 | Eudora |  |
SCENE IV.
THE KING, MAJONE, EUDORA, LELIO, and OTHER ATTENDANTS.THE KING,
(entering.)
Eudora here!
EUDORA.
O do not turn, my gracious liege, from her
Who once was happy in your royal favor!
I come, an humble suppliant, to implore
The blessed spirit of impartial justice,
Whose throne is in the bosom of my King.
THE KING.
I grieve to find my sorrows must receive
Increase from thine; full well Eudora knows
That I have looked on her as on my daughter;
That I was fondly pleased to see her wedded
To an aspiring youth, whom once I thought
Surpassing all in loyalty and honor.
50
O think so still! believe me, while I swear
By Heaven's all-seeing power, that not a thought
Of base ingratitude, or blind ambition,
Has stained the virtues, which you once admired:
That Raymond bears, thus injured as he is,
A mind as spotless, and a heart as loyal,
As Sicily can boast.
THE KING.
I am persuaded
Thou think'st so of him, and I would to Heaven
That thou wert not deceived!
EUDORA.
Am I deceived?
Do I not know myself? for O my liege,
Our souls are one, and not a thought e'er rose
In Raymond's mind, which was not known to me.
THE KING.
Thou dost not know the frenzy of ambition.
EUDORA.
O! if my King suspects, that thirst of empire
Can taint a mind, which never sought distinction.
Save what arises from superior virtue,
Banish my Raymond! let us fly together
To some lone spot, some unfrequented wild!
There, like the first inhabitants of earth,
We may securely live, in that sweet peace,
Which ever dwells with innocence and truth.
THE KING.
My mournful soul, tho' loaded with affliction,
51
That two, who followed Raymond, have confirmed
The charge against him, and proclaim their lord
The murderer of my son!
EUDORA.
Can there be wretches
So deeply tainted with ungrateful falsehood?
Monsters of perfidy!—as worthy credence
As the base atheist, who denies his maker!
MAJONE.
These slaves may be suborned by envious malice.
EUDORA.
Can the bold falsehood of unblushing traitors,
Can oaths, like theirs, confound the voice of truth,
And in the bosom of a King outweigh
The nobler witness of a soul well tried,
Untainted honor, and a life of glory?
O hapless virtue! where art thou secure,
When man is partial to each foe of thine,
And quick to credit every monstrous tale,
Which art can frame, and villany suggest?
THE KING.
Thou wrong'st me much: but I forgive, and love
Thy generous warmth: yet know me for thy friend!
By Heaven I swear, that wretched as I am,
'Twould give me truest joy, to see thy Raymond
Clear every doubt, and rise again to fame.
EUDORA.
Eternal blessings on the noble mind,
Which forms that virtuous wish!—Beware my liege!
52
For Raymond's life alone! I plead for you:
For think! O think what agonies of soul
Must rend your bosom, if, by fraud misled,
You doom my Lord to death, and find too late,
That you have slaughtered, as your son's assassin,
The gallant soldier, who preserved that son,
The man who honored, and the friend who loved him!
O think of this! and grant me one request!
That on the cunning semblances of guilt,
Which frontless perjury may cast on Raymond,
You will not hastily decide, but swear,
For the small space of only three short months,
To hold his life as sacred!
MAJONE.
Let Majone
Join in this just request! I dare affirm,
At hazard of my life, that Raymond bears
A heart too noble, and too firm a spirit
To wrong his sovereign by a timorous flight.
EUDORA.
Generous Majone! may that power reward thee,
Who pours his blessings on the sons of pity!
THE KING.
Yes! my Eudora, thy request is granted:
But, till the time, thou pray'st for, is expired,
See me no more! I would be left to dwell
In silent sorrow on the loved idea
Of my unhappy child. I must retire,
And try to reconcile my tortured mind
To Heaven's most dreadful sentence; oh farewell!
53
(Exit the King.
| Eudora | |