University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

The Same. A large Hall in the Same. Leonor de Guzman and Enrique discovered. Enter an Attendant.
Leonor.
No tidings of my chaplain?

Attendant.
None, your grace.

Enrique.
To catch priests, mother, thou must fish with bait,—
Fat livings, or fair maidens—

Leo.
Shame! for shame!
Thou takest old scandals for new truths, Enrique.
It is too much the fashion of our age:
But, son, remember, he who jests at things
Held sacred by the body of mankind,
Insults the dignity of man, and sets
His flashy jokes above our grandest thoughts.

En.
I meant but little.

Leo.
Doubtless: yet thou 'dst claim
A place in wisdom over all thy race,—
Past, present, and to come. Go forth again,
And push your search with busy secrecy.
[Exit Attendant.]
Perhaps the chaplain keeps away through fear.
I 've spent a goodly time in argument,
To overcome his scruples at the rites.
Naught but the contract, with the royal seal,
Will satisfy him: that I have mislaid.

En.
'T is the first mention thou hast made of it:
I have it, mother.

Leo.
Heaven be praised! where, where?

En.
Close, at my lodgings.

Leo.
Fly, and bring it here.
How blind was I, not to have questioned thee!
Time has slipped by—most precious, precious time—
While I consulted with myself.—O, fly!
[Exit Enrique.]
And so Enrique had it all the while!
This comes from self-dependence. Over-trust
In our own knowledge is an ignorance
More perilous than modest diffidence,
That doubts and asks, and from a child, perchance,
May hear replies that daunt philosophers.
I searched the world for that which lay at home,
Formed secret plans to ferret out this deed,
When a mere opening of my thought-pinched lips
Was all I needed. We consume in thoughts
That are the tattle of the market-place;
And our best wisdom, after all our toil,
Is but the world's, in rounded sentences.
Who 'd thought Enrique—Well, I'm wiser now;
An open heart is a sage counsellor.
Juana!

(Enter Juana de Villena.)
Juana.
Madam!

Leo.
It has come, at last,—
The wedding-day, I promised long ago.

Jua.
And every day since then.

Leo.
Thou 'rt peevish.

Jua.
No:
'T is the first pledge you ever left unfilled.
Madam, I love you, and can pardon more
Than that which lies not in your power to give.
Yet if I doubt the baffled promise now,
I blame this prison more than you, dear lady.

Leo.
(Kissing her.)
Thou 'rt a sweet maiden! but we'll see, we'll see.
This prison—true, it has perplexed my will;
Yet even those doors can never shut out hope.
I keep the freshness of my mind untouched,
Fill these close chambers with my smiles, and wake
A ready music in the vaulted roofs
With pardonable laughter. Dear Juana,
Had they not prisoned me, I should have sunk
Beneath Alfonso's death; but sufferings,
That were disjointed from my deeper grief,
Roused all my strength to beat them back again.
I thank my enemies for this, at least.

(Reënter Enrique.)
Enrique.
Here is the parchment.

Leo.
(Reading.)
All in proper form.
In to my heart, and nestle in its warmth!
Once more, Juana, don thy wedding-clothes,
And wait my call within. Enrique, thou
Stand on a moment's warning to come forth.

En.
We have observed this form for many a day;
Yet, as it pleases, we will play it o'er.

Leo.
To-day my heart is whispering success.

(Enter Attendant.)
Attendant.
Your chaplain, madam.

[Exit.]
Leo.
Ha! In, in, my loves!
The sun is shining on your brightest day!
(Exeunt Enrique and Juana. Enter the Chaplain.)
Do not prepare thyself with shrugs, and frowns,
And signals of distress. Good father, look,
Here is the deed! 'T is signed by King Alfonso,
Witnessed by all the ministers, and sealed
With the armorial castles of the realm.
Thou doubt'st? Hast thou betrayed me?

Chaplain.
Daughter, no:
Yet there are fears, not only for the Church,
But thee, who'll be the chiefest sufferer
By this concealed affair.

