 | Edwin |  |
47
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
Enter Albert and Morvid.Alb.
O Morvid! Heaven direct to Albion's Good
The more than common Fate it has denounc'd
Upon the Faith of Prodigies.
Mor.
'Twas wondrous,
The Storm that all at once alarm'd the Court
At dead of Night: The Casements open'd round;
And by the Light of visionary Lamps,
Two solemn Fun'rals first, and then a third
In slow Procession cross'd the Palace-yard
To yonder Temple: There the first arriv'd
Appear'd to halt; 'till join'd by that which follow'd,
They enter'd, all the three, the Vault beneath,
Sacred to Royal Dust.
Alb.
I left ev'n now
The Hall where Elfrid's Reliques wait Interment,
Close by our Master's new erected Statue:
From its extended Hand the Figure drop'd
Its marble Sceptre on the trembling Bier,
And set us all aghast.
Mor.
The King! and musing!
But leave him to his Thoughts.
Alb.
I wait to pay
My Duty to him on a dear Occasion.
Mor.
Matilda! Joy, my Lord; Joy ever new
And fair Increase attend your promis'd Nuptials.
44
Edw.
Nay Albert, no Acknowledgments; for sure
Albert kneels.
Love, constant Love deserves Reward at last;
And yours obtains it: mine—may curse me yet
A few hours more; and then the Crown descends
To your Matilda.
Alb.
Cease, my Royal Master,
These black, misgiving, melancholy Thoughts.
Edw.
How can I? O my Dream last Night! I lost it,
A while in Love and Adeliza: now
It haunts my Memory afresh.
Alb.
Your Dream!
Edw.
The Sun, methought, as now, with evening Beams
Play'd on our Verulam's aspiring Towers,
With Ease discover'd to my distant View,
As longing on the Neustrian Shore I stood
To cross the rowling Waves; that smooth'd at once,
Invited my advent'rous Feet to try
The wat'ry Way: I bounded lightly o'er,
With Shouts attended, and a numerous Train;
And gain'd the British Strand: but sudden there
A rising Fog o'ercast the Face of Day:
I lost my Prospect quite; and labour'd back
To turn my Steps; but Motion fail'd my Feet,
And Speech my Tongue, as fain I would have call'd
Upon my following Friends, who now had left me
Bewilder'd and alone. To shun the Tide,
That roar'd and flow'd apace, I strove to climb
A neighb'ring Cliff, whose chalky Rise, discolour'd
With human Gore, betray'd my Footing; down
I slip'd; and struggled, but in vain, to rise;
For Elfrid held me to the Ground, and shriek'd
Revenge and Murder in my Ears, so loud,
That starting I awak'd.
Alb.
'Twas full of Terror;
45
There is one Omen still, the best of Omens,
Auspicious, Sir, to You.
Edw.
What Omen Albert?
Alb.
Your Country's Cause that stands or falls with yours.
Enter Adeliza.
Edw.
May I believe my Eyes? are You return'd
To bless them once again?
Adel.
Just once again,
To take my last Adieu.
Edw.
My fears foretold it:
[Aside.
She has prevail'd, and Leolin will go
To blissful Banishment with Her he loves.
But is my Rival then in haste to leave us?
[To her.
Adel.
He is; in wondrous haste: had I been heard,
He should have stay'd; for now he goes alone;
But I shall follow soon.
Edw.
And must you follow?
Adel.
Would I had gone before.
[Weeps.
Edw.
Oh Heaven! in Tears!
Gone whither? let me understand you right.
You carried Overtures to Leolin;
But how they were receiv'd—
Adel.
Let This inform you.
[Giving a Paper.
Why tremble thus my Hands? take, take them back,
These bloody Characters; this Paper blotted,
Like Adeliza's Heart, with Leolin.
Edw.
Has he refus'd?
Adel.
I need not, cannot answer.
Enter Gomel.
Gom.
Rejoice my Royal Lord; the false Alarm
(For such it proves) of Tudor's hostile March
Is vanish'd; and the Messengers of Peace
And Homage, just arriv'd, report they left him
Some few Leagues hence, attended by a Guard
Of chosen Horse: this Hour expect him here,
Returning on the Wings of loyal Zeal.
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Blest unexpected Change!
