Seb. Then, thus adjured,
344 On a king's word 'tis truth, but truth ill-timed;
For her dear life is now exposed anew,
Unless you wholly can put on divinity,
And graciously forgive.
Alm. Now learn, by this,
The little value I have left for life,
And trouble me no more.
Emp. I thank thee, woman;
Thou hast restored me to my native rage,
And I will seize my happiness by force.
Seb. Know, Muley Moluch, when thou darest attempt—
Emp. Beware! I would not be provoked to use
A conqueror's right, and therefore charge thy silence.
If thou wouldst merit to be thought my friend,
I leave thee to persuade her to compliance:
If not, there's a new gust in ravishment,
Which I have never tried.
Bend. They must be watched;[Aside.
For something I observed creates a doubt. [Exeunt Emp. and Bend.
Seb. I've been too tame, have basely borne my wrongs,
And not exerted all the king within me:
I heard him, O sweet heavens! he threatened rape;
Nay, insolently urged me to persuade thee,
Even thee, thou idol of my soul and eyes,
For whom I suffer life, and drag this being.
Alm. You turn my prison to a paradise;
But I have turned your empire to a prison:
In all your wars good fortune flew before you;
Sublime you sat in triumph on her wheel,
Till in my fatal cause your sword was drawn;
The weight of my misfortunes dragged you down.
Seb. And is't not strange, that heaven should bless my arms
In common causes, and desert the best?
345 Now in your greatest, last extremity,
When I would aid you most, and most desire it,
I bring but sighs, the succours of a slave.
Alm. Leave then the luggage of your fate behind;
To make your flight more easy leave Almeyda:
Nor think me left a base, ignoble prey,
Exposed to this inhuman tyrant's lust;
My virtue is a guard beyond my strength,
And death, my last defence, within my call.