VANOZZA.
But I affirm
You are more wonderful than all the stars;
You are immortal for great fame, for greater
Than I can give the wording of. I bore you—
You are sacred, sacred. All the saints of heaven
Hold you in virtue! I had many dreams
When you were born. My Prince, though I could give you
No rights, and fortune is not in our hands
To give it where we love, I give you faith,
A mother’s, simple as the faith I give
To the High God—though He were poor, and nowhere
Had place to lay His head.
CESARE.
No marvel
My father, God’s own Sovereign-Vicar, loved you
For over twenty years and with deep fire,
As Jove loved mortals, as he took Europa
On broad bull-shoulders, over many seas,
To the quiet cave where she should bear a king.
No marvel that this beauty,
Proud even to rudeness in its provocation,
Was as his hearth! Rodrigo Borgia’s son
Asks your forgiveness.
VANOZZA.
Excellence!... But loose me!
Are you so strong?
Your breath beats at the nostrils as his beat.
Loose!... Let me meet Messer Agapito....
[The Mute has pointed toward the horizon, touching Agapito’s sleeve; he has watched intently for some time, and now advances.
AGAPITO.
News, news, Signore!
I did not tell you till these travellers
Were at our very gates.