She was not wont with ling'ring step to meet me, Or greet my coming with a cold embrace; O they were happy days, when she would fly Raby. What do I hear? Dou. Nothing inquire no farther. Raby. My lord, if you respect an old man's peace, If e'er you doted on my much-lov'd child, When you, like me, shall be a fond, fond father, And tremble for the treasure of your age, Your lab'ring soul turns inward on itself, Deserv'd regard. Does my child live? Raby. To bless her father! Dou. And to curse her husband! Raby. Ah! have a care, my lord, I'm not so old Dou. Nor 1 so base, that I should tamely bear it ; Nor am I so inur'd to infamy, That I can say, without a burning blush, Raby. How's this? Don. I thought The lily opening to the heaven's soft dews, I know that Slander loves a lofty mark: Dou. Had the rash tongue of Slander so My vengeance had not been of that slow sort Dou. But Douglas. Raby. [Puts his hand to his sword.] You ?— spare my age's weakness You do not know what 'tis to be a father; You do not know, or you would pity me, The thousand tender throbs, the nameless feelings, The dread to ask, and yet the wish to know, Dou. Percy;-know'st thou that name? Dou. He loves Elwina, and, my curses on He is belov'd again. [him! Raby. I'm on the rack! Dou. Not the two Theban brothers bore each other Such deep, such deadly hate as I and Percy. Raby. But tell me of my child. Dou. [Not minding him.] As I and Percy! When at the marriage rites, O rites accurs'd! I seiz'd her trembling hand, she started back, Cold horror thrill'd her veins, her tears flow'd fast. Fool that I was, I thought 'twas maiden fear; graces, me. Just at the hour she thought I should be ab(For chance could ne'er have tim'd their guilt so well,) [knights, Arriv'd young Harcourt, one of Percy's Strictly enjoin'd to speak to none but her; I seiz'd the miscreant: hitherto he's silent, But tortures soon shall force him to confess! Raby. Percy is absent-They have never met. Dou. At what a feeble hold you grasp for succour! Will it content me that her person's pure? Dou. Be a tame convenient husband, [Going. Raby. [Holding him.] Douglas, hear me; Thou hast nam'd a Roman husband; if she's false, I mean to prove myself a Roman father. [Erit DOUGLAS. This marriage was my work, and thus I'm punish'd! Enter ELWINA. [him, Elw. Where is my father? let me fly to meet O let me clasp his venerable knees, And die of joy in his belov'd embrace! Raby. [Avoiding her embrace.] Elwina! Elw. And is that all? so cold? Raby. [Sternly.] Elwina! Elw. Then I'm undone indeed! How stern his looks! I will not be repuls'd, I am your child, thee in these aged arms, 522 All selfish cares be for a moment banish'd; Does no interior sense of guilt confound thee? | All private interests sink at his approach; Art thou prepar'd to meet the rigid Judge? Raby. Should some rash man, regardless of thy fame, And in defiance of thy marriage vows, Elw. What honour bids me do. Raby. Come to my arms! Enter SIR HUBERT. Raby. Welcome, thou gallant knight! Sir Raby. Bless'd be the God of armies! Now, [They embrace. By all the saints, thou'rt a right noble knight Thou art my child-thy mother's perfect image. Raby. But if any Should so presume, canst thou resolve to hate Ruby. Dost thou falter? Have a care, El- Elw. Sir, do not fear me: am I not your daughter? [honour; Raby. Thou hast a higher claim upon thy Has he presum'd to sully my white fame? Elw. Was my destin'd husband; me truth. Elw. If he has told thee, that thy only child Then I confess that he has told the truth. Raby. Her words are barbed arrows in my But 'tis too late. [Aside.] Thou hast appoint- moment That Harcourt was return'd. Was it for this Was it for this I bore my wrongs in silence? plaints? Did I reproach thee? Did I call thee cruel? Enter MESSENGER. Mess. My lord, a knight, Sir Hubert as I But newly landed from the holy wars, Raby. Let the warrior enter. That glows not now, thou art not Raby's If there's a drop in thy degenerate veins daughter. It is religion's cause, the cause of Heaven! And wears the sanctimonious garb of faith Raby. Blaspheming girl! Elw. "Tis not the crosier, nor the pontiff's sees The motive with the act. O blind, to think No more, I charge thee.