julie to gain access to Tourvel 's private correspondence, Fact4: Valmont After rapes her gaining access to Cecile 's bedchamber on false pretense, Fact5: Cecile after night in miscarries child Valmont 's bed
Output: In preRevolution Paris, the Marquise de Merteuil plots revenge against her exlover, the Comte de Bastide, who has recently ended their relationship. To soothe her wounded pride and embarrass Bastide, she seeks to arrange the seduction and disgrace of his young virgin fiancee, Cecile de Volanges. She has only recently been presented to society after spending her formative years in the shelter of a convent. Merteuil calls on the similarly unprincipled Vicomte de Valmont to do the deed, offering him her own sexual favors as a reward. Valmont declines, as he is plotting a seduction of his own: Madame de Tourvel, the chaste, devoutly religious wife of a member of Parliament, currently a houseguest of Valmonts aunt, Madame de Rosemonde. Merteuil is amused and incredulous. Never one to refuse a challenge, Valmont modifies the proposal: If he succeeds in sleeping with Tourvel, Merteuil must sleep with him as well. Merteuil accepts, on the condition that he furnish written proof of the liaison. Tourvel rebuffs all of Valmonts advances. Searching for leverage, he instructs his page Azolan to seduce Tourvels maid Julie to gain access to Tourvels private correspondence. One of the letters he intercepts is from Madame de Volanges, Ceciles mother and Merteuils cousin, warning Tourvel that Valmont is a nefarious and untrustworthy individual. On reading this, Valmont resolves to seduce Cecile after all, as revenge for her mothers accurate denunciation of him. Meanwhile, in Paris, Cecile meets the charming Chevalier Raphael Danceny, who becomes Ceciles music teacher. Slowly, with coaxing from Merteuil who knows that Danceny, a poor commoner, can never qualify as a bona fide suitor, they fall in love. After gaining access to Ceciles bedchamber on a false pretense, Valmont rapes her as she pleads with him to leave. On the pretext of illness, Cecile remains locked in her chambers, refusing all visitors. A concerned Madame de Volanges calls upon Merteuil to speak to her. Cecile, naively assuming that Merteuil has her best interests at heart, confides in her. Merteuil advises Cecile to welcome Valmonts advances; young women should take advantage of all the lovers they can acquire, she says, in a society so repressive and contemptuous of women. The result is a studentteacher relationship; by day, Cecile is courted by Danceny, and each night she receives a sexual lesson from Valmont. In the meantime, Merteuil begins an affair with Danceny. Meanwhile, Valmont somehow manages to win Tourvels heart—but at a cost: the lifelong bachelor playboy falls in love. In a fit of jealousy, Merteuil mocks Valmont and threatens to trash his reputation as a carefree gigolo. She also refuses to honor her end of their agreement, since Valmont has no written proof that the relationship has been consummated. Valmont abruptly dismisses Tourvel with a terse excuse: It is beyond my control. Cecile, meanwhile, after a night in Valmonts bed, miscarries his child. Tourvel, overwhelmed with grief and shame, retreats to a monastery where her health deteriorates rapidly. Valmont warns Danceny of Merteuils ulterior motives in seducing him; Merteuil retaliates by informing Danceny that Valmont has been sleeping with Cecile. Danceny challenges Valmont to a duel, and mortally wounds him. With his dying breath, Valmont asks Danceny to communicate to Tourvel—by now near death—his genuine love for her. He gives Danceny his collection of intimate letters from Merteuil; all of Paris learns the entire range of her schemes and depredations. Humiliated at the opera by her former friends and sycophants, Merteuil flees the city in disgrace. Cecile, guiltridden, returns to the convent to become a nun.