 | Osbern and Ursyne |  |
SCENE III
Scene: The same as Scene I. Ursyne is standing by the bier, at each corner of which a torch burns. Arlette crouches on the ground at the foot of the body of Carliol. A lad is waiting by the door. The monks are heard chanting in the chapel:Dies, iræ, dies illa,
Solvet sæclum in favilla,
Teste David cum Sibylla.
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Quando Judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus!
[As they finish this verse, Osbern appears at the top of the staircase and loud shouting of men is heard at the door. It is opened by the lad. Count Geoffrey, Alan, and other men drag in Eadric, who is bound, pinioned, and gagged.
COUNT GEOFFREY.
Bring in the slayer. Confront him with the slain.
Look on thy handiwork: drink in the sight,
For 'tis the last that thy malignant eyes
Shall see till they awake to scorch in hell.
ARLETTE.
Wilt thou not let him speak?
OSBERN.
Unloose those cords
And bind them where they fit more righteously!
If there were guilt in sending this bright toad
Down to th'infernal slime wherein he grew,
Then lay this to my charge, for I am guilty!
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All I have ever loved! O, my soul dies.
[She looks down at the knife in Carliol's belt and her hand moves toward it.
COUNT GEOFFREY.
[To Osbern.]
This grief, poor Osbern, hath estranged thy reason!
Wert thou arraigned for this mad, heinous crime,
It would go hard with thee. I could not spare
Where God most merciful hath cursed. The penalty
Is so severe that, thinking on't, my bones
Melt, and all my blood is changed to brine.
OSBERN.
Ah! take thy justice. Here's my knife—'tis stained!
ALAN.
What! shall fiends walk among us boasting thus
Of their iniquity?
[The men rush upon Osbern and seize him.
URSYNE.
[Rousing herself.]
First loose the innocent.
[The men leave Osbern and go to
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URSYNE.
Osbern!
[A look passes between them. She turns to Count Geoffrey.
Let me speak with him.
[They step apart from the others.
OSBERN.
No words.
URSYNE.
This was fierce jealousy.
OSBERN.
Not jealousy.
Yet I was jealous. And it was not doubt:
Although I doubted. God!—
URSYNE.
It was not fear,
Fear is not in thy nature. What then was't?
OSBERN.
A jest one thought too deep: it sank to hell:
I kept it there—lest it should crawl to thee.
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They'll burn thine eyes, and draw thee limb from limb—
OSBERN.
Don't weep for that—
URSYNE.
And torture thee and hang thee ...
OSBERN.
All too quick. I'd have more time for loving—
I'd have more time to think on thy farewell,
And dream again I danced with thee one night,
And know again, in memory, the scent
Of that white flower, thy face. I need no sight.
URSYNE.
My kinsmen, once resolved, do never pause
From their intent. And I foresee such things—
OSBERN.
Man must deal justice; mercy is with God.
I pray to God—not men. Here I'll not falter.
The end is nearly come. ... God forgives much.
He suffered much.
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The flood of pain that waits thee
Fills up the cup of vengeance to the brim,
And flows till hate itself is drowned in anguish.
[Hoots and cries are heard outside.
COUNT GEOFFREY.
All hell will soon be loosed! Horror on horror
Presses.
URSYNE.
[To Osbern.]
What I shall do, I do for grief, not hate.
[Aloud.]
So—ere a worse befall thee—I give thee this,
In token of my wrath and some compassion.
[She stabs him; she covers her face and reels backward with a cry; Count Geoffrey rushes forward, but Osbern stands between them and takes Ursyne in his arms.
OSBERN.
Leave us together now: have I not won?
She's mine. O Ursyne, thou art mine at last!
Had I another heart to be thus riven
I'd take its agonies surpassing all I've felt,
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O, my beloved, to do this mortal sin!
URSYNE.
The night is gone and morning is come unto me ...
Yet ... am I still alone?
OSBERN.
[Points in the distance.]
See ... see ... one waits!
My love shall save us both: 'twas given for this.
Our path is scarleted though not with flowers!
Our hearts must hover o'er that smoking chasm
Which reaches to the nethermost. But look—
Not downwards; love, we are not wingless yet,
Still may we rise though centuries shall pass
Ere we can reach the sky!
[He kisses her as she dies, then rolls over on his face, dead.
ARLETTE.
O, are they dead?
COUNT GEOFFREY.
Now let the world come in!
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Rest to their spirits! Satan hath tried them sore.
God shall adjudge them now: man, never more!
[The Monks are heard chanting in the chapel.
Recordare, Jesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuæ viæ:
Ne me perdas illa die.
| Osbern and Ursyne | |