University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

An antechamber.
Enter Carlos and Friar by opposite sides.
Car.
Good morning, father! you are early here.
Whom come you to confess?

Friar.
I have already been with the poor prisoner.

Car.
And thou hast heard, no doubt, the horrid truth
Which he denies to every one besides?

Friar.
I've heard all he confesses.

Car.
Ay; what strange tales, what secret horrid things,
In thy long course of ghostly ministry,
Have in thine ear been pour'd! By this good hand,
But that I did prefer the jointed mail
And weapon's stroke to haircloth and the scourge,
The roar of battle to the chaunting choir,
I had become a friar, to learn, like thee,
All those dark mysteries of human nature,
To which thy mind is conscious.

Friar.
Gentle son!
Pardon my words; thou talkst in ignorance.
A tale of guilt, wrung from the sinner's soul,
Strikes not the fancy like a winter's tale
Of moonlight witchery, or murder done
I' th' secret chamber. No; a counter sympathy
Doth quell the fancy then. Thou speakst in ignorance.

Car.
True, father, this may be. With your permission
I will attend you to the gate.

Friar.
Not now.
I'm summon'd: Don Henriquez waits for me.

Car.
At the confessional?

Friar.
So I believe; I meet him in the chapel.

Car.
I am right glad of this. We marvell'd much
He did not sooner think of ghostly comfort.

Friar.
I have been summon'd by him once before;
But when I came, capricious in his sorrow,
He would not see me.

Car.
Speak comfort to him, and enjoin some penance
For the indulgence of such frantic grief;
So wayward, so excessive. May God bless thee!
[Exit friar.
Here comes our keen and fiery secretary.

Enter Balthazar.
Bal.
Ay; every cot and castle in the realm
At my command must open gate and hold,
Chamber and bower; e'en the sepulchral vault,
Whose sable scutcheon'd door hath not for years
Upon its hinges jarr'd, must be unlock'd,
And show its secrets to the searching light.
But as I learn you have secured the murderer,
I am content; here ends my brief commission.
I pray you lead me to the prison-house:
I burn to see the wretch.

Car.
Come, follow me

[Exeunt.