Scene V
The same apartment in Alvino's house. Enter
Alvino and Leoni.
Leoni
So, of the handkerchief thou hast not heard?
And Pedro has not yet returned?
Alvino
He stays,
And by that staying brings me nearer death!
Leoni
Oh, say not so! He may have been detained.
Alvino
I must say so; there is no other hope.
Leoni
You do not think that Pedro will be false?
Alvino
If Carlos promise him Elvira's hand,
He will betray to Rodolph all our plans,
And then the sentence of the law will fall
Upon us with avenging wrath!
Leoni
Most true!
But cannot there be something done to ward
Away this direful blow? Yes, let us fly!
Alvino
Leoni, it is best that we should stay—
Flying would only serve to prove our guilt,
And give suspicion stronger claims to proof,
And not remember in this trying hour,
If any portent should retard our hopes—
Be strong as love is infinite!
Leoni
I will;
And drink the last drop of the bitter cup,
As freely as the first one—to the dregs!
But when is Carlos to be tried?
Alvino
At three—
The Duke is sitting now in Council.
Leoni
Now?
Then, let us fly! Alvino, why delay?
The icy fingers of the hands of death
Are tugging at my heartstrings—now thy pull,
And stretch beyond endurance.
Alvino
Hush, my love!
An officer is coming with his guard.
Leoni
Then, fly! Leoni will be with thee—fly!
Alvino
I cannot, dearest, all is over now!
It is too late! Don Pedro has been false!
And now, forsaken as we are on earth,
Remember that we have two friends in Heaven.
And as we are united here on earth,
So let us be when we shall meet in death.
Leoni
In death? Thou wilt be dear to me then,
Than thou hast ever been in life. No, love,
They cannot separate us in this world!
And, come whatever bitterness there may,
They cannot do it in the world to come.
For that which prompted me to hate the Count,
Has only made me value thee the more,
And love thee better in the hour of need.
And, therefore, dying at whatever hour,
The pleasure, that my life shall end with thine,
Will blot away the terrors death may bring.
But look, they come!
Alvino
Now, reconcile thyself.
Enter Officer and Guard
Officer
Seize on him, Guard!
Alvino
(Drawing his sword.)
Stand back, obedient dogs!
Your mothers bore your fathers no such sons.
In Lombardy the Axeman says, that when
The storm is raging loudest on the hills,
The tallest trees bend lowest to the ground.
And I would spill thy blood upon the earth
Like rain! (To Leoni.)
Now like the Persian Shepherd, when
He wandered through the Desert of the East,
And, from the wilderness beheld the glimpse
Of Arem's Gardens, never to behold
The beauty of that paradise again,
So do we turn away from all things dear,
And from the radiant vision of that hope
Whose glory burst upon us yesterday,
To gaze upon the icy shape of Death! (Turning to the Officer.)
Bind me in chains! (They bind him.)
Leoni
Oh, ye of little souls!
Have ye in office love to show your power!
I do despise you from my very soul!
Alvino
(Aside to Leoni.)
Leoni, recollect the vow we made! (To Officer.)
Now we are ready to abide the law.
Leoni
And if the Duke's decision be thy death,
The sentence of thy guilt shall be my death!
For if the life that is in thee shall die,
The dying of that life shall be my death!
Alvino
Leoni, that has sunk deep in my heart!
(Exit Alvino and Leoni, attended by Officer and Guard.)
