 | The Law of Lombardy |  |
SCENE I.
A Chamber in the Palace.BIRENO, ALINDA.
ALINDA.
I Wonder not you should suspect me slow
In this strange office: had you but enjoin'd me,
Shut out the sun ten times his annual rounds,
Feed all my life on pulse, or with coarse weeds
Obscure the little grace which Nature's hand
Has lent my outside, then, without a wherefore,
(From the meek humbleness of love I bear you)
My obedience wou'd have follow'd.
BIRENO.
Sweet impatience,
Smooth that contracted brow—
ALINDA.
But to commend
To any other woman, those fond vows
I hop'd to own unpartner'd, is it less
Than to expect my tongue suborn'd, should plead
Against the dearest interest of my life,
And make me earnest for my own undoing?
2
Must I again call down the saints to witness,
That for convenience only, not from love,
I seek to wed the princess? My ambition
Aims at the crown, her dower; were that bright gem
Heir'd by a pigmy, the meer mock of sight,
By ideot drawling, and a shrew's perverseness,
No less shou'd I desire it. If I prosper,
My heart, as ever, shall be thine; and hers,
The dull legitimate languor of the husband.
ALINDA.
But when to royal state Sophia joins
Such rare endowments, as make doubtful strife
'Twixt Nature's gifts, and Fortune's; can I hope
More than some grateful note from memory,
How much Alinda lov'd you?
BIRENO.
Trust me, fair one,
Beauty's degrees are in the lover's fancy,
Not in a scal'd perfection. Varying nature
Has lineaments for every appetite:
Not her arch'd brows, nor stature Juno-like,
Her crisped tresses spun from finest gold,
Nor the intelligent lustre of her eye,
To me have half such charms as thy soft mien,
The pure carnation of thy dimpling cheek,
And unassuming sweet simplicity.—
But hast thou urg'd my suit?
ALINDA.
Spite of ourselves,
The tongue interprets from the abundant heart.
Bireno's image filling all my thoughts,
Cou'd I be silent on a theme so lov'd?
BIRENO.
And how does she receive the gentle tale?
3
Sometimes she chides, and sometimes smiling tells me,
But that she knows me wise, such lavish praise
Might hint a heart touch'd deeply, and ill suits
The sober preference of an humble maid,
Who cannot hope to call you hers in honour.
Then with discreetest lessons will she school me,
To guard my breast 'gainst love; forgetting still
How much she wants the counsel she bestows.
BIRENO.
Does she then love?
ALINDA.
She never told me so;
But signs far more significant than speech
Reveal it hourly.
BIRENO.
Let me know my rival,
Tho' my foreboding heart already whispers
It must be Paladore.
ALINDA.
Oh, rightly guess'd!
Her love for him makes her unjust to you.
BIRENO.
Curses o'ertake him! Near his brighter fires
My star shines dimly; I was wonder'd at
Till this new meteor shot across men's eyes,
And drew all gaze to follow. At our tournaments
He foils me like a novice; in grave council
I prate unmark'd, while hoary heads bow down
In reverence to his weighty utterance;
And thus the upstart heresy of opinion
Runs on this smooth impostor—By what signs
Take you this note of her affection towards him?
ALINDA.
By such we women deem infallible.
If unexpectedly she hears him nam'd,
4
Suffusion, softer than Aurora's blush,
Spreads o'er her beauteous cheek. If she expect
His presence at the court, studious to please,
Beyond her wonted elegance of dress,
With nicer care she counsels at her glass,
To make the daintiest workmanship of nature
By ornament more winning.
BIRENO.
Indications
That speak, and shrewdly; yet their vanity
To catch the flattery of the fool they scorn,
Will bait such hooks as these. Have you no proof
More unequivocal?
ALINDA.
What wou'd you more?
We reason from ourselves, looking within,
We find in our own breasts the according springs
Of motions similar; when first I lov'd,
So did I wish to please, so doubt my power.
Yet more than this; her eye still follows him,
And when the unwelcome hour of parting comes,
The chearful flame that lighted up her countenance
Expires; sighs heave, and a soft silent tear
Steals down her cheek.
BIRENO.
Enough, I'm satisfied
She loves him, and the frost of my reception
Conspires in proof. Now then, my best Alinda!
You must assist me; on this single push
Hang all my fortunes—If my rival wed her,
Farewel my hopes, my country—
ALINDA.
How! your country!
A voluntary exile for the loss
Of one you swear you love not—
5
My possessions,
The means of pleasure to my thriftless youth,
Moulder in confiscation; thus my dukedom,
My royal ancestry, and rank in the state,
So scantily supported will but mock me.
A marriage with the princess wou'd heal all.
But if I fail, I will not stay to see
Upstarts made rich by my inheritance;
Nor the proud finger of the slave I scorn
Point at the princely beggar.
ALINDA.
Oh, good heaven!
Devise, command—Can my best industry
Prevent this ruin? Tell me but the means,
And bid me fly.
BIRENO.
No more of jealousy,
But with appliance dext'rous call her thoughts
To me, and my deservings; speak with slight
(Yet not as by suggestion) of my rival.
I've known more way made in a woman's grace
By such confederate arts, than could be won
By a long siege of amorous enginry,
Soft flatteries, sighs, protestings infinite,
And all the fervor of impatient love.
ALINDA.
But should this fail!
BIRENO.
I'll spread a finer snare,
Subtle as fabled Vulcan forg'd in Lemnos,
To enmesh them: thy soft hand, my dear Alinda!
Must help to hold the toils—
ALINDA.
But see, she comes;
The king too and her lover—
6
I'll retire,
And seek thee presently: rivet thine ear
Meantime to what they utter: thy report
Shall somewhat shape my course. High-flighted fool!
Check thy bold soaring, else my hot revenge
Shall melt thy waxed plumes, and hurl thee down
To a devouring sea that roars beneath thee.
[Exit.
[Alinda retires.
| The Law of Lombardy | |