University of Virginia Library

ACT II.

SCENE I.

Enter Gomel and Morvid.
Gom.
You seem in Haste; may I demand the Cause?

Mor.
The Castle is my Province, and requires
Immediate Orders to sustain the Siege
That threatens it from Tudor.

Gom.
You may stay,
If that be all the Business.

Mor.
Why?

Gom.
That Tudor
Directs his March to Verulam, is true;
The rest a Fiction.

Mor.
How?

Gom.
His Declaration
On Leolin's behalf, a false Alarm
Of my Contrivance to amuse the King
And Leolin at once; a Bait for both.

Mor.
But must not Time, a little Time disprove it?

Gom.
Admit it should; our yet unsettled State
Accounts for panic Frights and groundless Rumours,
Without their being trac'd and fix'd on me.
You make your Court to Leolin?

Mor.
I do:
He is my Charge as I command the Fort;
But still I drop the Governour to Him,
Approach him as a Friend, affect Compassion,
And seem the Convert of his ruin'd Fortune.

Gom.
I like it well; it favours my Design.
Guess you the Mark at which my Measures aim?

Mor.
Not I, my Lord.

Gom.
I'll tell you then.

Mor.
But can you?
For I have been so us'd to Nods and Smiles,
To that sage Brow and most important Shrug,
That 'tis my Maxim; Mutes and Politicians
Converse by Signs.

Gom.
Be serious and attend me.
This false Report of War denounc'd by Tudor
To rescue Leolin from Bonds, is rais'd
By me to ruin him; the Method This:
You are his seeming Friend, and soon may fire
His sanguin Temper, and his haughty Soul,
To such a Confidence in Tudor's Aid,
As shall dispose him to reject the Terms
That Edwin will on this Occasion offer'd:
By my Advice: the Death of Leolin
Follows of course, and instantly, to end
Rebellion at a Blow.

Mor.
But why, my Lord?
You Statesmen are so shrewd in forming Schemes!
But often to secure some trivial Point,
And answer ends as little wise as just!
Such Children are ye, busy, nice and anxious,
To raise a Bawble, Paper Edifice,
That by its own slight Make betray'd to Ruin,
Wants not a Breath of Air to puff it down!

Gom.
Your Meaning, Morvid?

Mor.
To discover yours.
Why would you murder Leolin? the King
Inclines to spare him.

Gom.
And advance him too:
He has his secret Checks, his vile Misgivings,
His Qualms for Elfrid's Death; and would extend
The Hand that drew the Father's Blood, in Mercy
And Favour to the Son.

Mor.
I understand you:
A Match between the Captive and Matilda
Is Edwin's Aim; and you would disappoint him
In Albert's Favour.

Gom.
And my own: the Hour
That yields the Princess to my Kinsman's Arms,
Allies me to the Crown.

Mor.
Is that your Drift?
Why then let Leolin be slain or spar'd,
'Tis all the same: renouncing proffer'd Grace,
And menacing aloud, he now denies
To wed Matilda.

Gom.
Still he has Ambition:
And may not Opportunity awake it
To claim the Crown?

Mor.
And balk the distant Chance
Of its devolving on Matilda's Head,
By Failure of Succession from the King.

Gom.
I grant it Chance, and distant in Appearance;
But we may bring it near, and fix it sure.
Rid me of Leolin; and then, my Morvid,
The subtle Malice of a deadly Draught,
Suborn'd by me—

Mor.
May taint the Royal Cup,
And make Matilda Queen.

Gom.
Conclude it done.

Mor.
But Albert whom you labour to secure,
By Leolin's Destruction, is his Friend.

Gom.
I know it well, and therefore most unfit
To share the Secret of his own Advancement:
The Boy is young, and idly scribled o'er,
Between the Nurse and Priest, with Bugbear Tales
Of Apparitions, Hell and Honesty:
But Time (I trust) good Counsel and Experience
Will wear the slavish Characters away,
And prove him of my Blood.

Mor.
But yet at present
His Soul appears to have another Turn.

Gom.
And but appears perhaps; for there's my Comfort:
Your good Appearances are necessary
To countenance the Growth of Infant Power.
The Cheat Ambition, eager to espouse
Dominion, courts it with a lying Show,
And shines in borrow'd Pomp to serve a turn:
But the Match made, the Farce is at an end;
And all the hireling Equipage of Virtues,
Faith, Honour, Justice, Gratitude and Friendship
Discharg'd at once.

Mor.
No more, my Lord: the Princess,
And Adeliza.

Gom.
Well, you know your Work.
If Edwin should require a Conference,
Prepare the Captive for it; and exalt him
By specious Hopes of promis'd Succours near,
Beyond all Terms of Treaty. I depend
Upon your Skill and Diligence.

