University of Virginia Library

ACT IV.

SCENE I.

CASTLE OF MURO. Giovanna, Agatha.
Giovanna.
Long have we lived in one imprisonment;
Our tears have darkened many a thread about
Each distaff, at the whitening half-spent fire
On winter-night; many a one when deep purple
Cloth'd yonder mountain after summer-day,
And one sole bird was singing, sad though free.
Death, like all others, hath forgotten me,
And grief, methinks, now growing old, grows lighter.

Agatha.
To see you smile amid your grief, consoles me.

Giovanna.
I never wanted confidence in you,
Yet never have I opened my full mind,
Keeping some thoughts secreted, altho' bent
To draw them out before you. They have lain
Like letters which, however long desired,
We cover with the hand upon the table
And dare not open.

Agatha.
If relief there be,
Why pause? if not, why blame your diffidence?

Giovanna.
Fostered too fondly, I shot up too tall
In happiness: it wasted soon. Taranto
Had my first love; Andrea my first vow,
And warm affection, which shuts out sometimes
Love, rather than embraces it. To lose him
Pained me, God knows! and worse (so lost!) than all
The wild reports Hungarians spread about me.
My first admirer was my first avenger.
He, laying at my feet his conquering sword,
Withdrew. Two years elapst, he urged the dangers
That still encompast me; recall'd our walks,
Our studies, our reproofs for idling, smiled at
By (O kind man!) the grandfather of both.
I bade him hope. Hope springs up at that word
And disappears; Love, radiant Love, alights.
Taranto was my joy; my heart was full:
Alas! how little can the full heart spare?
I paus'd . . because I ill might utter it . .
In time he turn'd his fancies to another.
Wretchedest of the wretched was I now;
But gentle tones much comforted my anguish,
Until they ended; then loud throbs confused
The treasured words; then heavy sleep opprest me.
I was ashamed . . I am ashamed . . yet (am I
Unwomanly to own it?) when he loved
One only, I was driven to despair;
When more . . Adieu Taranto! cried my heart
And almost sank thro' sorrow into peace.
O that fresh crimes in him should solace me!
My life of love was over, when his spirit
Flew from my lips, and carried my forgiveness
On high, for Heaven's.
Wars burst forth again;
He who defended me from their assaults
Saw in me what to love, but whom to love
He found not in me.
“If my confidence,
My gratitude,” said I, “suffice thee, Otho,
Here is my hand.”
He took it, and he wept.
Brave man! and let me also weep for thee!

Agatha.
Not beauteous youth enrobed in royal purple
And bright with early hope, have moved you so.

Giovanna.
Record not either; let me dwell on Otho:
The thoughts of him sink deeper in my pillow;
His valiant heart and true one bleeds for me.

SCENE II.

COURT-YARD OF MURO. Maximim and Stephen.
Stephen.
Maximin! art thou close?

Maximin.
Yea, close enough,
Altho' I have the whole court-yard to cool in.

Stephen.
I meant not that.

Maximin.
A baton to a pike
Thou didst not; else thou hadst not spoken it.

Stephen.
Some folks think better of my understanding.

Maximin.
None of thy heart: give me thy fist then, Stephen.

Stephen.
That sets all right.

Maximin.
What brought thee hither?

Stephen.
What?

Maximin.
Hast secrets?

Stephen.
None worth knowing.

Maximin.
No man has:
They never did any one good.

Stephen.
They may.
Maximin! hast commands for Hungary?

Maximin.
For Hungary?

Stephen.
What! is there no such place?

Maximin.
No, by my soul! nor ever will for me.
Were not my sister here about her duty,
I could knock out my brains against the wall
To think of Hungary.

Stephen.
Yet thou hast there
No croft, no homestead, pullet, chick.

Maximin.
Hast thou?

Stephen.
I am a man at last. Wert thou but one!

Maximin.
Stephen, we will not quarrel.

Stephen.
I am rich
I meant to say.

Maximin.
So far so well: however,
Not some bold thief who stands some ages back
(Tho' better there than nearer) nor some bolder
Who twists God's word and overturns his scales,
Nor steel, nor soil in any quantity,
Nor gold, whose chain encompasses the globe,
Nor even courage, Stephen, is sufficient
To make a man: one breath on Woman's wrongs,
Lifting the heart, does that.

