 | The Witness |  |
32
SCENE II.
A room in Glanville's house.Reginald and Ariette.
Reg.
Refrain, dear sister, from this eager suit;
A few short minutes, and all will be done.
Rest where you are, and when the trial ends,
I will a speedy messenger dispatch,
To bless you with the tidings of acquittal.
Ariet.
I will not stay,—I cannot rest behind.
I burn impatient to behold the scene;
And if I see it not, my fearful heart
Will surely flutter from its mansion here.
Reg.
Alas! dear Ariette, so wildly wan
You will but there the gazing crowd surprise.
O try your native meekness to renew,
Be in our father's virtue confident,
Nor fear of prodigy will then alarm.
Ariet.
I can but only think of what may come,
And the pent spirit in my heart dilating,
Feels clung by agony, while we stay here.
Haste, brother, haste.—Let us together go.
Why thus detain me by the wrist so firm?
O Reginald, thou false unfilial son,
Wilt thou stay here while thy dear father stands,
Upon the edge, the pinnacle of shame?
All eyes that see him, look expecting thee.
I am his daughter, and I will go there.
The laws of man may other ties divide,
But cannot part the chain of destiny,
Which links the parent and the child for ever.
I tell thee, Reginald, that I will go.
Take off thy hands. Release me. Why is this?
33
Injurious thought, when I can be so calm.
Nay, I will promise not to think of it.—
No witness apparitional will come,
They that expect such sights amaze themselves,
With conjurations of their own conceit.
Come, brother, come. Ah me, why do you weep?
Believ'st thou, that our father did the deed,
And that some hideous evidence will come?
O Reginald! But let me dry these tears,
Which so unseemly stand upon thy cheek?
Sweet brother, do?—Hence!—
Reg.
Stay, unhappy, stay.
[Exeunt.
| The Witness | |