Dor. I doubt thee still: Thy reasons were too strong,
And driven too near the head, to be but artifice:
And, after all, I know thou art a statesman,
Where truth is rarely found.
Bend. Behold the emperor:—
Enter Emperor, Sebastian, and Almeyda.
Ask him, I beg thee,—to be justified,—
If he employed me not to ford thy soul,
And try the footing, whether false or firm.
Dor. Death to my eyes, I see Sebastian with him!
Must he be served?—Avoid him: If we meet,
It must be like the crush of heaven and earth,
To involve us both in ruin.[Exit.
Bend. 'Twas a bare saving game I made with Dorax;
But better so than lost. He cannot hurt me;
That I precautioned: I must ruin him.—
But now this love; ay, there's the gathering storm!
The tyrant must not wed Almeyda: No!
That ruins all the fabric I am raising.
Yet, seeming to approve, it gave me time;
And gaining time gains all.[Aside.
[Benducar goes and waits behind the Emperor. The Emperor, Sebastian, and Almeyda, advance to the front of the stage: Guards and Attendants.
Emp. to Seb. I bade them serve you; and, if they obey not,
I keep my lions keen within their dens,
340 To stop their maws with disobedient slaves.
Seb. If I had conquered,
They could not have with more observance waited:
Their eyes, hands, feet,
Are all so quick, they seem to have but one motion,
To catch my flying words. Only the alcayde
Shuns me; and, with a grim civility,
Bows, and declines my walks.
Emp. A renegade:
I know not more of him, but that he's brave,
And hates your Christian sect. If you can frame
A farther wish, give wing to your desires,
And name the thing you want.
Seb. My liberty;
For were even paradise itself my prison,
Still I should long to leap the crystal walls.