Leo.
Think not of me.
If by this deed I made a sacrifice
Of the few days which Heaven designs for me,
Think'st thou not, father, I would through with it,
Though every step were nearer to the grave?

Chap.
Indeed, I fear—

Leo.
Fears are no guests of mine.

Chap.
Yet for thyself.

Leo.
My children are myself:
I have no care beyond my family.
I know the weight and moment of this deed;
It may exalt Enrique to a crown—
Ay, even to a crown: and as for me,
Father, it can but kill; and if I feel
No fear of death, his common sting is gone.

Chap.
I will consent.

Leo.
O, bless thee!—Hark! I hear
A cat-like foot-fall in the corridor.
[Drops on her knees.]
Father, I do confess, I have much wronged,
(Enter Alburquerque.)
In spirit, that good man, Lord Alburquerque.
I do confess—

Alburquerque.
What farce is this?

Leo.
My lord,
You see me at confession. Pardon me;
My sins are heavy.

Alb.
I can witness that.

Leo.
Your evidence will never reach the court
I shall be tried by. In a moment, sir,
I'll be at leisure.

Alb.
Here 's some villany!
I'll try her, though.

[Aside and exit, dropping his handkerchief.]
Chap.
Daughter, arise! he 's gone.

Leo.
A moment, father,—bear with me a while.
I do confess, I 've had suspicious thoughts
Of good Lord Alburquerque—
(Reënter Alburquerque suddenly.)
Ah! I knew it!

[Aside.]
Alb.
I dropped my—

[Looks around.]
Leo.
Wits, my lord?

Alb.
Hum! Still on her knees:
A pious sight! (Aside.)
My precious handkerchief:
A love-gift, madam.

[Picks it up, and abstractedly begins tearing it.]
Leo.
And you treat it thus!

Alb.
'Fore Heaven! you 'd best not mock me!

[Going.]
Leo.
Mock you, sir?
Do I offend?—Nay, stay, my lord. Have you,
Or any of the courtiers, seen my son?
Pray send Enrique to me.

Alb.
(Aside.)
So it seems
I have outrun suspicion. Should I see
The Condé, madam, I will be your page.
Something is wrong here. Could I trust my nose,
I 'd say that I smelt treachery in the air.
I'll not neglect you long,—be sure of that.

[Aside and exit.]
Leo.
(Springing up.)
Now, father, haste! Juana and Enrique,
Come forth! My promise is well-nigh fulfilled.
(Reënter Juana and Enrique.)
On, to the chapel!

Chap.
For thy sake alone,
I made my opposition.

Leo.
Say no more,
But get about thy duties. I'll stand guard.
Gather my household, as you go along,
And take them in as witnesses. No words;
Words are the clogs of action.
[Exeunt all but Leonor.]
Ha, ha, ha!
[Laughing.]
Good Alburquerque, if you knew of this!
O, gracious Heaven, what if they murder me!
Why, let them strike! I 've done a deed to-day,
With which Castile shall ring for years to come.
What is my life to my Enrique's love,
And blessed tears upon my memory?
Already, in my fancy, I can see
A shadowy crown that binds his regal brows,
And deepens, slowly, till its form becomes
Substantial matter, blazing with great gems,
And all the royal symbols of Castile!—
(Reënter Alburquerque.)
Ha! vulture!

Alburquerque.
Fresh from the confessional,
You re-begin your naughtiness. Alas!
Continued penitence must pre-suppose
Continued sin. I fear such penitence
Is Satan's stale temptation to new guilt.
Ward, I must keep your soul in stricter charge.

Leo.
A man may enter the infernal gates
With proverbs on his lips. You are a bee
That hives its honey for another's use.
My lord, is Don Enrique found?

Alb.
He 's here.

Leo.
Indeed? I see him not.

[Laughing.]
Alb.
O, fie! my lady,
Is childish trifling the best wit you bring,
To meet at our joined issue? For my part,
Being no ready jester with my tongue,
I put my jokes in writing. Look you, now,
[Shows a paper.]
Here is the substance of my thoughts,—the warrant,
Signed by Don Pedro, which I promised you.