Stephen.
And other things.

Maximin.
Chick, pullet, homestead, croft; are these our makers?

Stephen.
I have them in this lining, one and all.

Maximin
(suspecting).
Stephen! I could show thee the duplicate
In the same hand. He who fixt me at Muro
Will fix thee too in some such place as firmly.
What! hast no heart for castles? art low-minded?
How! with chick, pullet, homestead, croft? Sit down:
Thou didst not sweat so after all thy walk
As thou dost now. What ails thee, man?

Stephen.
What ails me!
Nothing.

Maximin.
But did Fra Rupert, did he truly
Clap thee up here? Cleverly done! Don't blame him.

Stephen.
Blame him! if friar he were not, and moreover
The tadpole of a bishop, by the martyr!
I would run back and grapple with his weazon.

Maximin.
He is too cunning for us simple men.

Stephen.
For thee, it seems, he has been . . but for me,
I, man or child, was never yet out-witted.

Maximin.
Ah! we all think so; yet all are, by weaker.
And now about the letter.

Stephen.
Thee he trusted;
I know he did; show me the duplicate.

Maximin.
Duplicates are not written first nor shown first.
How many men art good against?

Stephen.
One only.

Maximin.
Then five might overmaster thee and gag thee,
And five are ready in the Apennines;
If I knew where exactly, I would tell thee.

Stephen.
A fiend of hell in frock!

Maximin.
No, not so bad:
He, without blame or danger on thy part,
Shall build thy fortune.

Stephen.
He? I scorn the thief . .
Beside . . he would not.

Maximin.
Would or not, he shall. [Stephen hesitates.

Am I an honest man?

Stephen.
Why! as men go.

Maximin.
Give me the letter then, and, on my life,
It shall do more and better for thee much
Than placed in any other hands but mine. An Officer passes.

Ho! Captain! see an honest man at last, [Giving him the letter.

And you the very one he came about.

Stephen
(threatening Maximin).
Traitor!

Maximin.
A traitor, with a vengeance, is he.

Stephen.
Hangman!

Maximin.
Thou needst not call him; he will come
Presently. [To the Officer.

This poor hind hath saved the prince
From insurrection, from invasion. Read. [Officer reads.

The royal favour will shine warm upon
One friend of mine.

Officer.
Be sure: he will be made.
'Tis but our service . . We must not complain . .
Tho' there are things, of late, which soldiers' crops
Swell high against. We captains . .

Maximin.
Ay, we captains! . .

Officer.
I must be gone to Naples; so must thou
My gallant grey-coat.

[Goes out.
Maximin.
Tell me how thou camest
To Muro, of all places in the world,
It lies so wide of any road to Hungary.

Stephen.
Fra Rupert bade me follow at mid-day
A band of holy mendicants, due-south,
To baffle all suspicion: the next morn
To cross the mountains on my left, and turn
Northward, and then take boat by Pesaro.
While they were stretcht along the levelest tiles
In the best chamber . . being mendicants . .
Each on his sheepskin . . for they love soft lying . .
Of grand farm-house; and while nighthawk and grillo
Fought for it which should sing them first to sleep;
And while aside them, in brass pot unfathom'd,
The rich goat-whey was ripening for next breakfast,
I thought of my far sheep and my near friend;
My near friend first; and so, by luck, here am I.

Maximin.
But how didst dream that thou shouldst find me here?

Stephen.
Who, in the Virgin's name, should first step up,
After I bade the mendicants good-bye,
Who but Augustin! Much about our country,
Mops, wakes, fairs, may-poles, gipsy-girls, and fortunes,
When suddenly, as one that knew them all,
He whisper'd thou wert art this Muro here,
Some twenty miles, or near upon it, off.
I must fain see thee. After three hours' walk
I ask the distance: twenty-five miles scant.
At night I supt and slept with an old shepherd:
His dog soon crope betwixt us, so genteely,
I should have never known it, but his nose
Was cold against my ear, and, when I turn'd,
A snag or two was at it . . without harm.
Morning blew sharp upon us from the hills.
“How far are we from Muro, my good man?”
Said I, and dipt my olive in the salt.
“Scant thirty miles.” Let never man believe
In luck! I overturned the salt, alert
To hurry on; yet here thou seest me, rich . .
Sleeping six hours in winter, five in summer.

