University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE LAST.

[To them.] SYLVIA. GERNANDO [Apart.]
SYLVIA.
Hold, Constantia.
In vain thou seek'st for thy Gernando there:
For ev'n but now, in tender care for thee,
Hasting to yonder stream, a sudden force
Assail'd him, and prevented his return.

CONSTANTIA.
Ye Pow'rs! assail'd! by whom? and why?

HENRIQUES.
Forgive me:
The fault is mine. Gernando thought thee dead,
And vow'd to dwell for ever here; and hence,
I gave command to bear him off by force.

CONSTANTIA.
Haste; let us set him free.

SYLVIA.
Yet stay, Constantia,
Already have I told them all the story.

CONSTANTIA.
Must I still wait? Have I not waited long?
So many years elaps'd of tedious sorrow?
'Tis time at length to find a quiet period
To all my woes—

[Going.]
GERNANDO
[Advancing.]
Here, in these faithful arms
Receive the bliss thou seek'st.

CONSTANTIA.
And can it be?

GERNANDO.
Do I not dream?

CONSTANTIA.
Do I then hold Gernando?

GERNANDO.
Do I embrace my wife, my dear Constantia?

HENRIQUES.
These tears, caresses and imperfect accents
Dissolve my soul in tender sympathy.

SYLVIA.
Tell me, Henriques, wherefore art thou thoughtful?
Gernando sure is kinder far than thou:
Mark how with gentle speech he soothes Constantia,
While thou in sullen silence seem'st to stand,
Without one word for Sylvia.

HENRIQUES.
Could I hope
That I were dear to thee—

SYLVIA.
If dear to me?
Yes, dearer than my fawn.

HENRIQUES.
Then give me, fair one,
Thy plighted hand, and be Henriques' wife.

SYLVIA.
Thy wife! O no: that were indeed a folly:
So might I, left on some far distant Isle,
Drag on my days in mournful solitude.

CONSTANTIA.
No, Sylvia; my Gernando left me not:
Thou shalt know all: Men are not, as I said,
Faithless and cruel.

SYLVIA.
When I knew Henriques,
I thought not so.

CONSTANTIA.
Unjustly I accus'd 'em;
But now convinc'd retract my former error.

SYLVIA.
And I retract whate'er I said before.

CHORUS.
When low'ring clouds the skies o'erspread,
Let Hope exalt her chearful head,
And all the threats of Fate despise:
Fortune shall give her malice o'er,
And Constancy's triumphant Pow'r
At length above her suff'rings rise.