And yet I feel a presence in the air,There is a shadow standing at my side,
And ghostly kisses seem to touch my lips,
And leave them holier. [Kneels down.]
O father, if ‘tis thou,
Canst thou not burst through the decrees of death,
And if corporeal semblance show thyself,
That I may touch thy hand!
No, there is nothing. [Rises.]
‘Tis the night that cheats us with its phantoms,
And, like a puppet-master, makes us think
That things are real which are not. It grows late.
Now must I to my business.
[Pulls out a letter from his doublet and reads it.]
When he wakes,
And sees this letter, and the dagger with it,
Will he not have some loathing for his life,
Repent, perchance, and lead a better life,
Or will he mock because a young man spared
His natural enemy? I do not care.
Father, it is thy bidding that I do,
Thy bidding, and the bidding of my love
Which teaches me to know thee as thou art.
[Ascends staircase stealthily, and just as he reaches out his hand to draw back the curtain the Duchess appears all in white. GUIDO starts back.]
DUCHESS
Guido! what do you here so late?
GUIDO
O white and spotless angel of my life,
Sure thou hast come from Heaven with a message
That mercy is more noble than revenge?
DUCHESS
There is no barrier between us now.
GUIDO
None, love, nor shall be.
DUCHESS
I have seen to that.
GUIDO
Tarry here for me.
DUCHESS
No, you are not going?
You will not leave me as you did before?
GUIDO
I will return within a moment’s space,
But first I must repair to the Duke’s chamber,
And leave this letter and this dagger there,
That when he wakes -
DUCHESS
When who wakes?
GUIDO
Why, the Duke.
DUCHESS
He will not wake again.
GUIDO
What, is he dead?
DUCHESS
Ay! he is dead.
GUIDO
O God! how wonderful
Are all thy secret ways! Who would have said
That on this very night, when I had yielded
Into thy hands the vengeance that is thine,
Thou with thy finger wouldst have touched the man,
And bade him come before thy judgment seat.
DUCHESS
I have just killed him.
GUIDO
[in horror] Oh!
DUCHESS
He was asleep;
Come closer, love, and I will tell you all.
I had resolved to kill myself tonight.
About an hour ago I waked from sleep,
And took my dagger from beneath my pillow,
Where I had hidden it to serve my need,
And drew it from the sheath, and felt the edge,
And thought of you, and how I loved you, Guido,
And turned to fall upon it, when I marked
The old man sleeping, full of years and sin;
There lay he muttering curses in his sleep,
And as I looked upon his evil face
Suddenly like a flame there flashed across me,
There is the barrier which Guido spoke of:
You said there lay a barrier between us,
What barrier but he? -
I hardly know
What happened, but a steaming mist of blood
Rose up between us two.
GUIDO
Oh, horrible!
DUCHESS
And then he groaned,
And then he groaned no more! I only heard
The dripping of the blood upon the floor.
GUIDO
Enough, enough.
DUCHESS
Will you not kiss me now?
Do you remember saying that women’s love
Turns men to angels? well, the love of man
Turns women into martyrs; for its sake
We do or suffer anything.
GUIDO
