ACT II.
SCENE I. A hall in Cæsario's palace.
[Shouts heard without.]
Enter Cæsario [a general's staff in his hand] followed by Henriquez, citizens and soldiers.
Cæsa. Thanks, worthy friends! No further!—Pleased I hear
These shouts, which thank me for Alfonso's safety!
But though my arms have quelled the Moors, your love
Alone can shield him from a foe more dangerous,
From his proud rebel son!—Farewell, assured
I live but for your use!
First Citi. Long live Cæsario!
Sec. Citi. Long live the conqueror of the Moors!
All. Huzza! [Exeunt.
Manent Cæsario and Henriquez.
Cæsa. Kind friends, farewell!—Ay, shout, ye brawlers, shout!
Pour out unmeaning praise till the skies ring!
'Twill school your deep-toned throats to roar tomorrow,
—"Long live Cæsario! Sovereign of Castile!"—
Mark you, Henriquez, how the royal dotard
Hung on my neck, termed me his kingdom's angel,
His friend, his saviour, his——Oh! my tongue burned
To thunder in his startled ear——"The man
Who raised this war, and fired your son's ambition,
Your daughter's husband, and your mortal foe,
That man am I!"——
Hen. Then absence has not cooled,
It seems, your hatred——
Cæsa. Could'st thou think it? thou,
Who know'st a secret to all else unknown!
Know'st me no stranger-youth, no chance-adventurer,
Whose sword's his fortune, as Castile believes me;
But one of mightiest views and proudest hopes,
Galled by injustice, panting for revenge,
Son of a hero! wronged Orsino's son!
Hen. Yet might your wealth and power—yon general's staff—
Alfonso's countless favours——
Cæsa. Favours? Insults!
Curses when proffered by a hand I hate!
Bright seems ambition to my eye, and sure
To reign is glorious; yet such fixed aversion
I bear this man, and such my thirst for vengeance,
I would not sell his head, once in my power,
Though the price tendered were the crown that decks it!
Yet that, too, shortly shall be mine!—Say, Marquis,
How speeds our plot?
Hen. 'Tis ripe: beneath his chambers
The vaults are ours, the sleeping fires disposed;
The mine waits but your word.
Cæsa. Tonight it springs then,
And hurls my foe in burning clouds to heaven—
O! rapturous sight!
Hen. And can that sight give rapture
Which wrings with anguish Amelrosa's bosom?
She loves her father——
Cæsa. Loves she not her husband?
Hen. She'll hate him, when she knows——
Cæsa. She ne'er shall know it!
All shall be held her rebel brother's deed;
And while contending passions shake the rabble,
(Grief for the sire, resentment 'gainst the son;
And pity for the princess) forth I'll step,
Avow our marriage, claim the crown her right,
And, when she mounts the throne, ascend it with her.
Hen. Oh! she will drown that bloody throne with tears!
And should she learn who bade them flow——
Cæsa. Say on——
Hen. She'll loath you!
Cæsa. [With a scornful smile] She'll forgive me.
Hen. Never, never!
I know the princess; know a daughter's love,
A daughter's grief——
Cæsa. And are not daughters women?
By nature tender, trustful, kind, and fickle,
Prone to forgive, and practised in forgetting?
Let the fair things but rave their hour at ease,
And weep their fill, and wring their pretty hands,
Faint between whiles, and swear by every saint
They'll never, never, never see you more!
Then when the larum's hushed, profess repentance,
Say a few kind false words, drop a few tears,
Force a fond kiss or two, and all's forgiven.
Away! I know her sex!
Hen. But know not her!
Her heart will bleed; and can you wound that heart,
Yet swear you love her?
Cæsa. Dearly, fiercely love her;
But not so fiercely as I loath this king!—
Hatred of him, cherished from youth, is now
My second nature! 'tis the air I breathe,
The stream which fills my veins, my life's chief source,
My food, my drink, my sleep, warmth, health and vigour,
Mixed with my blood, and twisted round my heart-strings!
To cease to hate him, I must cease to breathe!—
Never to know one hour's repose or pleasure
While loathed Alfonso lived,—such was my oath,
Breathed on my broken-hearted mother's lips.
She heard! her eyes flashed with new fire; she kissed me,
Murmured Orsino's name, blessed it and died!—
That oath I'll keep!
Enter Melchior.
Cæsa. Melchior! why thus alarmed?
Mel. I've cause too good! our lives hang by a thread!
Guzman is dying.
Cæsa. and Hen. How?
Mel. Remorse already
Hath wrung one secret from him; and I fear,
The next fit brings our plot.
Cæsa. Speed, speed, Henriquez!
Place spies around his gate! guard every avenue!
Mark every face that comes or goes—Away!