University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

Enter Timanthes.
Dir.
O were my lord less distant!—Heavens! he comes.

Timan.
My dearest wife!

Dir.
Ah! hold, some ear perhaps
May catch the unwary sound. Remember, prince,
A subject whose presumptuous love has dar'd
To match with royal blood, must yield her life
A forfeit for the offence.

Timan.
Fear not, my love!
None hears, nor shall—Timanthes is thy guard.

Dir.
What friendly power restores thee to my arms!

Timan.
My father's mandate brings me from the camp;
The cause to me unknown. But tell me, Dirce,
Dost thou still love me? Art thou still the same,
As when I left thee at the call of honour;
And are thy thoughts still constant to Timanthes?

Dir.
And canst thou ask me? Canst thou doubt my faith?

Timan.
O Heaven! I doubt thee not; I know thy truth:
But yet forgive me, if my too fond heart
Delights to hear the pleasing sound repeated
From those dear lips. How fares my boy Olinthus,
The precious pledge of our connubial joys?
Say, does his beauty with his years increase?
Do his young features speak a father's likeness,
Or bloom they with a mother's softer charms?

Dir.
Already have his tender feet begun
To form uncertain steps: his looks already
Assume the manly sternness, mix'd with grace,
That charm'd me in his sire: but when he smiles
He's all thyself; then fondly gazing on him
Methinks I look on thee: how oft deceiv'd
With the dear thought, I strain him to my bosom,
And in the son embrace the absent father.

Timan.
Where is he now, my Dirce? Lead me to him;
O let me see my boy!

Dir.
Forbear, my lord,
Awhile suppress a parent's tenderness:
He lives conceal'd; but 'midst the observing eyes
That round us watch, to attempt access to him,
At every hour, were dangerous. Oh! what anguish
Attends the mystery of our loves conceal'd!

Timan.
I'm weary of dissembling thus; no more
I'll bear these doubts and fears: this day shall yield
Some blest expedient to relieve our pains.

Dir.
Alas! still greater dangers now impend:
This is the day of annual sacrifice;
And Dirce's name must stand the fatal chance.
Such is the king's command, my anxious father
Has dar'd to oppose it, and from their contention
My fears increase.

Timan.
And does Mathusius know
Our hands are join'd in Hymen's sacred ties?

Dir.
Forbid it, Heaven! for Dirce then were lost.

Timan.
Yet hear me; let us now persuade the king
To seek the Oracle again; by this
At least we gain more time for further thought.

Dir.
Already this is done.

Timan.
And what success?

Dir.
Short was the answer, and in terms obscure.
“Beneath the wrath of Heaven your land must groan,
“'Till time disclose the secret cause to light;
“'Till to himself reveal'd the offender's known,
“Who guiltless now usurps a prince's right.”

Timan.
Darkness and clouds!

Dir.
And should my lot be drawn
For this day's sacrifice, what hopes remain?
I fear not death; no, for her country's sake,
Most gladly Dirce would submit to fate:
But Phœbus' words demand a virgin's blood.
Shall I, a wife and mother, dare approach
His sacred altars, an unhallow'd victim?
Thus if I speak or not, I still am guilty;
My silence Heaven, my speech offends the king.

Timan.
In desperate dangers desperate means are needful:
The king must know the story of our nuptials.

Dir.
But how to evade the sentence of the law
Impending o'er my head?

Timan.
A monarch made,
A monarch can revoke the stern decree.
Demophoon, though severe, is yet a father,
And I a son: full well, my love, we know
By fond experience what those names import;
Nor do I now obscurely come before him:
I bring all Scythia vanquish'd, Phasis quell'd,
To welcome my return: my father sure
May yield me some reward for kingdoms conquer'd.
If these suffice not, tears at least shall move him;
I'll kneel a suppliant at his awful throne,
Embrace his knees, and melt him to compassion.

Dir.
Alas!—I doubt.

Timan.
My Dirce, doubt no more;
Commit thy future destiny to me:
Go then, but let this fix'd assurance still
Dwell in thy mind, and calm thy troubled thoughts;
Timanthes will be ever watchful o'er thee,
And hold thy peace far dearer than his own.

Dir.

[Exit.