University of Virginia Library

Scene II.

Raymond—Avice.
AVICE
Am I the dust
That you so tread me? You have done your work,
A man's work, take the wages of a man
Success, and let no thought, save of yourself,
Trouble your peace, else were you less than man.
Why do you look at me? What is't to you
That I am angry? Do you note my words
To spice with some new laughter for her lips
The next full cup you tender? I'll not bear
To be remembered—let me pass from you,
A blank page in the volume, which, being turned,
Is never sought again. You are still dumb—
Have you no answer?

RAYMOND
Not a syllable
Till you have done.

AVICE
O, this is courtesy
Of such fine sifting, that all qualities
Come from its hands alike; you shall not find
The difference of a grain 'twixt love and hate
Or truth and falsehood. I would sooner face
The brutal honesty of savages
Than such insensate smoothness.

RAYMOND
Chide your fill;
You only tell me what I knew before.

AVICE
That you are false?

RAYMOND
Nay, but that you are fond.

[Avice makes a passionate gesture of contradiction.
RAYMOND
O child, be mute; you say you know not what,
And point unreal weapons at your heart;
But I must utter words which should be wounds,
Words which must wither all my nobler self,
And though they be but air, have force to drive me
For ever to the dark side of that line
Which parts the course of good and evil men.
O I am traitor to the truest soul
That ever touched this earth!

AVICE
You speak not so
Of me.

RAYMOND
You, Avice, you? No, no,—our love
Stands upon falsehood; but of her whose name
Henceforth I handle not; who parts from us
As martyrs do, when their unconscious silence
Summons the judgment.

AVICE
I have never seen you
So moved before—what have you done?

RAYMOND
That only
Which I must do; I could not choose but strike her,
But, being a coward, I struck her in the dark,
And so, the pity of the consequence
Confronts me not. Let us be gone from it!
What is it to us if night is at our backs
When all the torrent of triumphant noon
Flows to our lips? Drink deep, we need drink deep;
The palace of our Future must be built
On a forgotten Past.

AVICE
Do you say so?
Love, based on falsehood and forgetfulness,
Come you to me with such reproachful eyes,
With such uncertain heart? O I had dreamed
A woman's dream—shall I not tell it you?
Of a man's love that was a real thing,
That burned i' the soul, that knew what it desired,
And like a shaft of conquest cleft its goal
Right through a waste of unregarded air—
Such love were worth the dying for—for less
'Tis not worth while to live. I have said all
But my last word, and that is—Give me up!

RAYMOND
Is this mine Angel tempts me? She may eak
With such a voice, but should not wear that face!

AVICE
You have answered me. Farewell.

RAYMOND
(taking her hands)
We must not part
So carelessly. You that did love me once
And now forsake me, should not drop away
As a leaf drops when long days loosen it,
Noiseless and noteless. There is something due,
If but a pause that's measured by a sigh
(No longer), to sweet promises unkept
And unforgotten. Let me count your debt;
First there's my heart—but that's not much—a tear
May balance that (methinks you have it ready),
My hope, my life, my faith, my happiness;
For trifles such as these should I give back
This jewel for which a man might change his soul?
Nay, but I'll hold it!

AVICE
Do you love me then?

RAYMOND
I'll tell you so a thousand times a day
When we are free.

AVICE
O, if the time were come!
Yet if you care for me with the tenth part
Of my too strenuous love (which is my life);
Nay, if you do but care with such a force
That were I dead you would be sorrowful,
And were I false you could not compass scorn
For sadness, and whene'er you see my face,
There's something at your heart says ‘this is mine
I'm not complete without it,’ I would kneel
At your feet for so much. Ah! beware of me,
Let no mad threat of parting cozen you,
For when that future comes, and I am yours,
I will not live an hour away from you.

RAYMOND
So change you! Queen and slave in half an hour!
But, when that future comes, each mood shall seem
As precious as those baffling sunset hues
Which make a painter's rapture and despair—
Time fails to mark them now. Hush! in your ear—
I have devised that we shall fly to-night.

AVICE
To-night! Together!

RAYMOND
Aye, no other way.
A thing that should be done without a word,
Will you be waking?

AVICE
When?

RAYMOND
Why, half an hour
Past midnight, with no signal, lest we rouse
Unwished-for eyes. You tremble—

AVICE
Not with fear.
What must I do?

RAYMOND
There's a thin moon—enough
To light a crime; where yonder chestnut droops
I'll hide and wait; a trusty hand below
Holds our boat ready—make your eyes more false!
They write your thoughts in fire.

AVICE
Whom have you trusted?
I fear! I fear!

RAYMOND
Be satisfied—a man
Truer than we are; though he's but a groom
He'll not betray his master!

AVICE
Does he know?
O! have you told?

RAYMOND
We have not time for shame.

AVICE
Are you so hard with me?

RAYMOND
I am so hard,
That if you shrink I will not let you go.
Why do you say so much? I'd have you blind,
Fast in my arms, your eyes upon my heart,
Not knowing that my foot is on the brink
Till we have plunged. You should seem whiter so—
I would be charier of your soul than mine.
You'll thank me for 't hereafter, when I need
To look at something pure.

AVICE
Why, if you loved me
You would behold me stainless as a star.
It is the property of Love to make
The thing it worships—to go forth like light
On Alpine summits, turning snow to fire,
And melancholy rocks to thrones of glory.

RAYMOND
Till the night comes.

AVICE
We know not of the night,
O haunt me not with checks—let me once hear
The singleness of passion!

RAYMOND
'Tis my curse
To bear a double nature—preachers say
'Tis so with all men; if you serve the one
You shall forget the other. But I serve,
And so remember that mine ears are filled
With low prophetic thunders. Do not weep;
Look at me—so—why, what a churl was I
To scare you on the threshold of your bliss
When I should lift you past it! Come, be gay!
Show me the courage of your love! I'll say,
If you but glance aside and catch your breath,
That you repent. Come, if we stay too long
Some tongue shall wonder.

[Exit, leading Avice out.