 | The Rightful Heir |  |
Scene 2.
St. Kinian's Cliff. The ship on the sea. Wrecklyffe standing in the shadow of a broken rock.Enter Lord Beaufort.
Lord B.
And still not here! The hour has long since passed.
I'll climb yon tallest peak, and strain mine eyes
Down the sole path between the cliff and ocean.
[Exit Lord Beaufort.
Wreck.
(advancing).
The boors first grinned, then paled, and crept away;
The tavern-keeper slunk, and muttered “Hangdog!”
And the she-drudge whose rough hand served the drink,
Stifled her shriek, and let the tankard fall!
It was not so in the old merry days:
Then the scarred hangdog was “fair gentleman.”
And—but the reckoning waits. Why tarries he?
[Signal gun from the ship.
A signal! Ha!
Vyv.
(without).
I come! I come!
Wreck.
(grasping his knife, but receding as he sees Beaufort, who appears above).
Hot lordling!
I had well nigh forestalled thee. Patience!
[Creeps under the shadow of the rock, and thence steals out of sight in the background.
Enter Lord Beaufort.
Lord B.
Good!
From crag to crag he bounds—my doubts belied him;
His haste is eager as my own.
Enter Vyvyan.
Sir, welcome.
Vyv.
Stay me not, stay me not! Thou hast all else
But honour—rob me not of that! Unhand me!
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Unhand thee? yes—to take thy ground and draw.
Vyv.
Thou know'st not what thou sayest. Let me go!
Lord B.
Thyself didst name the place and hour:
Vyv.
For here
I thought to clasp— (aside)
I have no brother now!
Lord B.
He thought to clasp his Eveline. Death and madness!
Vyv.
Eveline! Thou lov'st not Eveline. Be consoled.
Thou hast not known affliction—hast not stood
Without the porch of the sweet home of men;
Thou hast leaned upon no reed that pierced the heart;
Thou hast not known what it is, when in the desert
The hopeless find the fountain: happy boy,
Thou hast not loved. Leave love to man and sorrow!
Lord B.
Dost thou presume upon my years? Dull scoffer!
The brave is man betimes—the coward never.
Boy if I be, my playmates have been veterans;
My toy a sword, and my first lesson valour.
And, had I taken challenge as thou hast,
And on the ground replied to bold defiance
With random words implying dastard taunts,
With folded arms, pale lip, and haggard brow,
I'd never live to call myself a man.
Thus says the boy, since manhood is so sluggard,
Soldier and captain. Do not let me strike thee!
Vyv.
Do it,—and tell thy mother, when thy hand
Outraged my cheek, I pardoned thee, and pitied.
Lord B.
Measureless insult! Pitied!
[Second gun.
Vyv.
There, again!
And still so far! Out of my path, insane one!
Were there nought else, thy youth, thy mother's love
Should make thee sacred to a warrior's arm—
Out of my path. Thus, then (suddenly lifts, and puts him aside)
Oh, England—England!
Do not reject me too!—I come! I come!
[Exit up the cliff.
Lord B.
Thrust from his pathway—every vein runs fire!
Thou shalt not thus escape me—Stand or die! (rushes after him.)
[Vyvyan retreats to the edge of the cliff, and grasps for support at the bough of a tree.
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Forbear, forbear!
Lord B.
Thy blood on thine own head!
[Third gun.
[As Beaufort lifts his sword and strikes, Vyvyan retreats —the bough breaks, and Vyvyan falls down the precipice.
Wreck.
(who has followed part of the way, peering down the precipice)
—Is the deed done? If not, this steel completes it.
[Descends the cliff, and disappears.
[Lord Beaufort sinks on his knee in horror. The ship sails on as the scene closes slowly.
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