8
the outlaw.
Engaged in foreign warfare:—Report my death,
And I will then retire to yonder cave,
And play the holy hermit; there I'll wait
'Till time hath proved suspicion true or false.—
Boy, thou must hence, and to thy lady say—
Alberto's dead; shed tears and counterfeit
True sorrow well.
Page. Poor lady, 'twill not need;
My tears fall truly for her.
B. Alter. Give her these papers and this signet ring;
This letter—my farewell: Tell her I died,
Forgiving her, upon the battle field.
[Exit Page.
If then she leaves this ruined tower, and goes
With buoyant heart unto her princely home—
Wearing gay smiles when her sad weeds are cast,
I will believe her false—and plunge
My dagger deep in her treacherous bosom—
But hark! what step intrudes———
[Lady Isabella appears at a distance.
And I will then retire to yonder cave,
And play the holy hermit; there I'll wait
'Till time hath proved suspicion true or false.—
Boy, thou must hence, and to thy lady say—
Alberto's dead; shed tears and counterfeit
True sorrow well.
Page. Poor lady, 'twill not need;
My tears fall truly for her.
B. Alter. Give her these papers and this signet ring;
This letter—my farewell: Tell her I died,
Forgiving her, upon the battle field.
[Exit Page.
If then she leaves this ruined tower, and goes
With buoyant heart unto her princely home—
Wearing gay smiles when her sad weeds are cast,
I will believe her false—and plunge
My dagger deep in her treacherous bosom—
But hark! what step intrudes———
[Lady Isabella appears at a distance.
