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SCENE II.
Elvina, Emma.Elvina.
My faithful Emma,
My dear companion in the days of youth
Before distinction of our birth was known,
I would depart in peace with all the world.
If ever I have treated you with rigour,
Or chid you without cause—
Emma.
O never, never!
My noble Lady, you have ever been.
The best, the kindest, and the sweetest mistress,
And less your servant than your friend I've lived.
O would to God that I could die for you!
Elvina.
I have a last request to make, my Emma,
A dying charge to give! Find out that youth
For whom in early years I'm doom'd to die;
O tell him, charge him, if he ever loved me,
To guard, to pity, and solace the age
Of my poor father! as another child
My place to fill, my duty to perform.
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Tell that for him I died: And all I ask,
Is for my sake, for his Elvina's sake,
To love my father, and remember me!
I know his tender heart: I would not wish him
To mourn my fate in bitterness of soul,
And waste his days in solitude and sorrow.
Yet I would have him—sometimes to be sad—
To think of her who died for him; to come
A midnight mourner to my silent tomb,
And wet my ashes with a lover's tears.
Then in th'appointed house I'll rest in peace,
And wait the morning that awakes the dead.
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