Nay, no whit.
Our heavenly father on earth adores no less
Our mother than our sister: and I hold
His heart and eye, his spirit and his sense,
Infallible.
Enter the Pope
ALEXANDER
Jest not with God. I heard
A holy word, a hallowing epithet,
Cardinal Cæsar, trip across thy tongue
Lightly.
CÆSAR
Most holiest father, I desire
Paternal absolution—when thy laugh
Has waned from lip and eyelid.
ALEXANDER
Take it now,
And Christ preserve thee, Cæsar, as thou art,
To serve him as I serve him. Rose of mine,
My rose of roses, whence has fallen this dew
That dims the sweetest eyes love ever lit
With light that mocks the morning?
VANNOZZA
Nay, my lord,
I know not—nay, I knew not if I wept.