Alb.
This shakes the Credit
Of your Portents, my Lord, and ghastly Dreams.
Mor.
It proves them what they are, Illusion All;
The Sport of Nature, and the Fumes of Blood.
Gom.
Suspend your Triumph till you know th'Event;
[Aside to Morvid.
For there are Hints, my Friend, in Tudor's Name,
Of a surprising Scene that soon will open.
Edw.
Well Adeliza, this imports the Doom
[Shewing the Paper.
Of instant Death to haughty Leolin.
Alb.
Yet, e'er the Sentence be confirm'd, indulge me
A Moment's hearing, Sir; for Sacred Friendship
Pleads for my Leolin, and fain would save him.
Edw.
Save him! impossible.
Alb.
At least defer
The Vengeance you resolve; nor let the Day,
For ever blest, that makes Matilda mine,
Blush in the Blood of my abandon'd Friend.
Edw.
Then be his Death delay'd; the News of Tudor
Returning to Allegiance, makes Dispatch
No longer needful; and his Crime requires
The Pomp of publick Punishment, which I
Ordain to Morrow; but let Morvid strait
Conduct him fetter'd to the western Tower
[Exit Morvid.
Gom.
Your Father's Courier, Madam, has Dispatches
For You, and waits without.
Edw.
Yet, e'er you leave me,
Speak, Adeliza, is all well?
Adel.
No doubt,
All wondrous well.
Edw.
And you disclaim your Lover
On full Conviction that his Doom is just?
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I own it just; but be not just by halves:
Condemn me too, if you would quite destroy him;
He dies not All, while Adeliza lives.
Edw.
What cruel Words were those!
Adel.
You forc'd them from me.
When Judgment was pronounc'd, did I arrest it?
What if my Eyes o'erflow'd? I curb'd my Tongue.
Why urg'd you my Consent? oh! 'twas too much;
Must I be vouch'd for Leolin's Destruction?
Allow him faithless, cruel, and ingrate;
To Morrow soon will come, and cancel all;
Curse on the Day, when from his headless Trunk
The Blood shall flow as fast as now the Tears
From these fond Eyes hereafter doom'd to close
In vain, while Fancy hags my lab'ring Dreams
With Leolin; with Blood and Leolin.
Alb.
Have Comfort, Madam; Fate may find a Way
To heal your Sorrows yet.
Adel.
They shall be heal'd:
There is one Way; and Misery will find it.
Edw.
Would Adeliza die?
Adel.
Who would not die?
Edw.
You mean, for Leolin.
Adel.
I mean, alas!
I know not what: I mean Despair and Shame,
Disdain, Revenge, and Love; all, all together.
[Exit Adeliza.
Edw.
And for my Rival All. Ye Powers, that doom'd me
To hear these killing sounds and live, release
My Father's Ghost to hollow in my Ears
(For they are now prepar'd) the Crime unknown,
The dire unheard of Tale of monstrous Guilt,
For which I suffer thus.
[Exit Edwin.
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Leol.
My Albert here!
The Friend of my Distress! A long Adieu.
[They embrace.
Alb.
In Tears, my Leolin!
Leol.
But not for Death.
Oh! need I tell you? not for Death, my Albert:
These are the Drops of Friendship wrong'd; I give them
To Trust betray'd by false deserting Tudor.
Nay, now they flow for Adeliza too.
Alb.
And well they may, my Lord.
Leol.
She brought Conditions—
Alb.
Disdain'd by You, but kindly meant by Her.
What rais'd your Passion to so wild a Height?
Leol.
'Tis granted that I kept my Temper ill:
But oh! the Smart of Empire lost, inflam'd
By jealous Love—
Alb.
And why that jealous Love,
Injurious to your Adeliza's Truth?
Leol.
Can she be true?
Alb.
Can Leolin suspect it?
Oh, had you seen her here all pale and trembling,
When forc'd by Promise to resign your Life,
She utter'd such Distress to Edwin's Face,
As must for ever blast his Rival Hopes!
Leol.
What have I done? the general Wreck had spar'd me
One precious Gem; and has my wanton Rage
Thrown That away, and trod it in the Dust?
Where is she? where?
Alb.
This way she must return,
To visit my Matilda, who expects her.
Leol.
