THE DUKE
Fie, Donna Graciosa, you must not be too harsh with Eglamore—
GRACIOSA Think how unhappy I would be if even now I loved you, and how I would loathe myself!
THE DUKE It is his nature to scheme, and he weaves his plots as inevitably as the spider does her web—
GRACIOSA
But I am getting angry over nothing. Nothing has happened except that
I have dreamed—of a Guido. And there is no Guido. There is only an
Eglamore, a lackey in attendance upon his master.
THE DUKE Believe me, it is wiser to forget this clever lackey—as I do—except when there is need of his services. I think that you have no more need to consider him—
He takes the girl's hand. GRACIOSA now looks at him as though seeing him for the first time. She is vaguely frightened by this predatory beast, but in the main her emotion is as yet bewilderment.
THE DUKE For you are very beautiful, Graciosa. You are as slim as a lily, and more white. Your eyes are two purple mirrors in each of which I see a tiny image of Duke Alessandro. (GUIDO takes a step forward, and the DUKE now addresses him affably.) Those nuns they are fetching me are big high-colored wenches with cheeks like apples. It is not desirable that women should be so large. Such women do not inspire a poet. Women should be little creatures that fear you. They should have thin plaintive voices, and in shrinking from you should be as slight to the touch as a cobweb. It is not possible to draw inspiration from a woman's beauty unless you comprehend how easy it would be to murder her.
GUIDO (Softly, without expression.) God, God!
The DUKE looks with delight at GRACIOSA, who stands bewildered and childlike.
THE DUKE You fear me, do you not, Graciosa? Your hand is soft and cold as the skin of a viper. When I touch it you shudder. I am very tired of women who love me, of women who are infatuated by my beauty. You, I can see, are not infatuated. To you my touch will always be a martyrdom, you will always loathe me. And therefore I shall not weary of you for a long while, because the misery and the helplessness of my lovely victim will incite me to make very lovely verses.