University of Virginia Library

SCENE V.

FRA RUPERT'S CELL. Andrea and Fra Rupert.
Fra Rupert.
What! am I never to be left alone,
Andrea? Let me have my pleasures too,
Such as they are.

Andrea.
They're very much like mine.
Have we not prayed and scourged and wept together?

Fra Rupert.
Ah! were that now the case!

Andrea.
Well, father, well!
I would not stand between you and your duty:
But I thought, being prince . .

Fra Rupert
(sneering).
Thou, being prince,
Thoughtest! Thou verily not only toppest
Thyself, but most among thy fellows, lad!
And so, Andrea! being prince, thou thoughtest?

Andrea.
Good-bye, thou art as brave and blithe as ever. [Goes, but turns back.

I had one little thing upon my conscience.

Fra Rupert.
I am quite ready: let me know the whole:
Since yesterday? Nod? wink? to me?

Andrea
(to himself).
He chafes me.

Fra Rupert.
And throw thy head back thus?

Andrea.
My head's my own.

Fra Rupert.
Wonderful! be not over-sure of that. [Aside.

If thou art contrite, go!

Andrea.
I will not go;
I am not contrite.

Fra Rupert.
I am in a maze!

Andrea.
A scrape thou'rt in.

Fra Rupert.
A scrape! Who could betray me?

[To himself.
Andrea.
Thou'st lost thy lamb, old shepherd! no great pet.

Fra Rupert.
No, nor great loss: when lambs, tho', lose their shepherd
They find the shambles nearer than the fold.

Andrea.
Father! you said you must confer with me
Another time?

Fra Rupert.
I did so.

Andrea.
Why not now?

Fra Rupert.
I see not why: but soon Caraccioli,
And first Caraffa, must unbosom here.
Thou hast much power, Andrea! thou canst do
Anything now to glorify thy country.

Andrea.
Suppose I wish to swim to Ischia; could I?

Fra Rupert.
My boy! thou hast not wind enough for that.
Am I to be evaded, taunted, posed?
Or thinkest thou, Andrea, that because
A silly girl espouses thee . .

Andrea.
By Peter!
She who espouses me shall ne'er be call'd
A silly girl. I am a husband, Frate!
I am a boy no longer: I can cope
With women: and shall men then, even tho' friars,
Pretend to more? I will go back and call
The maidens: they shall pelt you from the palace
If ever you set foot within its walls.

Fra Rupert.
Should every stone from maiden hit my nose,
A grain of dust would hurt it tenfold more.

Andrea.
Know, they have tongues that yours could never meet.

Fra Rupert.
Andrea! wouldst thou kill me with unkindness?

Andrea.
Gad! he sheds tears! . . Now at him!
. . Yes, I would.

Fra Rupert.
And bring down these grey hairs . .

Andrea.
Which hairs are they?
The skull's are shaven, and the beard's are dirty;
They may be grey though.

Fra Rupert.
Shame upon thy mirth!
I am a poor old man.

Andrea.
'Tis your vocation.
Beside, I have heard say that poverty
Is the best bargain for the best place yonder
In Paradise. All prick their feet before
They clamber upward into that inclosure:
'Tis well worth while.

Fra Rupert.
Age too (alas how heavy!)
To serve my loving ward, my prince's son,
I would support still longer, willingly.

Andrea.
Frate! 'tis more than I can say for it. [Rupert creeps supplicatingly toward him.

Out of my sight! crawl back again . . I loathe thee.