University of Virginia Library

SCENE I.

An Apartment in Durazzo's House.
Enter Durazzo and Perez.
PEREZ.
Yet, Sir, be patient.—Such a wrong is sure
Some time to be revenged.

DURAZZO.
If, while my blood
Was hot, I struck him dead, 'twere well; but not
On after-thought.

PEREZ.
The pride that lifts you thus
Should pacify you too: I thought the news
You heard but now, would have subdued all passion
To make a way for mourning.

DURAZZO.
Poor Vincenzo!
And is he dead?—Well, he is safe from insult.
How did the messenger report of him?
My mind was rack'd too fiercely to attend.

PEREZ.
The story was a brief one, told without
Parade of circumstance, and meant no more
Than that your friend his mortal wound received
In battle, fighting by Alonzo's side:
That, to his tent convey'd, he wrote in pain
This letter of farewell, produced to you
By the same messenger.

[Giving a letter.
DURAZZO.
It may be made
Some use of. Was the life extinct before
He left the camp who brought it? said he so?

PEREZ.
The last cold breath was drawn.

[Knocking without.
DURAZZO.
Go see who knocks.
Exit Perez.
This hand reminds me of our playful days,
Ere I was cursed with hopeless pride, or felt
The spurn of insult.—Now, could I employ
His memory to profit my revenge,
'Twere like an act of posthumous regard
Done by his spirit.—Ha! My Lord, good morrow;
I look'd not for this honour.

Enter Garcia.
GARCIA.
I have heard
Of old Benducar's roughness.

DURAZZO.
Yes, a blow
Was somewhat rough. 'Tis true his hand was feeble,
But if a giant's sinews struck me down,
They could not brand me with a deeper shame
Than his insulting blow.

GARCIA.
Restrain this passion:
You think too much of it.

DURAZZO.
I do submit
Myself to your good wisdom, that I ought
To feel as others feel such injury.
What! must the poor man keep his choler in
When stripes offend him, 'till the smart subside,
And he find comfort in the brutes' oblivion?
Fortune has length of arm, and can push far
Our destinies asunder, but not make
The difference of a soul betwixt two men,
Though one were clad in pomp of royalty,
And one in rags—the beggar has his feelings.

GARCIA.
Trust in my faith; he shall repair the wrong.

DURAZZO.
Repair he cannot, but he should repent it.

GARCIA.
I came to you on other business now,
Of greater moment than an old man's rage.
Alonzo is arrived, the King has named
This day to hear his accusation.

DURAZZO.
That's somewhat sudden.

GARCIA.
Somewhat startling too;
For, though the fact will speak full strongly of
Itself, the time allows not to provide,
By witness, confirmation of our cause,
Such as no doubt can tarnish.

DURAZZO.
I am grieved
To hear of this.

GARCIA.
There are some men, Durazzo,
Of upright mind, who, once assured of guilt,
As you and I can warrant of Alonzo's,
Would stretch a little in particulars,
To nerve, as 'twere, the arm of justice, lest
By accident it fail.

DURAZZO.
And you would have
The same precaution taken?

GARCIA.
Could I find
A person capable, and so disposed,
My wish is to make sure.

DURAZZO.
I hate Alonzo.
He is Benducar's friend.—I think him guilty,—
I know him proud.—He spurned my service once—
He stepped between me and my just revenge
So lately, that the flush is on my cheek
With which I saw protection save the hand
That smote me pale; therefore, I'm yours to think,
Contrive, and execute, whatever best
May cut off one, or both, or all together.

GARCIA.
But am I safe to trust you?

DURAZZO.
Trust not me:
No;—I lack station, which to honour lends
Its binding force; but trust my wrongs, my rage,
My curses; they are potent, and, where honour
Might pause, will stop for no impediment.
Revenge shall be my voucher; nay, the fault
And error of my birth, which cuts me off
From other credit, should obtain me this;
That as I had no pride or eminence
Above the worm, but in the form of man,
The blow, that hath debased that form, allies
And links it to revenge. There is no force
In words or bonds, in vows or oaths, to give
Assurance so complete as enmity
Breathing in silence.

GARCIA.
I accept the pledge,
And thus adopt you in my confidence.

DURAZZO.
Then hear me. In the battle fell a youth
Much noticed of Alonzo for his deeds:
My playmate when a child. He wrote to me
Upon his dying bed—no matter what—
Enough to know he wrote; and it is known
To all the camp beside. What if I bring
This witness from the grave to do the work
You think the living only can accomplish.

GARCIA.
Proceed—explain.

DURAZZO.
I know to imitate
His written style, as glass or water send
The features back, without a line neglected.
In such a sort I'll pen a grievous charge;
As if the gallant victim made complaint
Of treachery, and fix it on Alonzo.

GARCIA.
Do that—succeed in that, and name the wealth
That shall reward you.

DURAZZO.
Were the stock of Crœsus
Within your gift, it could not bribe me to
This desperate act. My longings are not sordid;
And, from the spring and upshot of my life,
To this my growing prime, I owe the world
Too much of ill to claim a balance on
Whatever wrong I render. Should you still
Persist in recompense, my terms are these,
None other. If my fortune be to fail,
Pursue me to the grave. I would not live;
'Twill look the more like innocence in you,
And will be real mercy. If I thrive,
Let not Alonzo suffer more than exile:
Give me the means to pay Benducar's blow:
Preserve my footsteps from the lonely ways
Neglect finds out to meet and mix with crime:
Afford me some condition in the state,
And ratify the peace 'twixt me and mankind.

GARCIA.
Whoe'er thou art, mysterious mortal, thy
Commands are sacred. But 'tis fit we part,
'Till in the Court, before the king, our project
Is put to test.

DURAZZO.
The sooner now the better.
[Exit Garcia.
Perez!

Enter Perez.
DURAZZO.
Set ink and paper in my chamber,
And see that none approach.

PEREZ.
Sir, I obey.
[Exit Perez.

DURAZZO.
In Court to plead, before the King, against
The greatest man o'the state! Hail thou first dawn
Of long benighted fortune, and shine forth
Without a cloud on thy meridian smile.
Now artifice be true to me. The task
I undertake is hazardous and foul,
But full of mighty purpose. Is it not
The way of greatness to select the means,
Not for their virtue, but their cogent use
In working changes? Kings ere now have waded
Through brothers' blood to empire: children have
Trod on the neck of parents in their march
To bright ambition. 'Tis not so with me:
I push but foes aside: make good my passage
Through crowds of scornful and injurious men,
No shock to nature or affection giving
In the condition of my enterprize.
Too long have I been humble. Now to prove
The inborn spark ascendant o'er the mass
Of vile obstruction: now to stand alone
Upon the age, and lift my fortunes up
Like mountains, when, in Heaven's high armoury,
They gird their loins with thunder, and usurp
The attribute of Gods!—To Court—to Court!
These weeds shall soon be doff'd for golden suits;
While the proud stature, and the lofty mien,
Instruct the world that I was born for greatness.

[Exit.