-Tell me, good Sir [Aside. Elw. Now, Heaven support me! pale. Elw. Why should I tremble thus? [Aside Sir H. The noble Clifford, Walsingham, and Grey, Sir Harry Hastings, and the valiant Pembroke, Raby. O that my name Had been enroll'd in such a list of heroes! I might have prov'd my love by dying for her. Sir H. But few of noble blood. But the brave youth who gain'd the palm of glory, [Exit MESSENGER. Who bore his banner foremost in the field, Yet conquer'd more by mercy than the sword, | Yes, thou most lovely, most ador'd of women, Elw. Then he lives! Ruby. Did he? Did Percy? [Aside. O gallant boy, then I'm thy foe no more; Who conquers for my country is my friend! His fame shall add new glories to a house, Where never maid was false, nor knight disloyal. Sir H. You do embalm him, lady, with your tears: They grace the grave of glory where he liesHe died the death of honour. Elw. Said'st thou-died? ACT III. [Exit. SCENE I.-A Garden at Raby Castle, with a Bower. Enter PERCY and SIR HUBERT. Sir H. That Percy lives, and is return'd in safety, [quests More joys my soul than all the mighty con Sir H. Beneath the towers of Solyma he fell. That sun beheld, which rose on Syria's ruin. Elw. Oh! Raby. Retire awhile, my daughter. My father and my husband?-O for pity- Before my face to call upon my foe! [thee Dou. I live again.—But holdDid she not weep? she did, and wept for Percy. If she laments him, he's my rival still, And not the grave can bury my resentment. Raby. The truly brave are still the truly gen'rous. Now, Douglas, is the time to prove thee both. If it be true that she did once love Percy, Thou hast no more to fear, since he is dead. Release young Harcourt, let him see Elwina, "Twill serve a double purpose, 'twill at once Prove Percy's death, and thy unchang'd affec.tion. Be gentle to my child, and win her heart Go set him free, and let him have admittance Raby. Farewell, Douglas. Show thou believ'st her faithful, and she'll prove so. [Exit. Dou. Northumberland is dead-that thought is peace! Her heart may yet be mine, transporting hope! Percy was gentle, even a foe avows it, And I'll be milder than a summer's breeze. Per. I've told thee, good Sir Hubert, by what wonder [slain. I was preserv'd, though number'd with the Sir H. 'Twas strange, indeed! Per. "Twas Heaven's immediate work! But let me now indulge a dearer joy, Talk of a richer gift of Mercy's hand; A gift so precious to my doting heart, That life preserv'd is but a second blessing. O Hubert, let my soul indulge its softness! The hour, the spot, is sacred to Elwina. This was her fav'rite walk; I well remember, (For who forgets that loves as I have lov'd?) 'Twas in that very bower she gave this scarf, Wrought by the hand of love! she bound it on, And, smiling, cried, Whate'er befall us, Percy, Be this the sacred pledge of faith between us. I knelt, and swore, call'd every power to witness, No time, nor circumstance, should force it from me, But I would lose my life and that togetherHere I repeat my vow. Sir H. Is this the man Beneath whose single arm a host was crush'd? How has he chang'd the trumpet's martial note, Sir H. I should not be believ'd in Percy's How look'd, what said she? Did she hear the Disclose its bashful beauties to the sun, ness; So droop'd the maid beneath the cruel weight Of my sad tale. Per. So tender and so true! Sir H. I left her fainting in her father's arms, The dying flower yet hanging on the tree. Per. Then J am bless'd! His hate subdued, I've nothing more to fear. Sir H. My embassy dispatch'd, I left the castle, Nor spoke to any of Lord Raby's household, For fear the king should chide the tardiness Of my return. My joy to find you living You have already heard. Per. But where is Harcourt? Ere this he should have seen her, told her all, Per. O she is truth itself! Sir H. She may be chang'd, Spite of her tears, her fainting, and alarms. I know the sex, know them as nature made 'em, Not such as lovers wish, and poets feign. Per. To doubt her virtue were suspecting 'Twere little less than infidelity! [Heaven, And yet I tremble. Why does terror shake These firm-strung nerves? But 'twill be ever thus, When fate prepares us more than mortal bliss, And gives us only human strength to bear it. Sir H. What beam of brightness breaks through yonder gloom? Per. Hubert-she comes! by all my hopes, she comes "Tis she-the blissful vision is Elwina! But ah! what mean those tears?-She weeps for me! O transport!-go.