In speech and manners: never till this hour There's something in my breast, which makes me bold To say, that Norval ne'er will shame thy favour. Lady R. I will be sworn thou wilt not. Thou shalt be My knight; and ever, as thou didst to day, With happy valour guard the life of Randolph. Lord R. Well hast thou spoke. Let me forbid reply. [To NOKVAL. We are thy debtors still! Thy high desert O'ertops our gratitude. I must proceed, As was at first intended, to the camp. Some of my train, I see, are speeding hither, Impatient, doubtless, of their lord's delay. Go with me, Norval, and thine eyes shall see The chosen warriors of thy native land, Who languish for the fight, and beat the air With brandish'd swords. Nor. Let us be gone, my lord. 120 Lord R. [To Lady RANDOLPH.] About the time that the declining sun Shall his broad orbit o'er yon hills suspend, When danger to a soldier's soul endears [Exeunt RANDOLPH and NORVAL. Has Heaven annex'd to those swift-passing hours Of love and fondness. "Then my bosom's flame "Oft, as blown back by the rude breath of fear "Return'd, and with redoubled ardour blaz'd." 140 Anna. May gracious Heav'n pour the sweet balm of peace Into the wounds that fester in your breast! For earthly consolation cannot cure them. Lady R. One only cure can Heav'n itself bestow ;— A grave-that bed in which the weary rest. How blest the mother of yon gallant Norval! Anna. Alas! alas! why will you thus resume 60 Would for a while have won you from your woe. On him intent you gazed, with a look Much more delighted, than your pensive eye Has deign'd on other objects to bestow. Lady R. Delighted, say'st thou? Oh! even there mine eye Found fuel for my life-consuming sorrow; I thought, that had the son of Douglas liv'd, He might have been like this young gallant stranger, My boy with blooming Norval might have number'd. I will protect thee, said I to myself, With all my power, and grace with all my favour. Lady R. Glenalvon's false and crafty head will work Against a rival in his kinsman's love, If I deter him not; I only can. Bold as he is, Glenalvon will beware "Though now I seem to you shrunk up, retir'd “Within the narrow compass of my woe. "Have you not sometimes seen an early flower "Open its bud, and spread its silken leaves, "To catch sweet airs, and odours to bestow; "Then, by the keen blast nipt, pull in its leaves, "And, though still living, die to scent and beauty? “Emblem of me; affliction, like a storm, “ Hath kill'd the forward blossom of my heart.” Enter GLENALVON. 180 Glen. Where is my dearest kinsman, noble Randolph? Lady R. Have you not heard, Glenalvon, of the baseGlen. I have; and that the villains may not 'scape, With a strong band I have begirt the wood. If they lurk there, alive they shall be taken, And torture force from them th' important secret, Whether some foe of Randolph hir'd their swords, Or if Lady R. That care becomes a kinsman's love. I have a counsel for Glenalvon's ear. [Exit Anna. Glen. To him your counsels always are commands. Lady R. I have not found so; thou art known to me. Glen. Known! Lady R. And most certain is my cause of knowledge. Glen. What do you know? By the most blessed cross, You much amaze me. No created being, Yourself except, durst thus accost Glenalvon. merit Of thy pretended meekness? This to me, Would make thee nothing; or, what's worse than that, An outcast beggar, and unpitied too: For mortals shudder at a crime like thine. Glen. Thy virtue awes me. First of womankind! Permit me yet to say, that the fond man Whom love transports beyond strict virtue's bounds, In fortune ruin'd, as in mind forlorn, Lady R. Reserve these accents for some other ear. To love's apology I listen not. Mark thou my words; for it is meet thou shouldst. Perhaps his presence may not please thee well; And loosen the good root he has in Randolph; |