Chapter 18

A Hall in the Castle of ALARCOS; in the back of the Scene a door leading to another Apartment.

V:3:1 ORAN. Reveal the future, lightnings! Then I’d hail That arrowy flash. O darker than the storm Cowed as the beasts now crouching in their caves, Is my sad soul. Impending o’er this house, I feel some bursting fate, my doomed arm In vain would ward,

[Enter a MAN AT ARMS.]

How now, hast left thy post?

V:3:2 MAN. O worthy Castellan, the lightnings play Upon our turrets, that no human step Can keep the watch. Each forky flash seems missioned To scathe our roof, and the whole platform flows With a blue sea of flame.

V:3:3 ORAN. It is thy post. No peril clears desertion. To thy post. Mark me, my step will be as prompt as thine; I will relieve thee.

[Exit MAN AT ARMS.]

Let the mischievous fire Wither this head. O Allah! grant no fate More dire awaits me.

[Enter the COUNT ALARCOS.]

Hah! the Count! My lord, In such a night!

V:3:4 ALAR. A night that’s not so wild As this tempestuous breast. How is she, Oran?

V:3:5 ORAN. Well.

V:3:6 ALAR. Ever well.

V:3:7 ORAN. The children--

V:3:8 ALAR. Wine, I’m wearied, The lightning scared my horse; he’s galled my arm. Get me some wine.

[Exit ORAN.]

The storm was not to stop me. The mind intent construes each natural act To a personal bias, and so catches judgments In every common course. In truth the flash, Though it seemed opening hell, was not so dreadful As that wild glaring hall.

[Re-enter ORAN with a goblet and flagon.]

Ah! this re-mans me! I think the storm has lulled. Another cup. Go see, good Oran, how the tempest speeds.

[Exit ORAN.]

An hour ago I did not dare to think I’d drink wine more.

[Re-enter ORAN.]

V:3:9 ORAN. The storm indeed has lulled As by a miracle; the sky is clear, There’s not a breath of air; and from the turret I heard the bell of Huelgas.

V:3:10 ALAR. Then ‘twas nothing. My spirit vaults! Oran, thou dost remember The night that we first met?

V:3:11 ORAN. ‘Tis graven deep Upon my heart.

V:3:12 ALAR. I think thou lov’st me, Oran?

V:3:13 ORAN. And all thy house.

V:3:14 ALAR. Nay, thou shalt love but me. I’ll no divisions in the hearts that are mine.

V:3:15 ORAN. I have no love but that which knits me to thee With deeper love.

V:3:16 ALAR. I found thee, Oran, what-- I will not say. And now thou art, good Oran, A Prince’s Castellan.

V:3:17 ORAN. I feel thy bounty.

V:3:18 ALAR. Thou shalt be more. But serve me as I would, And thou shalt name thy meed.

V:3:19 ORAN. To serve my lord Is my sufficient meed.

V:3:20 ALAR. Come hither, Oran, Were there a life between me and my life, And all that makes that life a thing to cling to, Love, Honour, Power, ay, what I will not name Nor thou canst image--yet enough to stir Ambition in the dead--I think, good Oran, Thou would’st not see me foiled?

V:3:21 ORAN. Thy glory’s dearer Than life to me.

V:3:22 ALAR. I knew it, I knew it. Thou shalt share all; thy alien blood shall be No bar to thy preferment. Hast thou brothers? I’ll send for them. An aged sire, perchance? Here’s gold for him. Count it thyself. Contrive All means of self-enjoyment. To the full They shall lap up fruition. Thou hast, all have, Some master wish which still eludes thy grasp, And still’s the secret idol of thy soul; ‘Tis gained. And only if thou dost, good Oran, What love and duty prompt.

V:3:23 ORAN. Count on my faith, I stand prepared to prove it.

V:3:24 ALAR. Good, good, Oran. It is an hour to midnight?

V:3:25 ORAN. The moon is not Within her midnight bower, yet near.

V:3:26 ALAR. So late! The Countess sleeps?

V:3:27 ORAN. She has long retired.

V:3:28 ALAR. She sleeps, O, she must wake no more!

V:3:29 ORAN. Thy wife!

V:3:30 ALAR. It must Be done, ere yet the Castle chime shall tell Night wanes.

V:3:31 ORAN. Thy wife! God of my fathers! none Can do this deed!

