--
We'll have a counting of our flocks to-morrow;
The wolf keeps festival these stormy nights:
Be calm, sweet Lady, they are wassailers
[The voices die away in the distance.
We'll have a counting of our flocks to-morrow;
The wolf keeps festival these stormy nights:
Be calm, sweet Lady, they are wassailers
[The voices die away in the distance.
Wordsworth - 1
What I have done in darkness
I will avow before the face of day.
Herbert _is_ innocent.
MARMADUKE What fiend could prompt
This action? Innocent! --oh, breaking heart! --
Alive or dead, I'll find him.
[Exit. ]
OSWALD
Alive--perdition!
[Exit. ]
SCENE--The inside of a poor Cottage
ELEANOR and IDONEA seated
IDONEA The storm beats hard--Mercy for poor or rich,
Whose heads are shelterless in such a night!
A VOICE WITHOUT
Holla! to bed, good Folks, within!
ELEANOR O save us!
IDONEA What can this mean?
ELEANOR Alas, for my poor husband!
--
We'll have a counting of our flocks to-morrow;
The wolf keeps festival these stormy nights:
Be calm, sweet Lady, they are wassailers
[The voices die away in the distance. ]
Returning from their Feast--my heart beats so--
A noise at midnight does _so_ frighten me.
IDONEA Hush! [Listening. ]
ELEANOR They are gone. On such a night, my husband,
Dragged from his bed, was cast into a dungeon,
Where, hid from me, he counted many years,
A criminal in no one's eyes but theirs--
Not even in theirs--whose brutal violence
So dealt with him.
IDONEA I have a noble Friend
First among youths of knightly breeding, One
Who lives but to protect the weak or injured.
There again!
[Listening. ]
ELEANOR 'Tis my husband's foot. Good Eldred
Has a kind heart; but his imprisonment
Has made him fearful, and he'll never be
The man he was.
IDONEA I will retire;--good night!
[She goes within. ]
[Enter ELDRED (hides a bundle)]
ELDRED Not yet in bed, Eleanor! --there are stains in that frock
which must be washed out.
ELEANOR What has befallen you?
I will avow before the face of day.
Herbert _is_ innocent.
MARMADUKE What fiend could prompt
This action? Innocent! --oh, breaking heart! --
Alive or dead, I'll find him.
[Exit. ]
OSWALD
Alive--perdition!
[Exit. ]
SCENE--The inside of a poor Cottage
ELEANOR and IDONEA seated
IDONEA The storm beats hard--Mercy for poor or rich,
Whose heads are shelterless in such a night!
A VOICE WITHOUT
Holla! to bed, good Folks, within!
ELEANOR O save us!
IDONEA What can this mean?
ELEANOR Alas, for my poor husband!
--
We'll have a counting of our flocks to-morrow;
The wolf keeps festival these stormy nights:
Be calm, sweet Lady, they are wassailers
[The voices die away in the distance. ]
Returning from their Feast--my heart beats so--
A noise at midnight does _so_ frighten me.
IDONEA Hush! [Listening. ]
ELEANOR They are gone. On such a night, my husband,
Dragged from his bed, was cast into a dungeon,
Where, hid from me, he counted many years,
A criminal in no one's eyes but theirs--
Not even in theirs--whose brutal violence
So dealt with him.
IDONEA I have a noble Friend
First among youths of knightly breeding, One
Who lives but to protect the weak or injured.
There again!
[Listening. ]
ELEANOR 'Tis my husband's foot. Good Eldred
Has a kind heart; but his imprisonment
Has made him fearful, and he'll never be
The man he was.
IDONEA I will retire;--good night!
[She goes within. ]
[Enter ELDRED (hides a bundle)]
ELDRED Not yet in bed, Eleanor! --there are stains in that frock
which must be washed out.
ELEANOR What has befallen you?
