Affection to revolt? King. I thank thee, friend. There's reason in thy doubt, and I am warned.But think'st thou that my daughter saw this Moor? Gons. If Osmyn be, as Zara has related, Alphonso's friend, 'tis not impossible But she might wish, on his account, to see him. King. Say'st thou? By Heaven, thou hast roused a thought, That, like a sudden earthquake, shakes my frame. Confusion! then my daughter's an accomplice, And plots in private with this hellish Moor. Gons. That were too hard a thought see, she comes- -but 'Twere not amiss to question her a little, Enter ALMERIA and LEONORA. With damned conspirators, to take my life. Alm. O earth, behold, I kneel upon thy bosoin, King. Rise, I command thee, rise-and if thou wouldst Acquit thyself of these detested names, King. Vile equivocating wretch! With innocence! Oh, patience! hear-she owns it! Confesses it! By heaven, I'll have him racked, King. Your coming has prevented me, Al- Torn, mangled, flayed, impaled-all pains and meria; I had determined to have sent for you. [Leonora retires. To talk with you. Come near; why dost thou shake? What mean those swollen and red-flecked eyes, that look As they had wept in blood, and worn the night In waking anguish? Why this on the day Which was designed to celebrate thy nuptials; But that the beams of light are to be stained With reeking gore, from traitors on the rack? Wherefore I have deferred the marriage-rites; Nor shall the guilty horrors of the day Prophane that jubilee. Alm. All days to ine tortures That wit of man, or dire revenge, can think, Alm. Oh, I am lost.-There fate begins to wound. King. Hear me, then; if thou canst reply; know, traitress, I'm not to learn that cursed Alphonso lives; Alm. Then all is ended, and we both must die. King. Hell, hell! Do I hear this, and yet en dure! What! darest thou to my face avow thy guilt? Hence, ere I curse-fly my just rage with speed; Lest I forget us both, and spurn thee from me. Alm. And yet a father! Think, I am your child! Cursed my own tongue, that could not move his pity; Cursed these weak hands, that could not hold him here! For he is gone, to doom Alphonso's death. Gons. Your too excessive grief works on your fancy, And deludes your sense. Alphonso, if living, Turn not your eyes away-look on me kneeling; For, on my soul, he dies, though thou and I, I will not go 'till you have spared my husband! What husband! which? Who? Alm. He, he is my husband. King. Poison and daggers! Who? Gons. Help! support her. Husband! [Faints. Alm. Let me go, let me fall, sink deep—I will I will dig a grave, and tear up death; I will; hus But doubly thou, who couldst alone have policy Alm. Why dost thou start? What dost thou see Was it the doleful bell, tolling for death? Gasping as it would speak; and after, see, ger: I will catch it-Hark! a voice cries murder! ah! [Exeunt Almeria and Leonora. Gons. She is greatly grieved; nor am I less surprized. Osmyn Alphonso! No; she over-rates Nor now had known it, but from her mistake. To grace the line of my posterity? Enter ALONZO. Alon. The king expects your lordship. I am not in the way at present, good Alonzo. Gons. Do, my best Alonzo. Yet stay, I would-but go; anon will serve- I think thou wouldst not stop to do me service. Gons. Say thou art my friend. I have seen thy sword do noble execution. Alon. All that it can, your lordship shall command. Gons. Thanks; and I take thee at thy word. Thou hast seen, Amongst the followers of the captive queen, Dumb men, who make their meaning known by Almeria widowed, yet again may wed; And I yet fix the crown on Garcia's head, [Exit. ACT V. SCENE I-A Room of State. Enter KING, PEREZ, and ALONZO. King. Not to be found! in an ill hour he is absent. None, say you? none! What, not the favourite eunuch? Nor she herself, nor any of her mutes, Have yet required admittance? Per. None, my lord. King. Is Osmyn so disposed, as I commanded? Per. Fast bound in double chains, and at full length, He lies supine on earth; with as much ease Entering, he met my eyes, and, starting back, Alon. Soon as I seized the man, He snatched from out his bosom this-and strove, With rash and greedy haste, at once, to cram The morsel down his throat. I caught his arm, And hardly wrenched his hand to bring it from him; Which done, he drew a poinard from his side, And, on the instant, plunged it in his breast. King. Remove the body thence, ere Zara see it. Alon. I will be so bold to borrow his attire; 'Twill quit me of my promise to Gonsalez. [Aside. Exit. Per. Whate'er it