 | Sylla |  |
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SCENE III.
CATILINE, VALERIA led along by a Lictor.VALERIA.
Dragged hither by thine order, what new crime
Have I committed, that I see myself
Condemned to undergo thy presence, and
To suffer the affront I deem one look
Of thine imprints upon my forehead?
CATILINE.
Do me
More justice, and control thy hatred. Claudius
Has been found guilty, and his death is certain:
E'en now I see him in his dark retreat,
The framer, leader of an odious treason.
VALERIA.
Think'st thou to throw me off my guard by such
Bye-ways as these? my secret is mine own.
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Stay, hear me yet, and thou shalt know ere long,
If rightly I'm informed. Shall I point out
The very temple where thy Claudius goes,
To offer up his sacrifices at
The shrine of Fortune? shall I point out all
His hopes, his vows, and his accomplices?
And if there's need of witnesses, will't not
Suffice to call on Roscius, or to question
Lænas?
VALERIA.
Lænas!...
CATILINE.
Come, calm thy flurried soul:
I know all, can do all...Hear me, Valeria—
I have my rival's life within my grasp;
The lictors, all-prepared, await my signal.
I cannot but remember that Valeria,
Scorning my passion, is become the wife
Of low-born Claudius; and that she has thus
Blasted the hope of an illustrious house:
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Unworthy of her, I do but avenge
Sylla and Rome, thy glory, and myself.
But at thy word too I can also banish
Far from my breast the cruel memory
Of that which fed my fury; I can yet
O'er Claudius, whom long punishment awaits,
Extend henceforward a protecting arm:
And soon, perchance, surpassing all his hopes,
Call him to honours, raise him up to power.
VALERIA.
What price sets Catiline upon his mercy?
CATILINE.
You must, abjuring Claudius and your marriage...
VALERIA.
Hold there, unhappy man! who'll e'er believe it?
Thou, who dost reckon by thy crimes thy days—
Thou, the assassin of thy brother—thou,
Foe to thy country's Gods, detested framer
Of all our miseries,—is it thou, whose madness,
Twin-brother to thy fury, comes t'unveil
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That I hold Claudius dearer far than life,
And dearer yet my country; and that far
From e'er consenting to another marriage,
Fertile in every horror, to preserve
Our two poor lives, they should be sacrificed;
If it were only that my gratitude
To thy crime-'stablished power owed their deliverance:
If but my thoughts, perforce betraying me,
Must e'er renounce their right of open hatred.
I know alone th'inviolable spot
That offers a retreat to Claudius;
And I alone am guilty. Whether he
Conceives a project to the which my heart
Will lend its every aid, or whether in
His powerless rage does Catiline denounce
To the Dictator plots himself has framed,
Matters not now: Claudius has nought yet form'd
Save vows, but I am able to perfect
His noble plans. Thus, Catiline, thou seest
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The fix'd soul of Valeria.
[She goes out.
CATILINE.
Go, enjoy
The sweets of thy proud triumph,—thou hast come
To set the last seal to thy husband's fate.
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