And rushes on thee-I intended vengeance More desperate and sweet;-but thou hast forced me To shed thy life too soon. [They fight. Enter FLORINDA, L. U. E., and rushes between them. Flor. Forbear! forbear! or in Florinda's blood Let fury quench her fires! Pes. Fool that I was! The sudden phrensy hurried me away- [Aloud.] A woman's bosom be thy shield-he 'scapes [Exit, L. Hem. He goes, and bears life with him; fall to ashes, Thou recreant hand, that did not pierce his heart! [Florinda stops Hemeya from going, L. Thou, too, Florinda, hast conspired against me— See what I am for thy sake! Flor. Oh, Hemeya! Speak as thou wilt, thou canst not take away Hem. Joy, Florinda ! Flor. On thee they would have cast the clodden earth— Hem. The earth was cast upon his reverend face? Hem. The populace? Flor. They would have scoffed at thee, too. Hem. Now, perhaps, From their infernal caverns they bring forth The glitt'ring engines of ingenious agony; The fires Flor. The fires were thine ;-his groans and tortures, Their engines and their racks,-all, all were thine; And I must have beheld it! Hem. Coward! slave! Thou traitor to thy people, with a lie Stuck quiv'ring in thy heart!-here, here I stand, [Falls. Flor. This is too much for any mortal creature! But, since I am doomed to more than human wo, Give me, just heaven, much more than human patience! Hemeya! dear as thou art cruel to me! I can bear all my sorrow; but to see thee Phrensied in agony-think every pang That breaks within thy heart must burst in mine. I'm not the very villain that you think me. Now, by my natal star in yonder heav'n, Flor. Speak-what wouldst thou do? Hem. Where are you, Moors?-it is Hemeya calls! Where are you? I would kindle in your souls The brave and fierce despair that rages here, Or, if you dread to follow me, alone I'll save or die with him! Flor. You shall not rush on death! Hem. The voice of heav'n cries out within my soul; A power invincible swells in my arm; Nothing can stay me now!-I'll save my friend; Hem. Ha, the cursed name That rakes up hell within me !-'tis Pescara- Hem. Show not that image Flor. When thou art gone, What will become of me! who then will hear Hem. What shall I do? Malec, can I desert thee?—and Florinda !- Hem. Thy husband! fall before the face of heaven, And bid it witness, that, whate'er befalls me— Flor. Behold me, then! before the face of heavenThat heaven that does not pity me, I swear, If I must choose between Pescara's love And death's eternal bed, I will prefer Death for my horrid bridegroom. Now, then, tell me, Am I to die for Heaven, if thou forsake me, Death only can preserve me. Hem. No! this arm, When I have done the deed, shall bear thee hence, Far from Grenada's towers. Hal. Already has the toll of death pealed out Its dreadful notice; ere the sun descend, In all the pomp of martyrdom he dies. Hem. Where are the Moors? where are my countrymen? Hal. Before the Inquisition's gate they stand, And say he should not perish, if their princeHem. Tell them he shall not perish!-from the pile Of blazing fires I'll tear him. Flor. Oh, Hemeya! [Draws his sword. I see the fate that wings thee to perdition. Flor. Throughout the world! I'll fasten to thy fate, I'll perish with thee. And see the deep descent that gapes beneath :- END OF ACT III. ACT IV. SCENE I.-A Street-Bell tolls, R.—. quisition. -Procession of the In. MALEC, GOMEZ, HEMEYA, HAMET, and HALY, in dis guise, U. E. Gom. Here pause, and give his feeble frame repose, Else, ere we gain the place of execution, His aged limbs will sink upon the earth. Mal. [Very weak.] Monks, have I reached your faggots? Gom. Scarce ten paces Divide thee from the bourne of earthly pain. If thou hast power, look forth, and hence behold The Villarambla, where ascends the pile, Upon whose burning top thou'rt doomed to die. Hal. Hold, my lord, Or you create suspicion-all bespeaks Around the pile of death. To lead him to the eastern gate; meanwhile Of safety, where I left her; then we mount Our Arab steeds, and speed us to the mountains. Gom. Fear shakes your frame-you seem to gaze ap- On yonder glittering scene, where all Grenada In laughing, horrid merriment! The mother Nay, some, perhaps, bear life within their bosoms, And this you call religion! but your faith, Peru shall be revenged, and Mexico Shall be revenged, and I shall be revenged. Gom. Perverse and hardened sinner, I intended, When here we paused, that thou shouldst give the Moors Example of repentance. Mal. Prithee, monk, Do not disturb me now; I am not worth it. Grant me one poor request In Gom. What wouldst thou ask? Mal. Tell me, where is my friend? Gom. I cannot tell thee. Mal. I thought he would not have abandoned me my last hour. When I am dead, perhaps― |