 | Antonia |  |
SCENE VI.
Teresa and Carravagio.TERESA.
What seek you signor Carravagio here?
CARRAVAGIO.
The countess wants you; she is very ill.
TERESA.
She parted from me but few minutes since,
And then complain'd not: only griev'd to think
The count so hastily had gone to Florence.
CARRAVAGIO.
Has nothing else befallen?
168
As I hope.
Think you that she has other cause to grieve?
CARRAVAGIO.
Something most fatal has occurr'd last night.
The countess seem'd as one would like to paint:
Lucretia when she had escap'd from Tarquin.
TERESA.
She mourns this luckless frolic of her lord.
CARRAVAGIO.
No, no; her grief is of a deeper wound.
TERESA.
Why signor Carravagio think you so?
CARRAVAGIO.
The painter's art instructs him to discern
The movements of the spirit in the face.
Before this anguish, keen and terrible,
She still has worn a countenance serene;
Modest, though buxom, and though blooming, mild,
Like cheerful Dian waiting for the day.—
But go, she needs you. Sooth her if you can.
Send Ferdinando, if you see him, to me.
| Antonia | |