University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

A terrace running along the foundation of the Castle, high above the Rhine. Baroness Weilenberg, supported by Ellen and Ursula.
BARONESS.
Now we may spare thee, Ursula; wait within,
And bring us Barbara when we call. She is
A careless nurse, halving her task unfairly.
[Exit Ursula.
Thou, child, canst prop me to the nearest bench.
Stay, let us rest us here awhile.

ELLEN.
Take breath—
The air is yet too sultry.

BARONESS.
Some stray breeze
Will soon be here, if any where.

ELLEN.
The boats
Have dropped their sails for want of one—look down!

BARONESS.
The depth would make me giddy, child. I feel,
Or fancy that I feel the river's freshness,
Even here so high.

ELLEN.
My mother scarce had strength
For such a journey, with so little help,
A month, or more ago.

BARONESS.
It is her last.
She will not stray so far as this again.
Fie, babe! what, tears! We must be resolute,
Or else be gone.

ELLEN.
That seat is still your favorite.

BARONESS.
I longed to visit it again. The sick
Feed petty wishes till grown great. Nay, some
Not sick have dainty spirits which loathe the hard
But wholesome aliment of daily life.
Here have I nursed thee, Ellen—have played with thee,
And taught the little that I knew. There needs
No promise to return when I am gone.
The places that we love have tongues and voices
Which speak of those loved in them. Look—I grieve thee!
But yet it is to warn and do thee good.
Trouble disperses as my time grows less:
One thought alone disturbs me.

ELLEN.
Tell it me.

BARONESS.
Beshrew my blushes—for I scarce know how!
They have been shameful hindrances too long.

ELLEN.
A secret, is it?

BARONESS.
Ay, child, yours—not mine.
Both need not feel thus maidenly. This guest—
This princely guest of ours—treads hard on sufferance.
I would make duty easier, if I could.
Thou and thy father do not judge alike:
His thoughts and mine agree. We both dare trust thee:
Yet fancy young as thine may wreath its flowers
To crown a tyrant with them unawares.
Such airy gallantries, with love to help,
May task obedience heavily, not vainly.

ELLEN.
I have no judgment to contend with either:
Nor shall I have.

BARONESS.
None else can love so much,
Nor half so holily, as he and I.
Stern as this Father seems, and is, indeed,
Thou hast been sometimes blessed beyond thy knowledge,
His pride and plaything—nay, I do thee wrong—
A gracious ministress to both of us,
Thy steps were on the rainbow bringing peace.
But now a child no more, the task is harder:
Beware reproachful tears, and looks like dread!
They hint at tyranny. The loftier spirits
Range not with ours: pride stirred by self-reproach
Augments injustice: consciousness of wrong,
Revenging what it suffers, strikes again
The wronged, whose silence plagues it. Even in love
'Tis easier to forgive than be forgiven.
Because we loved, we both have been unhappy.

ELLEN.
Pray God forbear me if I sometimes lost
Such reverence for him when I saw your tears!
Nor thought how much he suffered too.

BARONESS.
He most!
The impatient fret at their own fretfulness.
In just proportion as he bruised its peace,
He grew distrustful of my love.

ELLEN.
If so,
What will become of me?

BARONESS.
As God shall please!
It is to Him I give and leave thee, babe.

ELLEN.
My mother must be happy.

BARONESS.
I am so now.
There may be promises we know not of,
Till life has almost left us; and a time
When sickliest breathings may suffice to turn
The everlasting gate upon its hinge,
And show those mansions which we seek within.

ELLEN.
Do you believe in this?

BARONESS.
Now, faithfully.

ELLEN.
And did not always? But we speak too much.

BARONESS.
Then peace a moment! Look beneath the sun.

ELLEN.
How steadily your sight endures his rays,
While mine, though strong, is dazzled!

BARONESS.
Canst discern
A tree stand singly?

ELLEN.
With a tower beyond it?
I never noticed either there before.

BARONESS.
Nor I but once.

ELLEN.
It has been sport to count
The towers and mountains which we see from hence:
Few ever found their number twice the same.
That which we mark is small, and far away.
My mother, are those tears again?

BARONESS.
Mouse, mouse—
She is a child again, so bear with her!
When thou hadst yet scarce words enough for comfort,
Thy mother came to kneel where we rest now,
And pray for patience with an end like this.
She asked to see thee what thou art. The Rhine
Ran down between his purple hills as red—
There was the same light over them. The sun
Descended as I ceased: the tower and tree
Before his radiance stood as they stand now.
Why should I care for this? Though undiscerned,
They and the mountains do not change their place!
They have been always there:—but welcome folly,
Which makes remembrance thankful!

ELLEN.
There is more—
Ask Ursula why I say so. Neither yet
Has ever seen my mother's eye so clear:
The voice is what it used to be: she woke
With smiles, and has been happy all day long.

BARONESS.
I have been—both judged rightly—now I am
Even happier still. To tell thee why I was so
I brought thee here. Joy gave me strength: there is
Enough beside this sunset. If I see
His rays no more, he leaves the best farewell.
My wealth has made me prodigal—and the tongue
Tires ere its tale begins—remind me of it.
I shall sleep well again through weariness.
Come, let us try to walk without these girls.

[Exeunt.