ACT I.
SCENE I.
A corridor in the palace of Piero.
Enter Piero, unbraced, his arms bare, smeared in blood, a poniard in one hand bloody, and a torch in the other; Strotzo following him with a cord.
Pier. Ho, Gasper Strotzo, bind Feliche’s trunk
Unto the panting side of Mellida!
[Exit Strotzo.
’Tis yet dead night, yet all the earth is clutch’d[198]
In the dull leaden hand of snoring sleep;
No breath disturbs the quiet of the air,
No spirit moves upon the breast of earth,
Save howling dogs, night-crows, and screeching owls,
Save meagre ghosts, Piero, and black thoughts.
One, two!
[Clock strikes.
Lord, in two hours what a topless mount 10
Of unpeer’d mischief have these hands cast up!
Re-enter Strotzo.