Auranthe.

And all men! Vanish!

And you! And you!

[Retires to an inner Apartment.

SCENE II.-An Apartment in the Castle.

Enter LUDOLPH and Page.

Page. Still very sick, my Lord; but now I went Knowing my duty to so good a Prince;

And there her women in a mournful throng

Stood in the passage whispering: if any

Mov'd 'twas with careful steps and hush'd as death; They bid me stop.

Ludolph.
Make soft enquiry; prythee be not stay'd
By any hindrance, but with gentlest force

Good fellow, once again

Break through her weeping servants, till thou com'st
E'en to her chamber door, and there, fair boy,
If with thy mother's milk thou hast suck'd in
Any diviner eloquence; woo her ears
With plaints for me more tender than the voice
Of dying Echo, echoed.

Kindest master!

10

Page. To know thee sad thus, will unloose my tongue In mournful syllables. Let but my words reach Her ears and she shall take them coupled with Moans from my heart and sighs not counterfeit. May I speed better! [Exit Page.

Ludolph.

Auranthe! My Life!
Long have I lov'd thee, yet till now not lov'd:
Remembering, as I do, hard-hearted times
When I had heard even of thy death perhaps,
And thoughtless, suffered to pass alone
Into Elysium! now I follow thee

A substance or a shadow, wheresoe'er

Thou leadest me,-whether thy white feet press,
With pleasant weight, the amorous-aching earth,
Or thro' the air thou pioneerest me,

A shade! Yet sadly I predestinate!

14 Of dying echo, echoed at her death... MS., cancelled.

20

O unbenignest Love, why wilt thou let
Darkness steal out upon the sleepy world
So wearily; as if night's chariot wheels

30

Were clog'd in some thick cloud. O, changeful Love,
Let not her steeds with drowsy-footed pace
Pass the high stars, before sweet embassage
Comes from the pillow'd beauty of that fair
Completion of all delicate nature's wit.
Pout her faint lips anew with rubious health
And with thine infant fingers lift the fringe
Of her sick eyelids; that those eyes may glow
With wooing light upon me, ere the Morn
Peers with disrelish, grey, barren, and cold.

Enter GERSA and Courtiers.

Otho calls me his Lion-should I blush

To be so tam'd, so

Gersa.

40

Do me the courtesy

Gentlemen to pass on.

Courtier.

We are your servants.

[Exeunt Courtiers.

Ludolph. It seems then, Sir, you have found out the man You would confer with; me?

Gersa.

If I break not

Too much upon your thoughtful mood, I will
Claim a brief while your patience.

Ludolph.

Soe'er I shall be honour'd.

Gersa.

For what cause

Ludolph. What may it be? No trifle can take place

Of such deliberate prologue, serious 'haviour.

But be it what it may I cannot fail

To listen with no common interest

For though so new your presence is to me,
I have a soldier's friendship for your fame-
Please you explain.

30 unbenignest] unpropitious MS., rejected.
34-7 Let her not take her drowsy-eyed watch

Among the stars, before sweet embassage
Comes from the pillow'd beauty of that fair
Completion of all fairness and all form.

MS., rejected.

Gersa.

As thus-for, pardon me,

I cannot in plain terms grossly assault
A noble nature; and would faintly sketch
What your quick apprehension will fill up
So finely I esteem you.

Ludolph.

I attend

60

Gersa. Your generous Father, most illustrious Otho, Sits in the Banquet room among his chiefs—

His wine is bitter, for you are not there-
His eyes are fix'd still on the open doors,

And every passer in he frowns upon
Seeing no Ludolph comes.

Ludolph.

I do neglect

Gersa. And for your absence, may I guess the

cause?

Ludolph. Stay there! no-guess? more princely you

must be

Than to make guesses at me.

I'm sorry I can hear no more.

Gersa.

"Tis enough,

And I

As griev'd to force it on you so abrupt;

Yet one day you must know a grief whose sting Will sharpen more the longer 'tis conceal'd.

