[A hissing protest from the multitude and a cry from Virginia follows this announcement. Icilius faces the Chief Decemvir with blazing eyes, and draws Virginia closer.
Icilius. Over my body only shall yon hound
Of Hell seize on her. I am yet a man
With strength to shield or life to sacrifice
For that which is mine own. Sleep 'neath his roof?
I'd sooner see her cold upon her bier,
Or bound upon the wheel of Ixion,
Enduring tortures of the damned themselves!
With him? I'd rather cast her to a wolf,
Who, merciful, would tear her into shreds
And leave her pure, or o'er Tarpeia's Rock,
And with mine eyes behold her perfect form
Shattered upon the kindly stones below,
Ere Marcus Claudius lay hands on her.
Marius. Ay, he is right; the maiden yet is free.
The charge hath not been proven, Appius!
Appius. So be it. We will acquiesce thus far,
But lictors must be stationed as a guard
About the house wherein she spends the night,
Lest she escape and law be unfulfilled.
Cor. (coming forward). I will go thither and attend this night
Upon her. Thou, Tiberius, return
Home with the slaves. To-morrow meet me here.
Slave. Lady, thy lips are white and thou art ill.
See, thou dost tremble.
Cor. Woman, what of that?
How canst thou weigh my pallor with her pain—
The anguish in her eyes? What though I shake
As with an ague? She herself is turned
To stone with horror deeper than mine own.
A living sorrow doth exceed a dead;
Death to dishonor seemeth merciful.
Her blow is heavy with the weight of dread,
Mine light with hope. Did she not succor me?
How can I fail her in her time of need?
Appius. Lictors, take into custody yon man.
Lest he do mischief.
Icilius. By the almighty gods!
Unhand me! I will kill thee, as a man
Would kill a beast. Ah! foulest trick to seize
Upon me from the rear. Oh, God! Oh, God!
[He sinks helpless upon the stones at Virginia's feet, two lictors binding him firmly with cords. The storm now breaks, shrieking in maddest fury, the lightning playing over the hills of Rome.
Scene II—A Chamber in the Home of Virginius.
Midnight and darkness, save where the moonlight shimmers through the columns on the left. Virginia is discovered kneeling in the sea of radiance as though in prayer. A silence follows the rise of the curtain; then, low at first, but louder, clearer, gradually increasing in volume, a hymn breaks from her lips, she kneeling still.
Hymn to Diana.
O, thou virgin-goddess fair,
Look upon me in my sorrow;
Hear, oh, hear mine earnest prayer!
Guard me from the fatal morrow!
Purity is in thy breast
With thy silver moonbeams drest.
Still my cheek is hot with shame,
And my heart in anguish crying;
Let me keep my spotless name,
Waking, sleeping, living, dying!
Chaste Dian, thy stainless glory
Still resounds in song and story.
Mount thy ear within the blue,
Waft a whisper to me only!
Thou a heart hast, strong and true,
Think upon the maiden lonely.
Without thee it now would seem
Love were nothing but a dream.
[Cornelia suddenly appears from out the gloom behind and puts her arms about Virginia's neck.
Cor. Love but a dream? Ah, no! The gods forfend!
Virginia. Ah! Thou! [Turns and embraces her.
Cor. No other than this broken heart;
Yet is my soul untouched by human woe,
As thine shall be untouched by human sin.
Virginia. I see the face, with passion fiery,
The full voluptuous lips and greedy eyes,
I see and shudder.
Cor. Marcus Claudius?
Virginia. Nay, but the other.
Cor. I am mystified.
Virginia. None saw as I saw! He alone I fear,
Who on the morrow will decide, dear God!—
For Marcus—yet not Marcus—but himself;
Allot me as his own. (Wildly.) I saw his look,
And felt his power! Marcus is the paw
Wherewith great Appius will seize his prey.
(Laughs.) Virginia, his prey! He leered on me,
And in the whitening of his clenchéd hand
I marked the clash and clangor of his soul.
Dear gods! The feet of Night are leaden shod,
And yet the precious moments speed too fast.
Oh, Death! had I the courage that thou dost
Demand, I'd summon thee. Methinks I hear
E'en now the distant rustle of thy wings.
And yet—thou tarriest—thou tarriest.
Cor. Would Death might choose me out as willing prey!
Virginia. Dear one, thy voice is weary like the world,
Which is so old and heavy with its years;
And yet thine eyes are bright, undimmed by tears.
Cor. Bright with the pain that kills by slow degrees.
Ah! for Apollo's pestilential dart,
Or but to see the shears of Atropos
Flash in Diana's beams.
Virginia (softly). We loved her light,
Thou—thou and I, when love was all in life,
And those, our own, the twain, Icilius
And brave Sicinius—"Ah, God! Ah, God!"
Thus cried he, my beloved, as he sank
Prone at my feet, a tyrant's prisoner.
[Breaks from Cornelia's grasp and glides in anguish to the curtained doorway on the right.