MANFREDI.
Mistress or maid, man, I will not be balked;
'T is for her good. I know the sex; she pines
In her captivity. I'll find a cage
More fitting such a bird as you've described.
Your hand on 't: not a whisper to Bertuccio!
DELL' AQUILA.
You force me! There's my hand! I will not speak
A word to him!
MANFREDI (taking his hand).
That's like a trusty liegeman
Of blind Lord Cupid!—Hark! a word with you.
DELL' AQUILA.
I'll save her from this wrong, or lose myself.
What tie there is betwixt these two, I know not,—
How one so fair and seeming gentle 's linked
With one so foul and bitter, a buffoon,
Who makes his vile office viler still
By prompting to the evil that he mocks.
But I will 'gage my life that she is pure,
And still shall be so, if my aid avail!
[Manfredi and Lords separate.
Once more, my lord: you'll not be stayed from this
That you propose?
MANFREDI.
Unconscionable bard!
What! when you've set my mouth a-watering
You'd have me put the dainty morsel from me?
Go, feed on signs and shadows! Such thin stuff
Is the best diet for you singing birds;
We eagles must have flesh!