Leo.
(Reading.)
Did the king sign this?
And must Juana be withdrawn from me?
You use me harshly. Must she go to-day?

Alb.
Upon the instant. For Don Pedro thinks
Such wide possessions as Juana holds
Are dangerous wardships in a subject's hands.
A treacherous guardian might employ her wealth
For private objects, without fear of loss,—
In treasons, plots.—I see you understand.

Leo.
The king thinks thus?

Alb.
And, therefore, has resolved.

Leo.
A wise young king!—both wise and resolute!
They say his wisdom 's at his elbow ever,
Not in his brain, where common wit abides.

Alb.
Where is Juana?

Leo.
At her prayers, my lord.

Alb.
This is a prayerful house.

Leo.
I'll summon her.

Alb.
Yes, and at once. For since her brother's death—

Leo.
Her brother's death! Poor soul! she knows it not.
How fell it, sir?

Alb.
Through lack of life, they say.
Bring her, and you shall hear.

Leo.
Miguél!

(Enter an Attendant.)
Alb.
I'll go.

[Going.]
Leo.
(Preventing him.)
Nay, nay, my lord, you'll keep me company.
Miguél, you'll find my ward, engaged in prayer,
Within the chapel. After she has done—
You understand me?—after she has done,
His lordship fain would greet her. As you go,
Close all the doors, and make their fastenings tight.
[Aside to him.]
(Exit Attendant, closing the doors.)
So much I hold the church's offices
In my respect—

[Noise without.]
Alb.
(Starting.)
I heard a bolt shoot.

Leo.
—That,
Taking the liberty—

Alb.
You talk for time:
Your face betrays you. Cope with me, forsooth!
There 's some vile plot afoot within this house!
The air is black with it!—Ho! there, my guard!
(Enter Soldiers.)
Search the Alcazar!

Leo.
(Aside.)
Now, they're at the rites!
Maritum juxta ritum sanctæ.—Now,
Juana answers, Volo!—Now, the ring
Is blessed, is sliding on her finger—I
Was married once.—Oremus, says the priest:
And now, the benediction!—Hold, my lord!—
[Aloud.]
Per Christum Dominum—Amen! I cry,—
Ha! ha! my lord, you are an age too late!

[Laughing.]
Alb.
Are all the women in the kingdom mad?
Ha! madam, are your glances all that way?—
In, to the chapel!

Guard.
(Trying the door.)
It is barred, my lord.

Alb.
I did not ask you if the door were barred,
I ordered you to pass it. Find a way,
[Drawing.]
Or, by the saints, I'll drive you through it!—On!

[Soldiers attempt to force the door.]
Leo.
Stand, thou firm oak!

Alb.
It yields! Let me assist.

Leo.
(Holding him.)
My lord, you shall not!—nay, beseech you, sir!—
There 's naught within.

Alb.
(Struggling with her.)
Thou liest! Unhand me, fool!
I would not do thee violence.—Off! off!

[Flings her off.]
(A burst of organ-music is heard.)
Leo.
'T is done! 't is done! Now tear the prison down,
And make its ruins monuments for me!

(Organ-music. The door gives way. The Chaplain, followed by Enrique, Juana, and a bridal-train, are discovered within the doorway, and slowly enter.)
Alb.
What means this mummery?

Leo.
A marriage masque—
No more, my lord—a masque, a merry sham.
You 're welcome to our bridal!

Alb.
Are they wed?

Chaplain.
They are, my lord.

Alb.
Sir priest, your shaven crown
Shall ache for this!

Chap.
(Offering the parchment.)
Here 's my commission: Read.

Alb.
Curse thee and thy commission! Some one—Guard,
Drag down that sorceress to a dungeon! Wretch,
I'll make you wish this wedding-day of yours
Were blotted from the calendar!

Leo.
And I—
I kept my promise, Alburquerque. Mark,
I have outdone you in your own bad trade!
O, Heaven!—I cannot reach thee, dear Juana;
[Staggers towards her.]
But bless thee, daughter! I am sick with joy.
My lord, pray kiss the bride for me—O! O!

[Faints]