Chapter 26

DENOVALIN (calmly and insinuatingly). Am I a vulture, Queen Iseult, that thou Art silent when I am within thy cage?

ISEULT (angrily). My Lord Denovalin, how dar'st thou show Thyself thus brazenly before me here?

DENOVALIN. Harsh words the Queen Iseult is pleased to use!

ISEULT. And I shall beg the King that he forbid Thee to appear within a mile around The castle with thy visor raised.

DENOVALIN. King Mark Is not my over-lord. I'm not his liege.

ISEULT. And I tell thee, my Lord Denovalin, Thy face is more abhorred by me than plague; More hateful than dread leprosy! Away!

DENOVALIN. More measured should'st thou be in thy reproof.

(Much moved.)

It was for thee I came today, harsh Queen!

ISEULT. When last thou stoodst before my face, my Lord, Naked I was, and men at arms prepar'd The glowing pyre whereon thy jealousy Had doomed my youthful body to be burned! Calm wast thou then; no quiver moved thy face, Untroubled by thy deed. Dost thou forget?

DENOVALIN. And Tristram stood beside thee then, as he Had stood, when I accused thee to King Mark, And when I see him standing next to thee, My eyes grow dim and all the world seems red With blood. 'Twas him I saw, not thee, Iseult, Else had I died of sorrow and of shame.

ISEULT. What, _thou_? _Thou_ grieve! _Thou_ die of shame? The stones Shall soften and shall melt ere thou, my lord, Hast learned what pity means!

DENOVALIN. Thou dost misjudge Me, Queen Iseult, for when thy foot first touched The Cornish strand as thou stepped'st from thy ship And came to be the bride of Mark, I saw Thee then, and by the Lord, a solemn oath Of loyalty upon thy golden hair To thee I swore! Oh thou wast wondrous fair!

ISEULT. And I, my Lord, what evil did I thee?

DENOVALIN. Thou loved'st Tristram.

ISEULT. What? Denovalin, When, by a miracle of God, I have Escaped the fiery death which thou prepared'st; When, with these tender hands of mine, I bore Before my judges, and without a burn The glowing iron, and with sacred oath Have sworn, thou darest doubt Almighty God's Decree, and dar'st accuse me still, and say I love Lord Tristram with a guilty love? This nephew of my wedded spouse! Of this I'll make complaint unto my sponsors, Lord!

DENOVALIN (calmly). Almighty God thou hast, perhaps, deceived, But we, at least, Iseult, we must be frank, Though enemies, and deal straightforwardly With one another.

ISEULT. Go, thou were-wolf!--Go!

DENOVALIN. There was a time when I, too, heard the song Of birds in spring-time; but the fragrant breath Thy golden hair exhales,--that hair which I Have seen flow rippling through Lord Tristram's hands-- Has made me hard and rough--a very beast! I live pent up within my castle walls As some old wolf! I sleep all day and ride At night! Ay, ride until my steed comes home With gasping nostril and with bloody flank, And lies as dead when morning comes! My hounds Fall dead along the road! And yet, may be, That long before the earliest cock has crowed I cry aloud upon thy name each day Like one who swelters in his own life's blood! Remember this, for hadst thou once, Iseult, Beside me ridden ere the night grew dark, Perchance this hatred of all living things Had never got such hold upon my soul. Remember this, throughout the many things Which shall, ere evening, come to pass. And evening comes to thee, Iseult,--to me, To all! And so 'tis best thou understand The secret of the past fairly to judge. This is the peace I fain would have with thee.

ISEULT. I am afraid--afraid--of thee!

DENOVALIN. Thou shouldst Not fear, Iseult, these words so seemingly Devoid of sense!

(Changing the subject.)

At dawn today I rode Along the Morois.

ISEULT. Ay, since that's the road That leads the straightest from thy lofty hall To St. Lubin.--

DENOVALIN. I met a quarry there! A quarry wondrous strange! Shall I, Iseult, Go bring it bound to thee?

ISEULT (in great anxiety). I wish no fur, Or pelts slain by thy hand, Denovalin--

DENOVALIN. That I believe, Iseult, yet it might please King Mark.

(Breaking out passionately.)

It might be that once more Thou felt'st the burning touch of death, all hot And red. And if no safe retreat there were For thee in Cornwall, save my castle walls, And not a man in Cornwall stood to shield Thy golden tresses from the hangman's hand Except myself! If such the case what wouldst Thou do if I said "come?"

ISEULT (wild with terror and despair). If such the case, Oh God of Bethlehem! If such the case I'd fling my arms about the neck of Death, And, clinging close to him, I'd spit at thee, Denovalin! Those wrinkles, cold and hard, About thy mouth on either side disgust Me! Go, Denovalin! I loath thee! Go!

DENOVALIN. I go, Iseult, for thou hast made thy choice; Forget it not. Forget not, too, the pact Of peace my soul has made with thine. Farewell! I'll go and bid Lord Dinas come to play At chess with thee. Play quickly, Queen Iseult, Thy time is short, and short shall be thy game!

[He goes.]