-I'll listen unobserv'd, And for a moment taste the precious joy, The banquet of a tear which falls for love. [Exit SIR HUBERT, PERCY goes into the bower. Enter ELWINA. Shall I not weep? and have I then no cause? Elw. It is his voice-it is, it is my Percy! Per. I never liv'd till now. El. And did my sighs, and did my sorrows reach thee? And art thou come at last to dry my tears? How did'st thou 'scape the fury of the foe? Per. Thy guardian genius hover'd o'er the field, [breast, And turn'd the hostile spear from Percy's Lest thy fair image should be wounded there. But Harcourt should have told thee all my How I surviv'd[fate, Elw. Alas! I have not seen him. Oh! I have suffer'd much. Per. Of that no more; For every minute of our future lives Shall be so bless'd, that we will learn to wonder How we could ever think we were unhappy. El. Percy-I cannot speak. Per. Those tears how eloquent! I would not change this motionless, mute joy, nothing, Not giving thee; or, granting some small blessDenies them my capacity to feel it. Elw. Alas! what mean you? Per. Can I speak my meaning? "Tis of such magnitude that words would wrong it; But surely my Elwina's faithful bosom Per. Let the slow form, and tedious ceremony, Wait on the splendid victims of ambition. He will forget the fatal Cheviot chace; Elw. O never, never, never! Per. Am I awake? Is that Elwina's voice? Elw. Percy, thou most ador'd, and most de If ever fortitude sustain'd thy soul, [ceiv'd! When vulgar minds have sunk beneath the Elw. Percy, I think I begg'd thee not to curse me; But now I do revoke the fond petition. Speak! ease thy bursting soul; reproach, upbraid, [all. O'erwhelm me with thy wrongs- -I'll bear it Per. Open, thou earth, and hide me from her sight! Did'st thou not bid me curse thee? Elw. Mercy! mercy! Per. And have I 'scaped the Saracen's fell Only to perish by Elwina's guilt? [sword I would have bared my bosom to the foe, [it. I would have died, had I but known you wish'd Elw. Percy, I lov'd thee most when most I wrong'd thee; Yes, by these tears I did. Go, seek the haughty Scot, and tell him-noMarried! to whom? Yet wherefore should I Conduct me to his presence. Per. Married! just Heaven! know? It cannot add fresh horrors to thy crime, Elw. Oh! 'twill add to both. [dreadful. How shall I tell? Prepare for something Hast thou not heard of-Douglas? Per. Why 'tis well! [me? Thou awful Power, why waste thy wrath on Why arm omnipotence to crush a worm? I could have fallen without this waste of ruin. Married to Douglas! By my wrongs, I like it; "Tis perfidy complete, 'tis finish'd falsehood, "Tis adding fresh perdition to the sin, And filling up the measure of offence! Elw. Oh! 'twas my father's deed! he made his child An instrument of vengeance on thy head. He wept and threaten'd, sooth'd me, and commanded. Per. And you complied, most duteously complied! Elw. I could withstand his fury; but his Ah, they undid me! Percy dost thou know Hast thou e'er felt a father's warm embrace? If thou hast felt, and hast resisted these, [not, As dying martyrs hate the righteous cause [They look at each other with silent agony. Enter HARCOURT. Har. Forgive, my lord, your faithful knight [Percy. Per. Come, Harcourt, Come, and behold the wretch who once was Har. With grief I've learn'd the whole unhappy tale. Earl Douglas, whose suspicion never sleepsPer. What, is the tyrant jealous? Elw. Hear him, Percy. Per. I will command my rage-Go on. Knew, by my arms and my accoutrements, Elw. How came you now releas'd? [TO PERCY.] Sir, you had best retire; I fear should Douglas know- Elw. Percy, hold; Think not 'tis Douglas-'tis Per. I know it well Thou mean'st to tell me 'tis Elwina's husband; Elw. Percy, hear me. When I was robb'd of all my peace of mind, And rob this single gem of all its brightness. Elw. What noise is that? [HARCOURT goes to the side of the stage. The cowardice and terrors of the wicked, Har. My lord, 'tis Douglas. Elw. Fly, Percy, and for ever! Elw. Then stay, barbarian, and at once [destroy Per. That thought is death. Igo: My honour to thy dearer honour yields. Elw. Yet, yet thou art not gone! Per. Farewell, farewell! [Exit PERCY. Elw. I dare not meet the searching eye of [Douglas. I must conceal my terrors. DOUGLAS at the side with his sword drawn, Dou. Give me way. Dou. [Struggling with EDRIC.] If there were no hell, It would defraud my vengeance of its edge, And she should live. [Breaks from EDRIC and comes forward. Cursed chance! he is not here. Elw. [Going.] I dare not meet his fury. Dou. See she flies With every mark of guilt.-Go, search the bower, [Aside to EDRIC. He shall not thus escape. Madam, return. [Aloud. [Aside Now, honest Douglas, learn of her to feign. Alone, Elwina? who had just parted Fence? [With affected composure. Elw. My lord, 'twas Harcourt; sure you must have met him. Dou. O exquisite dissembler! [Aside.] No one else! |