She comes! the Charmer comes! as you have Power
[to Morvid
49
[Exeunt Albert, Morvid, &c.
Fate must attend a while; I have not Leisure
To welcome Death, till reconcil'd to Her.
Enter Adeliza.
Oh Adeliza!
Adel.
Speak my Lord.
Leol.
I will.
But let me first subdue this—I am choak'd
With inly rising Bitterness, and pant
Beneath a Load of Shame.
Adel.
What would you, Sir?
Leol.
O'ertake the Wings of Time, and snatch from thence
The cruel Weight of one past guilty Hour.
Adel.
Your wish is vain: look forward, Prince.
Leol.
I must,
To Death, and to its Sting, the Loss of You.
Adel.
Of faithless Adeliza?
Leol.
Ah! forbear;
Forbear Reproach: My wounded Soul requires
The Voice of Comfort; and that healing Voice
Is yours or none.
Adel.
But are you now to learn
The Business of your Life, the Skill to die
Sedate and willing?
Leol.
'Tis too sure, I am.
Teach me the Way.
Adel.
I will, the only Way.
Reflection your Renown, clear as your Conscience;
The stormy Passions of your Soul, allay'd
By Reason to soft Gales, serenely playing
On the full Current of your youthful Blood,
By Nature and Occasion smoothly led
Through a fair Field of Royal Virtues, fruitful
In great Examples, and in solid Joy,
Unblemish'd Fame, and universal Blessings.
50
Relentless Maid!
Adel.
Forbear. Remember too
The humbler Praise of private Life, sustain'd
In all its parts of Kindred, Friendship, Love;
But have You ever Lov'd?
Leol.
Have You, who ask
That killing Question?
Adel.
If you have; and found
Your Passion answer'd by some easy She,
Whose unexperienc'd Innocence could trust
A smiling Ocean, infamously known
For thousand daily Wrecks, the Faith of Man;
Of suppliant, swearing, dying, perjur'd Man;
If such an one there was; to crown your Peace,
And make your last cold Pillow soft, remember
Your Love, your Truth, your Gratitude to Her.
Leol.
On, Adeliza: more Reproaches, more;
For oh! I feel them here: my vital Spirits
Shrink at the chilling Sounds: And if my Heart,
My heavy throbbing Heart presages true,
Your Anger will perform to Morrow's work;
And spare the milder Ax, or make it Mercy.
Adel.
Farewel.
Leol.
Oh! tarry. Said you not, Farewel?
Adel.
I did.
Leol.
Has This the Face of a Farewel,
When Leolin and Adeliza part,
And part to meet no more?
Adel.
To meet no more!
Then have we met? inform me, where, or why.
But let me look again. A Form like yours,
My Fancy, working in the deepest Sleep
That ever lock'd my Senses, figur'd to me,
And nam'd him Leolin: methought, he talk'd
Of Love for me; and charm'd me to Belief
For Days, and Months, and Years: at length a Din
Of sensless Jealousy and base Reproach,
Betray'd the froward Wane of weary Truth
51
Wak'd with the Clamour not an Hour ago,
I found it all a Dream, a Phantom, Nothing:
And yet (I blush to own so strange a Weakness)
My Heart a while obey'd the strong Delusion,
Though Sense return'd; and ak'd some Minutes after?
Leol.
Delightful Torturer! but spare me here:
Call you my Love a Dream? behold the Dews
Of waking Anguish thick upon my Brow:
Is it a Dream, when at each Word you utter
In Scorn or Hate, my feav'rish Pulse beats high,
And all is War and Waste within my Bosom?
When I breath short in Agony of Grief,
And shake these Chains with Trembling?
Adel.
Ha! these Chains!
Why? why these Chains? For I can hold no longer:
Was it your Love for Me that grac'd you thus?
Or chose you not, twice perjur'd Leolin,
These softer Chains, when mine were shaken off?
Leol.
O say not so: I wear, I drag them still;
They bend my haughty Spirit to Submission,
Low as my Knee to Earth: I own my Crime;
A Crime indeed that Adeliza's Goodness
Could not prevent, and cannot now forgive.
What shall I say? Shall I impute my Rage,
One frantick Moment's Rage to Jealousy?