70

Ludolph. Say it at once, sir, dead, dead, is she dead? Gersa. Mine is a cruel task: she is not deadAnd would for your sake she were innocent—

Ludolph. Thou liest! thou amazest me beyond
All scope of thought; convulsest my heart's blood
To deadly churning-Gersa you are young
As I am; let me observe you face to face;
Not grey-brow'd like the poisonous Ethelbert,
No rheumed eyes, no furrowing of age,

No wrinkles where all vices nestle in
Like crannied vermin-no, but fresh and young
And hopeful featur'd. Ha! by heaven you weep
Tears, human tears-Do you repent you then
Of a curs'd torturer's office! Why shouldst join-
Tell me, the league of Devils? Confess-confess
The Lie.-

80

Gersa. Lie!-but begone all ceremonious points 90 Of honour battailous. I could not turn

My wrath against thee for the orbed world.

Ludolph. Your wrath, weak boy? Tremble at mine unless

Retraction follow close upon the heels

Of that late stounding insult: why has my sword
Not done already a sheer judgment on thee?
Despair, or eat thy words. Why, thou wast nigh
Whimpering away my reason: hark ye, Sir,
It is no secret ;-that Erminia,

Erminia, Sir, was hidden in your tent;
O bless'd asylum! comfortable home!
Begone, I pity thee, thou art a Gull-
Erminia's last new puppet-

Gersa.

Furious fire!

Thou mak'st me boil as hot as thou canst flame!
And in thy teeth I give thee back the lie!
Thou liest! Thou, Auranthe's fool, a wittol-

Ludolph. Look! look at this bright sword;
There is no part of it to the very hilt

100

But shall indulge itself about thine heart-
Draw-but remember thou must cower thy plumes, 110
As yesterday the Arab made thee stoop-

Gersa. Patience! not here, I would not spill thy blood Here underneath this roof where Otho breathes,

Thy father-almost mine

Ludolph.

O faltering coward

Re-enter PAGE.

Stay, stay, here is one I have half a word with

Well-What ails thee child?

I hasten'd back, your grieving messenger,
I found the stairs all dark, the lamps extinct,
And not a foot or whisper to be heard.
I thought her dead, and on the lowest step
Sat listening; when presently came by
Two muffled up,-one sighing heavily,

103 Erminia's fresh puppet MS.

120

The other cursing low, whose voice I knew

For the Duke Conrad's. Close I follow'd them Thro' the dark ways they chose to the open air; And, as I follow'd, heard my lady speak.

Ludolph. Thy life answers the truth!

Page.

The chamber's empty!

Ludolph. As I will be of mercy! So, at last, This nail is in my temples !

Gersa.

Ludolph. I am.

Gersa.

And Albert too has disappear'd;

Ere I met you, I sought him everywhere;

You would not hearken.

Ludolph.

Which way went they, boy?

Gersa. I'll hunt with you.
Ludolph.

No, no, no. My senses are

Still whole. I have surviv'd. My arm is strong

My appetite sharp-for revenge! I'll no sharer

In my feast; my injury is all my own,

And so is my revenge, my lawful chattels !

Terrier, ferret them out! Burn-burn the witch! Trace me their footsteps! Away!

140

[Exeunt.

ACT V.

SCENE I.-A part of the Forest.

Enter CONRAD and AURANTHE.

Auranthe. Go no further; not a step more; thou art A master-plague in the midst of miseries.

Go-I fear thee. I tremble every limb,

Who never shook before. There's moody death

In thy resolved looks-Yes, I could kneel

To pray thee far away. Conrad, go, go-
There! yonder underneath the boughs I see
Our horses !

Conrad. Aye, and the man.
Auranthe.

Yes, he is there.

Go, go,-no blood, no blood; go, gentle Conrad!

2 A plague-spot in the midst of miseries. MS., cancelled.