V:3:32 ALAR. Upon thy hand it rests. The deed must fall on thee.

V:3:33 ORAN. I will not do it.

V:3:34 ALAR. Thine oath, thine oath! Hast thou forgot thine oath? Thou owest me a life, and now I claim it. What, hast thou trifled with me? Hast thou fooled With one whose point was at thy throat? Beware! Thou art my slave, and I have branded thee With this infernal ransom!

V:3:35 ORAN. I am thy slave, And I will be thy slave, and all my days Devoted to perdition. Not for gold Or worldly worth; to cheer no aged parent, Though I have one, a mother; not to bask My seed within thy beams; to feed no passions And gorge no craving vanity; but because Thou gavest me life, and led to that which made That life for once delicious. O, great sir, The King’s thy foe? Surrounded by his guards I would waylay him. Hast thou some fierce rival? I’ll pluck his heart out. Yea! there is no peril I’d not confront, no rack I’ll not endure, No great offence commit, to do thee service-- So thou wilt spare me this, and spare thy soul This unmatched sin.

V:3:36 ALAR. I had exhausted suffering Ere I could speak to thee. I claim thine oath.

V:3:37 ORAN. One moment, yet one moment. This is sudden As it is terrible.

V:3:38 ALAR. The womb is ripe, And thou art but the midwife of the birth I have engendered.

V:3:39 ORAN. Think how fair she is, How gracious, how devoted!

V:3:40 ALAR. Need I thee To tell me what she is!

V:3:41 ORAN. Thy children’s mother.

V:3:42 ALAR. Would she were not! Another breast should bear My children.

V:3:43 ORAN. Thou inhuman bloody man-- It shall not be, it cannot, cannot be. I tell thee, tyrant, there’s a power abroad E’en now that crashes thee. The storm that raged Blows from a mystic quarter. ‘Tis the hand Of Allah guides the tempest of this night.

V:3:44 ALAR. Thine oath, thine oath!

V:3:45 ORAN. Accursed be the hour Thou sparedst my life!

V:3:46 ALAR. Thine oath, I claim thine oath. Nay, Moor, what is it? ‘Tis a life, and thou Hast learnt to rate existence at its worth. A life, a woman’s life! Why, sack a town, And thousands die like her. My faithful Oran, Come let me love thee, let me find a friend When friends can prove themselves. It’s not an oath Vowed in our sunshine ease, that shows a friend; ‘Tis the tempestuous mood like this, that calls For faithful service.

V:3:47 ORAN. Hah! the Emir’s blood Cries for this judgment. It was sacred seed.

V:3:48 ALAR. It flowed to clear thine honour. Art thou he That honour loved so dearly, that he scorned Betrayal of a foe, although that foe Had changed him to a bravo?

V:3:49 ORAN. Let me kiss Thy garment’s hem, and grovel it thy feet-- I pray, I supplicate--my lord, my lord-- Absolve me from that oath!

V:3:50 ALAR. I had not thought To claim it twice. It seems I lacked some judgment In man, to deem that honour might be found In hired stabbers.

V:3:51 ORAN. Hah! I vowed to thee A life for that which thou didst spare--‘tis well. The debt is paid.

[Stabs himself and falls.]

[Enter the COUNTESS from the inner Chamber.]

V:3:52 COUN. I cannot sleep--my dreams are full of woe! Alarcos! my Alarcos! Hah! dread sight! Oran!

V:3:53 ORAN. O, spare her; ‘tis no sacrifice If she be spared.

V:3:54 COUN. Wild words! Thou dost not speak. O, speak, Alarcos! speak!

V:3:55 ORAN. His voice is death.

V:3:56 COUN. Ye Saints uphold me now, for I am weak And lost. What means this? Oran dying! Nay-- Alarcos! I’m a woman. Aid me, aid me. Why’s Oran thus? O, save him, my Alarcos! Blood! And why shed? Why, let us staunch his wounds. Why are there wounds? He will not speak. Alarcos, A word, a single word! Unhappy Moor! Where is thy hurt? [Kneels by ORAN.]

V:3:57 ORAN. That hand! This is not death; ‘Tis Paradise.

[Dies.]

V:3:58 ALAR.

[advancing in soliloquy]

He sets me great examples. ‘Tis easier than I deemed; a single blow And his bold soul has fled. His lavish life Enlists me in quick service. Quit that dark corpse; He died as did become a perjured traitor.

