University of Virginia Library

SCENE IX.

—In the castle of Valmont.
Enter Alferenzi and Agnes.
Alferenzi.
Gone! said'st thou Agnes? Both, at break of day,
Their course unknown, sudden, and unattended
What can it mean? Tell me, good gentle damsel,
Left she no word of kind remembrance for me?

Agnes.
I knew not of their flight till they departed;
Before the midnight hour crept half way on
To that which time proclaims the new-born day,
With sighs and tears, and many earnest pray'rs,
She vow'd her love and truth to Alferenzi.

Alferenzi.
Say on, fair Agnes! To the tortur'd wretch,
Stung by the pois'nous spider to the heart,
The sound of minstrelsy is not so sweet!

Agnes.
Wrung to the soul by a stern father's rage,
Last night she form'd the fatal resolution,
In cold monastic gloom to end her days;
And scarce an hour before her sudden flight
Me she dispatch'd to give you timely notice,
That to the forest she would steal at midnight,
And, by the waning lustre of the moon,
Bid her fond hopes and you farewell for ever.

Alferenzi.
Oh! most inhuman thought! most barb'rous wish!
Why did she fail to keep her promise then?

Agnes.
Alas! I know not; after tedious search
To find you wand'ring at th' appointed place,
I hasten'd to the castle, where I found
The outward gate unbarr'd; I pass'd along
The solitary courts, o'erwhelm'd with fear!
No light appear'd around the spacious pile,
Save a small lamp, which at a lattice grate
Shot from the western tow'r a feeble ray.

Alferenzi.
Why from the western tow'r? Who rested there?

Agnes.
It was the prison of my lovely mistress. [Alferenzi starts.

The melancholy stillness of the night
Made my own footsteps echo as I trod
The gothic cloisters that surround the courts:
On the white marble of the banner'd hall
I mark'd fresh drops of blood! and further on—

Alferenzi.
Hold! and be careful, I conjure thee, Agnes;
There is more terror in those little words
Than in the prospect of eternal pangs!
The father of Honoria! Oh! my soul!
This is thy last dread trial: she is dead!
The barbarous fiend has blotted nature's page,
And written murder with his poniard curst
Steep'd in the fountain of his daughter's heart!

Agnes.
Next to the chamber of my darling mistress
I flew, with hurried step and beating heart;
There, strew'd about, I saw her rich apparel,
That deck'd her person when I parted from her;
Her cross of brilliants, and her em'rald zone,
Thrown carelessly aside.

Alferenzi.
O! damned monster!

Agnes.
Then, wild with horror! to the northern tow'r,
Where the stern father erst was wont to pass
The midnight hour in sullen meditation,
I rush'd impatient; 'twas the dawn of day,
And thro' the painted casements purple light
Cast a faint lustre on the fearful gloom.
I gaz'd around me—

Alferenzi.
Was the blood there too?

Agnes.
Yes; on the garment of the haughty marquis:
The vest he wore last night was crimson-spotted
With human gore; scarce cold when I beheld it!

Alferenzi.
Oh! 'tis most sure!

Agnes.
Now hear me, Alferenzi;
Prepare thy soul to meet another proof,
As black as hell itself! I then descended
By a small winding staircase, dark and damp,
To the long gall'ry where, in pictur'd pomp,
The steel-clad ancestors of Valmont hung.
The clock struck three! Beneath the fretted roof
The hollow-sounding echo ling'ring stole!
I started! Horror chain'd me to the spot!
When, gazing on the ground with fear-fix'd eyes,
I mark'd this blood-stain'd scarf, which, when I left
My angel mistress, veil'd her beauteous breast!

Alferenzi,
taking the scarf.
Oh! horrible! beyond what thought can frame! [Puts the scarf into his bosom.

Grow to my anguish'd heart. Oh! wounded nature!
If in my breast one spark of mercy gleams,
Let these red drops extinguish it for ever! [Enter Francisco.

Francisco, where's thy mistress? quickly speak.

Francisco.
I fear, most noble Sir, she's in her grave!
When last I saw her—

Alferenzi.
Was she not living?

Francisco.
Scarcely, my Lord; so sadly wan she look'd,
That my old eyes did make my manhood blush
Thro' many a trickling tear.

Alferenzi.
Poor victim!
And didst thou leave her so, unfeeling slave?

Francisco.
My Lord, I left her to a father's care;
She seem'd most deeply troubled; for her words
Were incoherent, wild, and sorrowful!
I would have call'd assistance, but the marquis
Commanded me to leave them.

Alferenzi.
Alone! Francisco?

Francisco.
Alone, my Lord; I dar'd not disobey;
His looks were terrible, and much I fear
Some direful purpose rankled in his soul.

Alferenzi.
Francisco, get thee hence; and let thy zeal
Give strict observance to thy searching eye.
Explore all secret corners of the castle,
Each darken'd niche, and ev'ry lofty tow'r;
Murder's a lurking fiend, and shuns the gaze
Of broad-ey'd honesty! Now fare thee well. [Exit Francisco.

Agnes, this father is a vile assassin!
A barb'rous monster, sacrilegious slave!
Who to the demon of insatiate wrath
Has sacrificed the life of his dear child!
Oh! thou fell wolf, could not so sweet a lamb,
With all the graceful eloquence of nature,
Arrest thy butcher's hand, and turn the knife
On thy own curs'd and most relentless bosom!
All Erebus, conspiring with thy fate,
Sent forth its blackest fiend to aid the deed,
And drag thy trembling soul to deep perdition!

Agnes.
'Tis likely noble Albert interpos'd
Too late to save Honoria, and was slain
By the rash marquis to impede pursuit.

Alferenzi.
Impossible! none but the famish'd tiger
Would kill the thing it lov'd; if Valmont's soul
Could bend a moment from its churlish mood,
That Albert was the dearest to his heart.
Alas! Honoria was his only victim!
Her bosom was the unpolluted temple
Where innate truth, majestically thron'd,
Fear'd not the subtle glance of malice fell,
Till, like the Basilisk, it seal'd its prey,
And feasted on its idol! All the earth
I'll traverse o'er to seek the monstrous villain;
And may the blue-wing'd bolts of Heav'n destroy me,
If e'er I rest till vengeance is complete!

[Exeunt.