Mor.
You may.
What Morvid once begins, he will pursue:
A half-strain'd Villain is a Coward too.

[Exeunt.
Enter Matilda and Adeliza.
Mat.
O Adeliza, dear disdainful Maid,
You have been cruel to a suppliant King;
Indeed you have, and to Matilda too.

Ade.
Call it unwilling Cruelty to both.
If yielding to ascend the Royal Bed,
That fatal Honour would undo my Peace;
Can my Misfortune be Matilda's Joy?

Mat.
It cannot, Adeliza; but the Dearness
That must unite our Bliss or Misery,
Gives me a Privilege to ask the Reason
Of all this deep Aversion.

Ade.
When Aversion
Is rul'd by Reason, you shall have an Answer.

Mat.
I have it now in Adeliza's Face;
You blush and turn away; be true to Friendship,
And name the Man who triumphs in your Henrt
O'er Edwin and a Crown.

Ade.
O rather tax me
With Malice to the Sex, than dreaming Love,
By far the worse Extreme.

Mat.
You will not answer.
Has Edwin then no Rival?

Ade.
To confess
A cruel Truth, he has; a Darling Rival,
That lording in my Breast, without Controul,
Excludes all Tenderness, unless for you.

Mat.
Well Adeliza, but this Rival's Name?

Ade.
Revenge, my best Matilda; dear Revenge!

Mat.
For what? Revenge is Heaven's.

Ade.
And Woman's too.
For injur'd Love and violated Truth.

Mat.
O then at least there has been Love: proceed;
Who is the faithless Man? and whence the Change?

Ade.
I must not tell you.

Mat.
How! not tell Matilda?

Ade.
Not her, to chuse.

Mat.
Then am I not your Friend?

Ade.
You are; but—

Mat.
What?

Ade.
You are—it will not out:
Shame and Resentment twice have stop'd my Tongue:
But look another way, and I will tell you;
You are my Rival too.

Mat.
O Heaven, in whom?

Ade.
In false, inconstant, perjur'd Leolin.

Mat.
Was he your Lover then?

Ade.
Provoking Word!
Was he, Matilda? no, he never was;
I fancied otherwise, and that deceiv'd me:
For he who was my Lover Yesterday,
Is so to-day, and will be so for ever.

Mat.
That I should wed with Leolin, and graff
Our juster Title on the Tyrant Stock,
Was Elfrid's fav'rite Scheme.

Ade.
And Leolin
Consented.

Mat.
True; and that Consent destroy'd him.

Ade.
It did; for Edwin, summon'd on Pretence
Of that intended Match, to Verulam,
Atchiev'd his true Design, th'Usurper's Fall,
Conspir'd by Friends whom his Arrival arm'd.

Mat.
But may not Leolin adore you still,
Though once o'er-rul'd by Interest of State
Into a Breach of Faith? there was no Knowledge,
No Sight of me; and could be no Desire.

Ade.
That, that inflames the Guilt; for you have Charms
To justifie the Change, at least excuse;
But oh! to leave me for a Crown, Matilda!
The Loss of which, and by those very Means
That Policy projected to secure it,
Is Justice scant and lame, while he continues
To draw that Breath so treacherously lavish'd
In unregarded Oaths to Adeliza.

Mat.
Is Death the Measure then of your Revenge?

Ade.
Death or a worse, could any thing be worse
Than Death imbitter'd by that fear of dying,
Which Nature ever plants in faithless Hearts.

Mat.
Would you inflict a greater Punishment?
Return his Injury in Kind, and meet
The King my Brother's Love.

Ade.
You startle me:
Must I be tortur'd for another's Crime?
That would be Vengeance on my self.

Mat.
It would,
By crossing your Desires, that still are fix'd,
In spight of all your Rage, on Leolin.

Ade.
The Traytor Leolin?

Mat.
Consult your Heart,
The greater Traytor far, that harbours Love
Beneath the show of Hate: were Passion o'er,
It would appear by your Indifference;
Not by your Spleen, your Violence, your Rage;
For what are they but other Names for Love,
For Love, my Adeliza, ill disguis'd?
The Storm is rais'd, the Billows fly before it;
But be not so deceiv'd, for all the while
Affection has its Current underneath,
And drives a different way with equal force.

Ade.
Your Observation, Madam, may deceive you,
Though long experienc'd in the turns of Love,
That springing in your early Years, grew with you,
In kind requital of your Albert's Vows.
Say, has my Princess seen her Lover yet?

Mat.
In Presence of the King; he told me there,
That he had somewhat to communicate
In private: Here he comes.