V:3:59 COUN. To whom, my lord?

V:3:60 ALAR. To all Castille perchance. Come hither, wife. Before the morning breaks A lengthened journey waits thee. Art prepared?

V:3:61 COUN.

[springing to ALARCOS]

I will not go. Alarcos, dear Alarcos, Thy look is terrible! What mean these words? Why should’st thou spare me? Why should Oran die? The veil that clouds thy mind--I’ll rend it. Tell me-- Yea! I’ll know all. A power supports me now-- Defies even thee.

V:3:62 ALAR. A traitor’s troubled tongue Disturbs thy mind. I tell thee, thou must leave This castle promptly.

V:3:63 COUN. Not to Burgos--say But that. I will not go. That fatal woman-- Her shadow’s on thy soul.

V:3:64 ALAR. No, not to Burgos. ‘Tis not to Burgos that thy journey tends. The children sleep?

V:3:65 COUN. Spite of the storm.

V:3:66 ALAR. Go--kiss them. Thou canst not take them with thee. To thy chamber-- Quick to thy chamber.

[The COUNTESS as if about to speak, but ALARCOS stops her.]

Nay, time presses, wife.

[The COUNTESS slowly re-enters her Chamber.]

V:3:67 ALAR. I am alone--with Death. And will she look Serene as this? The visage of a hero Stamped with a martyred end! Thou noble Moor! What if thy fate were mine! Thou art at rest: No dark fulfilment waits o’er thee. The tomb Hath many charms.

[The COUNTESS calls.]

V:3:68 COUN. Alarcos!

V:3:69 ALAR. Ay, anon. Why did she tell me that she lived? Methought It was all past. I came to confront death; And we have met. This sacrificial blood-- What, bears it no atonement? ‘Twas an offering Fit for the Gods.

[The midnight bell.]

She waits me now; her hand Extends a diadem; my achieveless arm Would wither at her scorn. ‘Tis thus, Solisa, I gain thy heart and realm!

[ALARCOS moves hastily to the Chamber, which he enters; the stage for some seconds is empty; a shriek is then heard; ALARCOS re-appears, very pale, and slowly advances to the front of the stage.]

‘Tis over and I live. I heard a sound; Was’t Oran’s spirit? I’ll not rest here, and yet I dare not back. The bodies? Nay, ‘tis done--I’ll not shrink now. I have seen death before. But is this death? Methinks a deeper mystery. Well, ‘tis done. There’ll be no hour so dark as this. I would I had not caught her eye.

[A trumpet sounds.]

The Warder’s note! Shall I meet life again?

[Another trumpet sounds.]

[Enter the SENESCHAL.]

V:3:70 SEN. Horsemen from Court.

V:3:71 ALAR. The Court! I’m sick at heart. Perchance she’s eager, And cannot wait my coming.

[Enter two COURTIERS.]

Well, good sirs!

V:3:72 1ST COURT. Alas, my lord.

V:3:73 ALAR. I live upon thy words. What now?

V:3:74 1ST COURT. We have rode post, my lord.

V:3:75 ALAR. Bad news Flies ever. ‘Tis the King?

V:3:76 1ST COURT. Alas!

V:3:77 ALAR. She’s ill. My horse, my horse there!

V:3:78 1ST COURT. Nay, my lord, not so.

V:3:79 ALAR. Why then I care for nought.

V:3:80 1ST COURT. Unheard-of horror! The storm, the storm--

V:3:81 ALAR. I rode in it.

V:3:82 1ST COURT. Methought Each flash would fire the Citadel; the flame Wreathed round its pinnacles, and poured in streams Adown the pallid battlements. Our revellers Forgot their festival, and stopped to gaze On the portentous vision. When behold! The curtained clouds re-opened, and a bolt Came winged from the startling blue of heaven, And struck--the Infanta!

V:3:83 ALAR. There’s a God of Vengeance.

V:3:84 1ST COURT. She fell a blighted corpse. Amid the shrieks Of women, prayers of hurrying multitudes, The panic and the stir we sought for thee; The King’s overwhelmed.

V:3:85 ALAR. My wife’s at least a Queen, She reigns in Heaven. The King’s o’erwhelmed--poor man Go tell him, sirs, the Count Alarcos lived To find a hell on earth; yet thus he sought A deeper and a darker.

[Falls.]

The End