Borgia A Period Play |
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 | Borgia |  |
SCENE I
An apartment of the Vatican: at the further end the door of the Treasury by which the Lord Cardinal Casanova is seated.The Lord Alexander VI. and an Envoy from Naples.
The Pope is seated; from time to time he plunges his hands into a coffer of pearls, letting the pearls stream through his fingers.
ALEXANDER.
All are for her! Each an epitome
Of her—the very skin of them her own,
Our Pearl above all others. So your monarch
Will mate his nephew with her?
ENVOY.
He consents, Holiness,
Having o'erlooked the letter
Giovanni, lord of Pesaro, has written
In affirmation of her virgin state—
The fault being his.
ALEXANDER.
This sorry Milanese!
He raves with spite and proves himself a man
By foul detraction of her family.
We chuckle at the weakling. He may hoot!
Your Don Alfonso is a noble lad,
A girl's new phœnix ....
2
To give his only daughter to my son?
ENVOY.
A cardinal!
ALEXANDER.
A cardinal, we cannot yet release him
From vows—your ear!—he holds detestable.
My second son, where were his livelihood
Without the Church's revenue? All prudence
Must hold him to the priesthood for a while.
Betroth him to the daughter of your king—
Your king and I, at leisure, will provide
Some principality for Cesare
To match his sees and yielded cardinalate.
ENVOY.
Make it God's law your Cardinal may wed,
And then, his scarlet hat within his hand,
My lord the king would take him as a son.
Now, the proposals of your Holiness
Are but—poetic.
ALEXANDER.
No, no! The royal princess
Carlotta—is her bent our way?
ENVOY.
She flat refuses the lord Cardinal.
ALEXANDER.
She has not seen him, blond and beautiful.
A churchman! You may look with candlelight
To find his tonsure. Even my dear Giovanni
Is only half a prince, his brother by,
Although a rare one in his splendid right.
And as for mode and elegance all know
Our youthful Cardinal is just a gallant
Most Frenchified in form.
Well, well, well! I am dreaming:
Poetry, you call my dreams ....
This pleasant marriage
Of Don Alfonso and my Donna Lucrece
3
My pearls!—
You watch them through my fingers—lucent lumps;
This pear-shaped ovule heavy with its light;
The pearls and pearlets dropping
With patters loud and soft together—listen!
My daughter will have more and lovelier pearls
Than any woman in the greedy world.
Would you have sight of one large coffer filled,
This emulates?
[Rising].
There is the treasury door,
There the Lord Casanova, full of winks
At voices from the cave.
Enter Monsignore Gaspare Poto.
POTO.
Your Holiness,
I sought his Excellence the Duke Giovanni
In his apartments, but he is not there.
ALEXANDER.
[To the Envoy.]
So strange! My son the Duke of Gandia, fails me
To-day with greeting, and to-day we fix
The hour when I review his armaments
Under our blessèd gonfalon. 'Tis strange.
[To Poto.]
Go to Madonna de' Catanei's house:
His mother made a supper, I was told,
For him and for his brother.
[Exit Poto.
[To the Envoy.]
You conduct
Don Cesare when, next month, as our Legate,
He goes to crown your king?
ENVOY.
My hope!
ALEXANDER.
And now the pearls!
Open, Lord Casanova.
[The treasurer unfolds the door and discovers Donna Giulia Farnese and Donna Lucrezia Borgia in Neapolitan dressing-gowns of white silk, their golden hair untressed, choosing jewels for their nets.
4
Laugh, ladies—do not blush. A pair of swans!
[Taking Giulia's wrist.]
No, no, Madonna—no,
My Giulia—not the ruby! You must match
Your lovely eyelets with the diamond.
GIULIA.
Always
The diamond, Holiness.
ALEXANDER.
You shine, you shine!
Lucrece, my softer radiance—what, my Pearl?
[He kisses her.
Draw out the heavy coffer,
Lord Casanova. Open it! The sight
Grows slippery on these burnished domes!
There, there—ah, there
Is patrimony ....
ENVOY.
Wondrous!
ALEXANDER.
Tell your master.
[His arm round his daughter.]
Lucrece, the King of Naples sends his nephew
To cheer your maiden widowhood. Next month
You will be bride and wife.
LUCREZIA.
So soon!
ALEXANDER.
Santi! she quarrels
In maidenwise with time! You shall not leave me,
As when you wept at Pesaro. Your Prince
Consents! Alfonso is of lusty frame—
Good face and eyes .... I speak him as he is?
ENVOY.
The handsomest youth of Naples.
5
There, my girl!
So end your troubles! 'Tis a swelling shoot,—
This bridegroom.
LUCREZIA.
May Madonna prosper me!
ALEXANDER.
[Crossing himself.]
The glorious Virgin—to that prayer, Amen!
[To the Envoy.]
Our daughter bent obedient to our will
Her idle marriage should be set aside,
By mercy flawless and canonical,
With modesty's reluctance: she will bless
Our older wisdom in Alfonso's arms.
No clouding, Pearl!
We can but laugh exultantly to open
Our treasury and find, as in a case,
Two perfect jewels of Pandora's kind.
LUCREZIA.
[In a whisper to the Pope.]
The orator will disesteem me thus,
In spreading hair and schiavonetto.
ALEXANDER.
Never
Will any man but worship loveliness
Wrapt loosely and dishevelled.
Charm, my fair ones, charm
Is simple in ascendency.
Re-enter Monsignore Gaspare Poto.
POTO.
Madonna
Vanozza de' Catanei bids me say
His Excellence the Duke of Gandia left her
At nightfall, riding with Don Cesare,
After a merry supper. Shall we search, Holiness,
His lordship's haunts?
6
O Poto, Poto, search
His haunts! The malice of these chamberlains!
Madonna Giulia, Monsignore Poto
Would search the place where Don Giovanni hides.
Have mercy on my son!
GIULIA.
Monsignore finds
Your Holiness so jovial he is conquered
By the same vein.
LUCREZIA.
Excuse him!
ALEXANDER.
Even our ladies, Poto,
Plead for the Duke's seclusion. Without doubt
He waits for sundown to forsake the place
Where he was sociable.
LUCREZIA.
Then is Giovanni
So wary in his fancies?
ALEXANDER.
Oh, for my sake—
But you forget it—for his father's sake . . .
To-night he will be with us—we have patience:
Though not to fix when we review his troops,
That is a fault and we must chide our Captain.
Well, my Lord Casanova, close
Your treasury: we would not lose such jewels!
| Borgia | |