 | A Life's Ransom |  |
SCENE II.
Courtyard of the Castle. Very large centre gates.Enter Bancroft and Officer.
Ban.
Mount you the roof of the castle; it commands
The road for miles. The instant you catch sight
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To meet their leader. [Officer goes out.]
So, 'tis well contrived.
Enter Revesdale and Richard.
Reves.
She lies in the offing?
Rich.
Ay, sir.
Reves.
Bound, you say,
To Holland? Haste, good Richard; see a boat
Straight manned by the beach, and thither summon friends
From the peasants and our people.
Rich.
Think it done.
[Richard goes out.
Reves.
[To Bancroft.]
The order for release—
Ban.
Is given; even now
Your sister and her husband quit the door.
Reves.
They pass this way!
Ban.
I've kept my share of the compact;
Look to your own!
Reves.
[Aside.]
'Twill be a last farewell,
And then these arms will no more fold a sister
So noble, so forgiving, nor this hand
Clasp his whom I so wronged, so basely wronged,
And now would ransom! May they never know
That ransom's price!
Enter Felicia and Arthur, preceded by four Officers, followed by Alice, Giles, and a group of domestics, who press around them.
Fel.
Farewell, till happier times!
[Embracing Alice.
Oh, they will come! Farewell, kind friends!
[Felicia and Arthur, with Officers, advance.
Fel.
My brother!
Heaven has had mercy, and your prayers prevailed.
Reves.
They did.
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[Glancing at Bancroft.]
And could his heart be touched with pity?
'Tis strange!
Reves.
Arthur!
Arth.
[Giving his hand.]
Basil, believe no thought
Of harshness lives between us.
Reves.
I believe it,
My generous friend; farewell!
Fel.
Now to thine arms!
Reves.
Yes; now I think I dare embrace thee. Bless,
Oh, bless and pardon me!
[They embrace.
Fel.
From my heart's depths.
But we shall meet again; you'll join us soon
In the new land we seek? Promise!
Reves.
[Very tenderly.]
How like you are
To our lost mother, sweet! That's the same look
Of anxious love she wore when we two children
Rode from the hall, and I, rash brother, urged
Your palfrey to his speed, or from the bough
Broke off the blossoming chestnut for your hat.
Fel.
Ah, those old days, they'll come again! once more
We'll be boy and girl together. [Anxiously.]
Dear, we part
But for a time.
Reves.
But for a time, Felicia—
But for a time.
Arth.
Nay, there's some mystery.
[Pointing.
[To Bancroft.]
Basil, you stand not in his power?
Reves.
[Affecting gaiety.]
His power!
His power! You stand so, lingering here; no safety
Till you embark! Think of your father, Arthur;
He waits you on the beach. Farewell, farewell—
No word but that!
Arth.
Basil!
Fel.
My brother!
[Returning and embracing him.
Reves.
Go!
[He gently forces them off, Officers following; Alice, Giles, and domestics go out.
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[Aside.]
The troops not yet in sight!
Reves.
[Watching Felicia and Arthur from side.]
The gate stands open;
The beach is lined with friends; they pass the walls;
The living lane divides; and yet one group
Conceals the boat. Ah, now 'tis clear! the pilot
Stands at the helm; they pause! 'Tis to embrace
Their father. Now her foot is on the plank,
And Arthur follows her. The rowers bend;
It moves! it moves to the wide seas; they're saved!
Thank God! thank God!
[Kneeling.
Ban.
[Aside.]
May storm and hidden shoal
Wreak my full hate on Ringwood!
[Suddenly, to Revesdale.]
Now, your pledge!
That traitor who subscribed the requisition—
His name? Where lurks he?
Reves.
Lurks! Why should he lurk?
The caitiff in his mesh lurks spider-like,
Who from his very filament of life
Spins death for others; cowards lurk, who gag
Men's reason by their passions, and then strike
A soul in fetters; bravos lurk, sometimes
Beneath a soldier's cloak, and, spite of all,
The slouch betrays them. Lurk! lurk thou! Thy victim
Stands in broad day and waits thee.
Ban.
Who?
Reves.
Myself.
