seen to that.
guido
Tarry here for me.
·95· 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
·96· 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 to-night.
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:
·97· 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
O God!
duchess
Will you not speak?
·98· guido
I cannot speak at all.
duchess
Let us not talk of this! Let us go hence:
Is not the barrier broken down between us?
What would you more? Come, it is almost morning.
[Puts her hand on Guido’s.]
guido [breaking from her]
O damned saint! O angel fresh from Hell!
What bloody devil tempted thee to this!
That thou hast killed thy husband, that is nothing—
Hell was already gaping for his soul—
But thou hast murdered Love, and in its place
Hast set a horrible and bloodstained thing,
Whose very breath breeds pestilence and plague,
And strangles Love.
duchess [in amazed wonder]
I did it all for you.
I would not have you do it, had you willed it,
For I would keep you without blot or stain,
A thing unblemished, unassailed, untarnished.
Men do not know what women do for love.
·99· Have I not wrecked my soul for your dear sake,
Here and hereafter?
guido
No, do not touch me,
Between us lies a thin red stream of blood;
I dare not look across it: when you stabbed him
You