Maximin
(pondering).
Augustin told thee I was here! Augustin!
How should he know? One only knew beside
The friar: he never would have told: she told him. [Walks about impatiently.

Augustin has smooth locks and fresh complexion,
And heels for dance and voice for dulcimer,
Rare articles at finding secrets out:
But, with thy slanting face, and arm curl'd round
The inside canework of a padded chair,
And leg oblique slid negligently under,
If thou wouldst keep them nicely in repair
Ferret no more my secrets out, Augustin!

Officer
(returned).
Ready? my dapple grey! ready for Naples?

Stephen.
Not without Maximin. By his advice
I call'd you in to help us: he shall have
His share.

Maximin.
When our blythe king sniffs up the wind,
And sees the clouds roll mainly from the north,
And finds Giovanna's enemies advance,
He may be kinder to her: so, commander,
If you believe I did my duty now,
Let me confirm the letter you convey.

Officer.
Canst thou add aught?

Maximin.
Much, were there much required.

Officer.
Come then along: we will drink gold to-morrow.

SCENE III.

MONASTERY GARDENS.
Rupert
(alone).
I must have peace: I can not live without it:
Only few years (who knows) may yet remain.
They shall not hurt the queen: in part the harm
Would be my doing. But then Maximin . .
He too . . yet why not let him die in battle?
Battles there will be: kings are all tenacious
Of their king-life: Italians are astute,
Hungarians valiant: two stout swords must clash
Before one break.
That Agatha, that Agatha
Troubles me most of all! Suppose she comes
Into my very palace at Nocera,
And tells the people what the bishop did!
Never was blow cruel like this since Herod.
Giovanna must then live, if for her sake
Alone; for such her tenderness, her truth,
She'll not abandon her while life remains.

SCENE IV.

PALACE IN NAPLES. Durazzo. Chancellor. Privy-counsellors.
Durazzo.
Speak, my lord chancellor: you now have read
The letter through: can doubt remain upon it? [Chancellor shakes his head.

Gentlemen! you have heard it: what think you?

First Counsellor.
Traitorous, if there be treason.

Second Counsellor.
Sentence then.

Chancellor.
Powerful is Rupert: many think him saintly,
All know him wise and wary: he has friends
In every house, and most among the women.
Such men are dangerous to impeach: beside,
Being now bishop . .

Durazzo.
Not quite yet: appointed,
Not seated.

Chancellor.
No? This changes the whole aspect.
Once bearing that high dignity, once throned . .

Durazzo.
I like no thrones that narrow mine too much,
And wonder wherefore clergymen should mount them.

Chancellor.
However, sir, since such hath been the custom
From barbarous times . .

Durazzo.
Till times herein as barbarous . .

Chancellor.
We must observe the usage of the realm,
And keep our hands from touching things held sacred.
Few days ago, for lighter crimes the friar
Might have been punisht with severity.

First Counsellor.
Even now, although his legs begin to sprout
With scarlet plumage, we may crop his crest;
But better on the beam than in the yard.

Third Counsellor.
It would put by much bickering.

Fourth Counsellor.
There are many
Expectants, holy men, who would condemn
In any court ecclesiastical
Appeal so manifest to foreign force,
And strip him to the skin to wash him clean.

Fifth Counsellor.
And there are civil laws which tread on velvet
And leave no scandal when they pass the door;
Modest and mild and beautifully drest,
And void of all loquacity, all pomp;
They, should you ask them what they are, reply
“We are not laws; we are prerogatives.”

Carlo.
Paoluccio! wit may give the best advice.
Far be from me all violence. If the criminal
Be strong and boisterous, the ecclesiastical
Craving and crafty, swift or slow at pleasure,
At least our civil laws are excellent,
And what you call prerogatives are civil.

Paoluccio.
I class them so.

Many at once.
They are the best of all.

Carlo.
I will pursue this counsel.
You may rise.