But Jealousy is Love; and Love, Excuse;
And I can ne'er excuse what You condemn.
Yet Adeliza, yet would you receive,
In a Repentance, visibly sincere,
The Promise only of a Convert in me;
(Since Death, my near inevitable Doom,
Must cut the Fruit of all Amendment short)
Would you do This, you would afford a Prince,
Bred to the Hopes and Appetites of Greatness,
The only Mercy he can ask, or want.
Adel.
Ha! I shall melt. Now, Resolution aid me.
[Aside.
52
Has had its Hour: And Mercy, granted twice,
Is the worst Cruelty to those who grant it.
Allow your Penitence sincere to Day;
Let but to Morrow come, it vanishes:
You dare not plead sincere and constant too;
And only Constancy can warrant Love.
What have I said? alas, I parly with him;
And Parly in a Cause like this is Yielding.
Think what thou wer't so lately; and thence learn
That what thou art, can ne'er be worth the Notice
Of Adeliza, when her injur'd Honour
Has rous'd a Fury, Patience long abus'd
To fix a Brand on thy apostate Love,
And weed thee from her Heart.
Leol.
Oh! 'tis enough:
And I submit. But—hold my Eyes—they will not.
Yet one Word more; and then—I die to Morrow:
Name my Offence.
Adel.
The King has nam'd it.
Leol.
No:
My Adeliza must pronounce my Doom:
I own no Sovereign else. The World indeed,
Mock'd by the Form and Pageantry of Justice,
May look no farther for the Blow that ends me,
Than Edwin's Sentence: but let Truth be ask'd;
And it discovers Him, you stile the King,
Him and his Headsman join'd, to be no more
Than Executioners of Heavenly Vengeance
O'ertaking my Offence to Adeliza.
Adel.
And not to Him? oh obstinate in Guilt!
Leol.
To Adeliza, and to Her alone.
Adel.
Away, mistaken Man.
Leol.
You wrong me now,
Vile as I am: for, Madam, with your Leave,
And with your Father's too—hark! hark! he comes
[Shout.
With Shouts of Triumph to behold my Death.
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The Noise advances, and the Trumpet's Sound
[Shout again and Trumpets.
Proclaims his Entry now.
Leol.
I thought him mine;
And his Revolt—was wisely tim'd; without it
I might have liv'd, and Justice fail'd, the Justice
Due to his Daughter's Wrongs; I fix it there;
And beg you, Adeliza, once again,
In the last Words you e'er shall hear me speak,
By the dear Hours of now forgotten Love;
By all our tender Vows and fond Desires,
Our soft Complainings and our transient Jars,
Such they were once.
Adel.
Oh! that distracting Once!
[Aside.
Be dry my Eyes; and for my Heart, no matter.
Leol.
Nay by the Hate (since Love is now no more)
The fix'd Aversion that usurps your Bosom,
(The native Seat of Gentleness and Pity)
By That and by its Cause, my late Transgression,
So black, so heinous as to shame Remorse,
Indulge that Hate, and give Revenge a loose
In this one Thought, that if the Powers have doom'd me
To the vile Death of Violence and Shame,
'Tis for the Wrong I offer'd Adeliza.
For then—
Adel.
Oh Heaven! proceed.
Leol.
Why, then Forgiveness
May take its turn, when You, with thousands more
Behold my streaming Veins and bounding Head,
That sever'd from the Trunk, shall point a while
Its trembling Balls on You: Compassion then
May force a Wish that this had never been,
A Sigh, perhaps a Tear; and glad my Ghost,
That disencumber'd thus from Flesh and Pain,
Shall watch your Steps by Day, your Dreams by Night,
And still unseen attend on Adeliza.
Adel.
Forbear: I will not, cannot hear you farther.
54
I go; you grant me then I die your Victim:
Remember, I insist on that; farewel.
Guards do the Office of my Legs: support me.
Once more farewel: And—
[Exit Leolin guarded.
Adel.
What? let me supply it.
And now since Female Pride has play'd its part
In wounding, thro' my own, my Lover's Heart;
Some Hurricane like that I feel within,
Snatch me to far extended Wilds, unseen,
To vent the Pain that racks my lab'ring Mind,
More fierce than His, by being more confin'd.
[Exit.
| Edwin | |