is, the king's complexion turns. King. How is this? My mortal foe beneath my roof! [Having read the letter. VOL. I. Oh, give me patience, all ye powers! No, rather Per. My lord, King. Hence, slave! how darest thou bide to watch, and pry Into how poor a thing a king descends? all Rank traitors! thou art with the rest combined: Thou art accomplice too with Zara; here That somewhere is repeated- I have power O'er them that are thy guards'-Mark that, thou traitor. Per. It was your majesty's command I should Obey her order. King. [Reading.] And still will I set Thee free, Alphonso-Hell! cursed, cursed, Alphonso! False and perfidious Zara! Strumpet daughter! Hark thee, villain, traitor-answer me, slave! King. 'Tis well-that when she comes to set him free, His teeth may grin, and mock at her remorse. [Perez going. Stay thee I have farther thought-I will add to this, And give her eyes yet greater disappointment: I will be conducted thither-mark me well- But see, she comes. I will shun the encounter; Enter ZARA and SELIM. Zara. The mute not yet returned! ha! it was the king, The king that parted hence! frowning he went; Sel. Yes: but then, as if he thought Thy shallow artifice begets suspicion, mischief! Thou, like the adder, venomous and deaf, Sel. Avert it, Heaven, that you should ever suffer But to be punished and forgiven. Here, strike; I bare my breast, to meet your just revenge. Zara. I have not leisure now to take so poor Yes, Osmyn, yes; be Osmyn or Alphonso, Thou shalt partake. Since fates no more afford; [Exeunt. SCENE II-Opening, shews the Prison. Enter GONSALEZ disguised like a Mute, with a dagger. Gon. Nor centinel, nor guard! the doors unbarred! And all as still, as at the noon of night! Sure death already has been busy here. There lies my way; that door, too, is unlocked. [Looking in. Ha! sure he sleeps-all is dark within, save what A lamp, that feebly lifts a sickly flame, By fits reveals his face seems turned, to favour The attempt: I'll steal and do it unperceived. What noise! somebody coming! is it Alonzo? Nobody. Sure he'll wait without-I would 'Twere done-I'll crawl, and sting him to the heart, Then cast my skin, and leave it there to answer it. [Goes in. Enter GARCIA and ALONZO. Gar. Where, where, Alonzo, where's my fa- The king? Confusion! all is on the rout! Of these your rash, and ill-timed exclamations. Gar. The eastern gate is to the foe betrayed, Who, but for heaps of slain that choak the pas sage, Had entered, long ere now, and borne down all The Moor, is dead. That Osmyn was Alphonso; Pronounced aloud by Perez for Alphonso. Gons. Enter that chamber, and convince your eyes, How much report has wronged your easy faith. [Garcia goes in. Alon. My lord, for certain truth, Perez is flęd; And has declared, the cause of his revolt Was to revenge a blow the king had given him. Gar. [Returning.] Ruin and horror! Oh, heart-wounding sight! Gons. What says my son? What ruin? Ha! what horror? Gar. Blasted my eyes, and speechless be my tongue, Rather than or to see, or to relate This deed-Oh, dire mistake! Oh, fatal blow! The king Gons. Alon. The king! Gar. Dead, weltering, drowned in blood. See, see, attired like Osmyn, where he lies. [They look in. · Oh, whence, or how, or wherefore was this done? But what imports the manner or the cause? Nothing remains to do, or to require, But that we all should turn our swords against Ourselves, and expiate, with our own, his blood. Gons. Oh, wretch! Oh, cursed, rash, deluded fool! On me, on me turn your avenging swords. The horror of that thought has damped my rage. Gons. Oh, my son! from the blind dotage While the other bore the crown (to wreath thy brow), Whose weight has sunk me, ere I reached the shore. Gar. Fatal ambition! Hark! the foe is entered: (Shout. The shrillness of that shout speaks them at hand. We have no time to search into the cause Of this surprising, and most fatal error. What's to be done? the king's death known, would strike The few remaining soldiers with despair, Require me not to tell the means, till done, Gons. They shout again! Whate'er he means to do, Severed the head, and in an obscure corner Gons. 'Twas an act of horror; [Exeunt severally. Enter ZARA, followed by SELIM, and two Mutes bearing the bowls. Zara. Silence and solitude are every where. Through all the gloomy ways, and iron doors, That hither lead, nor human face nor voice Is seen or heard. A dreadful din was wont To grate the sense, when entered here, from groans, And howls of slaves condemned; from clink of chains, |