University of Virginia Library

Scene I.

—A Chamber in the Bucoleon.—Nicephorus, the Patriarch, and the Abbot of St. Conon's.
Abbot.
I cannot but commend your Grace's course;
She is a woman of ungoverned spirit
And were she in her helplessness so urged
Might do some violence to herself, which still
Men's minds, more prone to scandal than to faith,
Would fix upon the Church. Count Lyra's death
Is yet a question and a calumny
Rife in men's mouths, despite the miracle.

Patriarch.
It pleaseth God to hasten no man's hour
But straight our Order is impeached, as we
Could make men linger.

Nicephorus.
For our present need
Reserve we force until devices fail.

Abbot.
All shall be ordered with the strictest heed
To what your Grace directs.

Nicephorus.
Yet have regard
To what runs counter, what occasions serve.
In this time's mutability, the pleas
That rule one hour the next may abrogate.
Wherefore, by due observance of the times
Mould thou the means as best to work my end.
A woman and a child are easy dealt with.

Abbot.
To work your Grace's will and save the shrine
From the reproach of violence, I will try
All gentle and benign devices first . . .

Nicephorus.
And should these fail to draw the culprits forth
Expect my further will. Enough is said.
They wait you in Sophia's.