University of Virginia Library

SCENE V

[A Chamber in Castle Tourbillon.]
EVE.
(singing to her baby).
[Enter Elspeth.]
Elspeth!

ELSPETH.
Dear Eve! How glad I am I find you,
And find you thus, your baby at your breast.
Is it great joy?

EVE.
The greatest of all joys.

ELSPETH.
As great as love?

EVE.
Yes, greater even than love,
As giving is than taking. Nothing makes
The heart so tender as sweet cruelty.
Loving is rapture, motherhood is pain,
Surpassing pleasure in its poignancy;
As bitter sweet is sweeter than mere sweet,
For savouring sharper.

ELSPETH.
What a cherub face!
Peaceful as all we dream and hope of Heaven.

EVE.
Think you so, dear? It has been peevish lately,
As though some maggot fed within the bud
I cannot open. Now it sleeps so still.
It was awake a moment ere you came.

ELSPETH.
Nay, do not rouse it. I have things to tell,
Which, though they sadden me, may gladden you.

EVE.
Those were strange things indeed.

ELSPETH.
And strange they are.
You know the Shrine among the western hills,
Our Lady of Good Help?

EVE.
Yes, know it well,
A place of pilgrimage for simple souls.

ELSPETH.
And simply went they there three days agone,
Matrons and maids, with Father Gabriel,
And I among them, singing litanies,
And chanting sacred hymns, in hope to stay
The deluge from the sky that drowns the fields,
And will not be abated.

EVE.
On that day,
I roamed with Lucifer from nine till noon,
Till by my suckling homeward I was drawn,
And sunshine o'er our heads, as in our hearts,
Accompanied our way. Later, the thunder
Kept rumbling distantly.

ELSPETH.
That was the storm
That darkened all our pilgrimage. Eve! Eve!
I seem to see it still, to hear it still.
We reached the Shrine, footsore and faint, but full
Of holy longings, cheerful, confident,
Fell on our knees, and lifted up our voices,
And praised our Mother of Help, when, lo! a flash
Ripped up the sky and zigzagged down the air,
And smote our Blessëd Mother on the face,
And hurled Her black and shattered to our feet.
For all had started up, and each one looked
To learn if chance the others were alive.

EVE.
Who, who was killed?

ELSPETH.
None, dear, except our hopes,
Except our prayers. But there is worse than that.
For Father Gabriel wanders all forlorn,
And no one heeds him now. His trembling hands
Uplift a lonely chalice, and his voice
Prays 'mong the deaf memorials of the dead,
No active ear attending. Agëd crones,
Too old to change, with shuffling footsteps come
Up to the flowerless chancel, but to make
The empty space more vacant. The men jeer,
The women drudge in silence. If they speak,
They do so to contrast their lot with yours,
Envying your happiness.

EVE.
Poor Father Gabriel!
He was so good to me. . . . Sleep, darling, sleep!
Back into peace again! 'Tis thus it wails,
Whene'er it wakes. Yes, now it sleeps again.
A gloomy tale! I wonder what it means.
It stirs a dread confusion in the mind.
Wait! I will go tell Lucifer, and bring
His understanding to our help.

ELSPETH.
No, do not!
He is so wise, so tranquil in his wisdom,
He frightens me.

EVE.
So did he me at first,
As lambs are frightened when the shepherd weans
Their habit from the dugs that have run dry,
Bleating all day. But now I graze in peace
In pastures of his finding. Let me go
And tell him your strange news; he, he will clear
Our hearts from terror, with the very tale
That now appals us.

ELSPETH.
You, his pupil, dear,
Be you my tutor. You are nearer to me.
He is so far off, I should lose his voice,
Straining to catch it.

EVE.
When you doubt or fear,
Does not Count Abdiel help you?

ELSPETH.
With a smile,
That helps me not, but only makes me feel
I am too weak for strength to strengthen me.
He bids me pray, himself neglecting prayer,
And says 'tis best so.

EVE.
Are you happy, thus?

ELSPETH.
Am I not married, and what other joy
Hath life for womenkind?

EVE.
The joy I have!
The joy of love's fast covenant.

ELSPETH.
How is that fast
Which either he or you can break at will?

EVE.
That alone breaks which doubting ties too tight.
When does Count Abdiel return? And why
Do you not cheer his journey?

ELSPETH.
Should I cheer it?
My halting understanding seems a clog
On his enjoyment.

EVE.
That should not be so.
Love leaps to its conclusions, leaving out
The intermediate reasons, and I see
Whatever Lucifer sees, feel what he feels,
Rejoice in whatso joy rejoiceth him.

ELSPETH.
You love each other.
[She kneels at Eve's side.]
If I had a babe,
Just such an one as this, it might breed love;
If not, I then could live in my content,
Spending my heart and wanting no return,
As you ask none from this poor infancy.

EVE.
Nay, you are loved, be sure. You are made for love;
You are so fair.

ELSPETH.
It seemed so once; but now,
I were no worse, being foul.

EVE.
But, child, there are
So many ways of loving.

ELSPETH.
Child, yourself!
If you think that. No! no! there is but one;
You know it, too; you speak to comfort me.
Love is the sum of all desires; withhold
But one ingredient from expectancy,
How poor and flat and tasteless is the draught!
It is the volume of man's love that sways
Our passive inclinations, and he rules
Supreme o'er our submission only when
Anon his tenderness to fierceness flows,
And then his fierceness ebbs to tenderness;
Tide of contented but eternal longing.

EVE.
My heart says “Yes” to that, but it is sad
You know so much.

ELSPETH.
Having so little!

EVE.
Hark!
How loud it thunders!

ELSPETH.
Thunders as it did,
Just ere the Statue fell.

EVE.
Oh! What a flash!
[She covers up her babe.]
It played about his head.

ELSPETH.
I must be gone
Before the storm breaks.

EVE.
Wait till it hath passed.

ELSPETH.
It will not pass. The Heavens, incensed afresh,
Shower vengeance copiously. Rain, rain! more rain!
Poor Father Gabriel!

EVE.
See, dear! Take him these
[She gives Elspeth the flowers that are in the room.]
And say Eve sent them; Eve who loves him always,
And fain would comfort him. And tell him, too,
I gathered them, myself.

ELSPETH.
(Bending over the child).
One parting kiss!
I will not wake it. There!

EVE.
Come soon again,
And tell me all. Yes, mind you tell me all;
And—well, no more: I go to Lucifer.
You will not stay? Make haste then, for the storm
Is nigh to bursting.

ELSPETH.
'Tis a quick descent.
Be happy, sweet. But what a wasteful wish!
For happiness lies anchored in your lap.

[Elspeth departs, and Eve goes to seek Prince Lucifer.]
THE MATTERHORN.