Ade.
Then I retire.

Mat.
But, Adeliza, not from Court: I long
Have liv'd without you, and shall want you soon.

[Exit Adeliza.
Enter Albert.
Alb.
So when the feather'd Quire have fainted long
Beneath the Dogstar's heat; if kindly Rains
Revive them from above, they meet half way
The Blessing, perch'd on some tall Poplar's height;
Refresh their Plumes, and prune their drooping Wings,
Drink the descending Shower, and sing its welcome.

Mat.
Do I behold my Fugitive again?
Ah wandring Albert, you escap'd me once;
But I have now o'ertook, and claim my Pris'ner.

Alb.
And when I cease to wear Matilda's Chains,
May I—I would have wish'd a Punishment
To match the Crime; but can imagin none;
None but the Crime its self, 'Twas Tyrant Duty
(My Princess knows too well) that forc'd me from her
In Edwin's train to visit Verulam.

Mat.
But was you loth to leave me? did you wish
To stay behind, or cast a longing Look
On Neustria's Shore? did you accuse the Wind
That bore your Vessel thence? or say when landed,
When you had pass'd a Week of Absence here,
Say did you long for your Matilda then?
Matilda, if you did, discharg'd the Debt,
Returning Sigh for Sigh, and Tear for Tear.

Alb.
Dear as my Soul, and kind to all its Wishes;
Long for Matilda? does the Merchant long
To reach his Haven, when the Billows mount
And the Storm roars amid the groaning Shrowds?

Mat.
He does; but shelter'd there a while, forgets
The danger past, and tempts the Seas again.

Alb.
No, by the cruel Pangs that wait on Absence—

Mat.
Was it so painful then to live without me?

Alb.
I call to witness all my leisure Hours,
Spent in Retirement and the thought of You;
And when the Court and Camp by turns amus'd me,
'Twas but a faint Relief to heighten Care:
For oh the Torment when I went to Rest,
And clos'd my Eyes in vain! When all at once
A thousand anxious Thoughts that slept by Day,
Swarm'd in my Brain, 'till it resembled Hell,
Hot, dark and hot: my sick Imagination,
Assisted by the Shades of Night, would give
A gloomy turn to each Idea there:
The prospect then of Joys to come, revers'd,
Grew less and less, and doubtful and remote.
Remembrance haunted me with past Endearments;
But most, the Image of some happy Rival.
At length when Nature, harrass'd to Repose,
Forc'd on my half-shut Eyes a Minute's Slumber;
The beatings of an aking Heart would wake me
From some black Dream of Horror and Despair;
'Till Morning Sleep reliev'd my weary Soul;
And Hope, the Daughter of the Dawn, return'd.

Mat.
But does that Hope allow no room for Fear?
Or may you apprehend a Rival still?

Alb.
You mean the Captive Prince.

Mat.
My Brother means him.

Alb.
He will not, sure, compel your Hand.

Mat.
He should not:
My Heart is yours.

Alb.
O grant me to adore
Thus on my Knees Matilda's powerful Truth.

Mat.
It has not yet been tried; but may too soon;
If Leolin, reduc'd to a Compliance,
Leaves me th'invidious task to stand it out,
And thwart the Measures of my Royal Brother.

Alb.
But Adeliza, reconcil'd by you
To her offending Lover, would confirm him;
And to intreat your Intercession there,
Was his Request to me. Succeed in This,
Oblige my Friend, and ease our mutual Fears.

Mat.
But I alas have other Fears: the King
Loves Adeliza; and to-day, my Albert,
Has press'd her stubborn Scorn with baffled Vows:
Say will He pardon me? can slighted Love
In its despairing Pangs forgive a Sister
Her Friendship to a more prevailing Rival?

Alb.
Yet Madam, this Discovery but enforces
What I have urg'd; for Edwin's Love may widen
The Breach our common Interest would heal.

Mat.
On your Approach my Adeliza left me;
Watch her Return, and introduce your Friend.

[Exit Albert.
Re-enter Adeliza.
Ad.
O Madam, Albert is retir'd in season;
I was pursued, and fly for Refuge here.

Mat.
Pursued?

Ade.
By Leolin: we met and—ha!

Re-enter Albert with Leolin.
Mat.
My Lord, Misfortune never fails to find
A Friend in Me; believe me yours: Affairs
Of Moment call me hence; but Adeliza
Will stay at my Request to entertain you.

[Exeunt Albert and Matilda.
Leo.
If ever Prayers prevail on heavenly Minds,
'Tis chiefly when th'Offender, drinking deep
From the full Cup of Bitterness, prefers them:
He needs no Merit then; his Miseries
Become his Intercessors; and the Heart,
Pierc'd with a sharp Remorse for Guilt, disclaims
The costly Poverty of Hecatombs,
And offers the best Sacrifice, its Self.

