University of Virginia Library

SCENE I.

A Hall in the Ducal Palace.—Enter Ippolita.
Ipp.
It is scarce day-break; sure, they are not gone?
I heard but now the baying of the hounds
I' the hazy court-yard, and their keepers' voices,
With jar of chains and the shrill cry of hawks?
Giovanni has been closetted with the Duke—
I have not seen him since, nor have I slept;
But I will know the worst, whate'er it be.

Enter Giovanni, in a hunting dress.
Giov.
Ippolita!

Ipp.
Oh, I have passed a night
Of feverish thought!

Giov.
Then wherefore hast thou left
Thy couch, love! at this chill blue hour of dawn?

Ipp.
What said the Duke?—last night thy mother told me
Important matters quickened in her mind,
Touching thy future course: I could not trust
My heart to question her?

Giov.
Cosmo hath sought—

Ipp.
Sought what?

Giov.
When I return thou shalt learn all,—
But Garcia waits me now beyond the gates:
My word, thou know'st, is pass'd.

Ipp.
Tell me at once!
I can bear anything but such suspense.

Giov.
Then hear the wind sigh thro' this blighted tree,
Words that will blight thee too!

Ipp.
All is explained—
Cosmo hath chosen thee some noble bride!
That fate oft rent my pillow—and I feel it
With greater anguish than a sudden blow,
Which with a stunning mitigation falls.

Giov.
The daughter of the Emperor Ferdinand.

Ipp.
Thou'rt free to do their bidding. I will retire.

Giov.
No, no—Ippolita!

Ipp.
With thee I'll leave
My heart; and for the rest, which some call “woman,”
It shall be buried in fit solitude.

Giov.
That solitude I'll share, if that the Duke
Command obedience—but he'll not command
When I shall tell him of our sea-deep love.
Ambitious as he is, he hath a feeling
That's greater than ambition,—'tis his justice,
His magnanimity, his innate grandeur
Of soul! He shall know all.

Ipp.
'Tis then my part
To act with fortitude. Oh! Prince of Florence,
Receive the thanks of a devoted woman
For thy most generous love, thus proved sincere:
Forgive my courage—do not deem it coldness—
But the poor orphan whom thy father's bounty
Hath saved from ruin, ne'er will mar his hopes
By wedding with his son. Then fare thee well!—
And all the blessings—
[Exit Ippolita.

Giov.
Blessings on one who's cursed,
Alight but on a poisoned soil, and perish!
Yet shall the Duke know all; then will I prove
My best obedience, acting as he deems right.
My father is in all things great: his nature
Owns a vast soul of beauty, grace and power,
That, like the archangel's breath, might cover earth,
And give man's blood a purer atmosphere.

[Exit.