Ban.
You signed that deed?
Reves.
Ay.
Ban.
And you know your doom?
Reves.
'Tis death.
Ban.
I see: you think to 'scape
By naming your confederates. Well, proclaim them.
Reves.
Never! they're fled: thou hast lost the scent.
[With scornful laughter.
Ban.
[Enraged, and half drawing.]
Beware!
Reves.
[Touching the sword-hilt.]
It is a sword; I thought to have seen a knife.
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Mark, then; 'tis not your death alone impends,
But, ere death, torture.
Reves.
Torture! Man, I've lain
Upon the rack—remorse; can thine affright me?
Re-enter Officer.
Ban.
Well, laggard?
Officer.
Sir, the troops—
Ban.
A curse reward their dallying!—
Officer.
Are at hand.
But for the mist, we had descried them long since.
Ban.
To your horse, and hide
Your rowels in his flanks! Haste them!
Officer.
They come,
Battalion on battalion, and the shout
Of following crowds roars like a distant sea.
[He goes out.
Ban.
That's strange! such numbers! [Goes to side.]
Ah, the boat returns!
And with its freight—Ringwood, his wife! They land,
And bend this way. Unlooked-for chance! Fools, fools!
They're in my power at last, for now the troops
Will bar escape!
Reves.
O fatal sight! Back, back!
Ban.
They're welcome. Guards!
Enter Felicia, Arthur, Matthew, and Officers.
The tables turn, my lord.
Their lives and yours are at my mercy.
Arth.
No!
Fel.
Hold, husband! What! his life?
Ban.
He has confessed
To a treasonous plot, and thereby bought your rescue,
But screens his guilty partners. Hark, the troops!
[Military music without.
Not theirs slow justice. In one hour they try,
Pronounce, despatch! Look on that pair. [Points to Felicia and Arthur.]
The sun
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He will be in his zenith; but where they?
'Tis you must answer. Speak! Your comrades' names,
Or friend and sister perish!
[He beckons to Officers, who advance towards Felicia and Arthur; they halt at a signal from Bancroft.
Reves.
Wretch! to bribe
The conscience through the heart. [In great agony.]
Felicia! Arthur!
What! must a brother doom them, or pollute
Their very lives by blood! Off, tempter, off!
No; I'll not buy their pure lives with dishonour.
Earth has a Judge; I trust in Him to save them.
Fel.
[Embracing him.]
O, twice redeemed, my brother!
Mat.
[To Revesdale.]
My brave son!
Ban.
[To Officers.]
Away with them! Away!
Fel.
They will not stir.
Ban.
How?
Fel.
[Clinging to Revesdale.]
Hear! As through the mist we ploughed the main,
A skiff crossed ours. Its pilot stayed our course,
Inquired our name and errand. These being told,
“Return!” he cried; “no need to quit your shores;
Friends follow you—friends able to protect
Or to avenge.” Wouldst meet those friends? [Cheering without at back.]
Hark, hark,
The cheers of thousands greet them! [Discharge of artillery at back.]
Does that sound
Shake thee? 'Tis but a whisper to the shout
A nation's heart would utter—a free nation's!
Enter Richard, Giles, and Alice. Retainers and Peasants rush in, shouting.
Fling wide the gates! See William of Nassau,
The Prince of Orange!
[The large gates are thrown open, and discover in the distance the fleet, Prince William of
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Ban.
But the troops—
Mat.
Go over to the Prince. [To Soldiers who have entered.]
Secure this man.
[Soldiers seize Bancroft.
Wretches, by him suborned, as I shall prove,
Have brought the innocent to timeless death.
Mat.
Off with him!
[Several Soldiers go out with Bancroft.
Arth.
How fares Basil?
Reves.
Oh, as one
Who, 'scaped from shipwreck, wakes, half deeming still
The billows round him, but beholds the earth
And the soft sky.
Mat.
You wake in a new reign.
Fel.
And, brother, with new hopes.
Reves.
To a new life!
[Renewed shouts and discharge of artillery; the Prince is seen surrounded by his suite; he takes off his hat; flourish and shouts.
| A Life's Ransom | |