Is this the morn
Breaks in our chamber? Why, I did but mean
To say good night unto my gentle cousin
So long unseen. O, we have gossiped, coz,
So cheering dreams!
[Exeunt.]
END OF THE SECOND ACT.
ACT III
SCENE 1
Interior of the Cathedral of Burgos.
The High Altar illuminated;
in the distance, various Chapels lighted, and in each of which Mass is
celebrating:
in all directions groups of kneeling Worshippers.
Before the High Altar the Prior of Burgos officiates, attended by his
Sacerdotal Retinue.
In the front of the Stage, opposite to the Audience, a Confessional.
The chanting of a solemn Mass here commences; as it ceases,
[Enter ALARCOS.]
III:1:1 ALAR.
Would it were done! and yet I dare not say
It should be done. O, that some natural cause,
Or superhuman agent, would step in,
And save me from its practice! Will no pest
Descend upon her blood? Must thousands die
Daily, and her charmed life be spared? As young
Are hourly plucked from out their hearths. A life!
Why, what's a life? A loan that must return
To a capricious creditor; recalled
Often as soon as lent. I'd wager mine
To-morrow like the dice, were my blood pricked.
Yet now,
When all that endows life with all its price,
Hangs on some flickering breath I could puff out,
I stand agape.
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