Ade.
What would my Lord? go on.

Leo.
I need not name,
For you but know too well the bold Offender;
And with an Eye of Pity will regard
The Fall of Leolin.

Ade.
The Fall indeed
From Faith and Honour.

Leo.
'Tis a fatal Truth;
But soon the Chastisement o'ertook the Guilt;
And let it be an Argument for Pardon
Ev'n of the worst Offence in Elfrid's Heir,
That Edwin's Captive asks it. Hitherto
I own a Royal Sense of what I was;
And brook but ill my new Acquaintance, Shame:
Yet thus abandon'd as your Lover is,
For he must quit that Name and Life together,
Believe him when he swears, his ravish'd Greatness
Appears a trifle, weigh'd with losing You.

Ade.
Mark him ye Powers, whom he so oft has mock'd
With broken Vows of Faith, O mark the Traytor;
He throws me from him, and then calls it Loss.

Leo.
Throw Adeliza from me! Give my Crime,
Black as it is, a milder Name than that:
Nor represent as Choice, the forc'd Consent
Of Duty doubled in a Son and Subject.
O had you known how often I refus'd
To wed Matilda, and how home they press'd
That over-bearing Plea of publick Weal!
I stood the shock of Menace and Reproach;
But then paternal Love and kind Persuasion
Surpriz'd my Virtue to a Moment's yielding;
For 'twas no more: divide one single Link
From Time's perpetual Chain, and I am guiltless.
Recanting instantly, I beg'd the King
To render my unwilling Promise back;
But 'twas too late.

Ade.
That Promise then was binding,
In spight of Promises and Oaths to me.

Leo.
I own their sacred Force, and urg'd it then;
But in a most unhappy Hour, the News
Of my consenting to my Father's Choice
Had reach'd my Adeliza's Ears, and drove her
Far from the Voice of my repenting Love.

Ade.
Else you had chang'd again.

Leo.
I had, and been—

Ade.
False to your Father, and to me by turns.
Nay, you may safely now renounce Matilda:
The glorious Fruit of your deserting Me
Is plac'd beyond your Reach.

Leo.
Admit a Power
In Edwin to direct his Sister's Choice;
And she may still be mine.

Ade.
Matilda yours!
Has he propos'd her now?

Leo.
He has, in vain.

Ade.
You much surprise me.

Leo.
Let me then presume
At least that it offends you not, to find
A Proof of Leolin's suspected Love.
O Adeliza, do I view the Dawn
Of dear Forgiveness in your alter'd Looks!
That kindling Blush! and those dejected Eyes!
Raise them again in a relenting Moment;
Big with Compassion let them shine upon me,
And drop their angry Beams, and tell the Tale
Your Tongue refuses: can they still deny me?
O let me seize your Hand, at least, and warm it
Thus with my Sighs: withdraw it not so soon:
I would have kneel'd, and printed Kisses on it,
With all the Vows of Penitence and Rapture.

Ade.
Forbear that Rapture: it creates Distrust.
Yours is a sudden Torrent of Desire;
The Stream is rapid, but withal impure;
Rais'd in an instant by impetuous Showers,
And then as quickly down. There is a time,
Believe me, Leolin, in Love there is,
When 'tis more Pain to lose than Joy to keep;
And the Want chiefly makes the Value: Beauty,
That transitory Flower, ev'n while it lasts,
Palls on the roving Sense, when held too near,
Or dwelling there too long: by fits it pleases;
And smells at distance best: its Sweets, familiar
By frequent Converse, soon grew dull and cloy'd you.
And so they would again.

Leo.
You wrong those Eyes,
To think Satiety can e'er attend
The Love they kindled here. Be merciful
While I have Breath to ask you: Hope and Fear
Shock me like adverse Tides; I cannot bear them;
And my Soul sinks apace. O pardon, pardon.

Ade.
Yes, I will pardon you, but ah! beware,
Beware my Leolin; for once again
My Fondness calls you mine.

Leo.
I thank you thus,
[Kissing her Hand.
And thus. Beware of what? my Life! my All!

Ade.
Of a Relapse.

Leo.
O hear me: if hereafter
I wrong the Goodness that acquits me now,
Loath me; despise me. Fortune I forgive thee:
And thou art now my Sport, as I was thine:
Frown as thou wilt, since Adeliza smiles;
And with a Look a Scepter's Loss beguiles:
Subdu'd by Charms, that all, who view, adore,
Her Goodness only could enflame me more.

[Exeunt.