Gordon. O God in heaven!
Butler. Can you advise aught else
Wherewith to execute the Emperor's purpose? 60
Say if you can. For I desire his fall,
Not his destruction.
Gordon. Merciful heaven! what must be
I see as clear as you. Yet still the heart
Within my bosom beats with other feelings!
Butler. Mine is of harder stuff! Necessity 65
In her rough school hath steeled me. And this Illo
And Tertsky likewise, they must not survive him.
Gordon. I feel no pang for these. Their own bad hearts
Impelled them, not the influence of the stars.
'Twas they who strewed the seeds of evil passions 70
In his calm breast, and with officious villainy
Watered and nursed the pois'nous plants. May they
Receive their earnests to the uttermost mite!
Butler. And their death shall precede his!
We meant to have taken them alive this evening [75]
Amid the merry-making of a feast,
And kept them prisoners in the citadels.
But this makes shorter work. I go this instant
To give the necessary orders.
LINENOTES:
[[19]]