SCENE 1. _A hall in the castle of Suli. Heavy doors open left, half-way

up. Large window with iron grating, rear. Couches, chairs, scattered. Tables from which servants are removing the remnants of a feast. They are quarrelling, chaffing, singing, as the curtain risen._

_First Ser._ Shifty, there!

_Second Ser._ What, can't a soldier eat?

_First Ser._ You a soldier, lickspoon?

_Second Ser._ I've drawn a sword, sir!

_First Ser._ Ay, and cut a cheese.

_Third Ser._ [_Lifting flask_] Here's to----

_Fourth Ser._ [_Seizing flask_] No man shall guzzle my master's wine before me. [_Drains vessel_]

_Third Ser._ [_Sadly, turning up empty flask_] Not after you, either.

_Fifth Ser._ Well, well, and two moons back we were saying grace over ditch-water!

_Sixth Ser._ Ay, we were good Christians then. A full stomach makes lean prayers. Now we've such a plenty we can spare the devil a fillip, and never a grace for it.

_First Ser._ [_Tugging at table_] Take a leg there! This is no grasshopper. [_Others help him move table to wall, right_] Look about you! The maskers will be in here.

_Second Ser._ Here? They'll be everywhere to-night. Such a jig-making over the new prince!

_Second Ser._ Not a corner to drop into and sleep off a good supper with a clear conscience!

_Sixth Ser._ Sleep? What have we to do with sleep? We fight, we eat, we dance. That's my soldier!

_Second Ser._ We kill, we cut, we caper! [_Sings_] The soldier rides on Fortune's wheel,

_All._ Round we go, Round we go!

_Second Ser._ Now up the head and now the heel,

_All._ Round we go, Round----

[_Enter seventh servant_]

_Seventh Ser._ Quiet, you devils! The master's coming.

_Second Ser._ What, can't a soldier sing? Haven't we fought like true men? When did we give quarter? When did we show mercy? And now can't we be happy? Can't we take breath?

_Seventh Ser._ Sh! and I'll tell you what I've seen. I've seen the daughter of Old Wisdom.

_Sixth Ser._ He get a daughter!

_Seventh Ser._ The maid of Kidmir. Ardia of the Stars they call her, but if the sun could shine in the middle of a dark night she would be like that.

_First Ser._ Foh, the Lady Berenice will put out her candle.

_Seventh Ser._ The Lady Berenice is as like her as the back of my hand to Juno's cheek!

_First Ser._ A heathen comparison! There's a Christian blow for it!

[_They scuffle. Enter Oswald in talk with Bertrand. Servants finish their work quietly and go out_]

_Osw._ My heart is whole again, now you've escaped The claws of Kidmir.

_Ber._ Say the arms that closed Like God's around me!

_Osw._ Fox, and lion too. That's Charilus. I knew him young,--when blood Tells nature's truth,--ere he had sucked Philosophy's pale milk and made his truce With prudence and long life. The heart then his He carries now----

_Ber._ Then, sir, you must have known The Maker's marvel,--youth that outstripped age And grayest saints in virtue.

_Osw._ Tut! No matter. You're safe. And he is here ... within these walls.

_Ber._ A guest of faith who holds your honor bound High hostage for his life.

_Osw._ My honor? Trust me! I'll care for that. No more I'll blush to lift My shield i' the sun. The spot of thirty years Shall be wiped out.

_Ber._ With love, my father?

_Osw._ [_After a pause_] Ay, 'Tis love shall do it.

_Ber._ [_Lifting his father's hand to his lips_] You bind my heart to you.

_Osw._ Too soft, my warrior. Keep such woman's play For Berenice. She will thank you for it. I'm rough and old, and need the soldier clap To start the singing blood. [_Clapping Bertrand_] A blow with good Red heart in 't!

_Ber._ Berenice?

_Osw._ Ah, that takes you! She's here at last. Prince Frederick arrived Three days ago, and with him his fair daughter, Too dear of value to be left behind, The prey of quarrelling kings. You'll dance with her To-night.

_Ber._ You'll pardon me. I shall not dance.

_Osw._ Faugh, there's the monk again! Why, boy, we'll pray The better for a little tripping,--fight The better too. One dance with Berenice! A beauty, sir, who makes me hate the years That lie 'tween youth and me. She was to wed A son of mine by vow above her cradle, And I have buried every son save you.

_Ber._ May I not keep one vow?

_Osw._ The pope long since Released you. Now----

_Ber._ My compact was with Christ.

_Osw._ Why cling to one when all the rest are broken?

_Ber._ It is the one lies wholly in my choice.

_Osw._ You left your cell.

_Ber._ Do you forget 'twas you Who shook to ground my cloister walls, and locked All holy doors against me?

_Osw._ True, I did it. And with good warrant. Broadest Christendom Upheld my right and gave me back my heir. Small gain if you refuse to wed. My need Is not for sons but grandsons now. My boy, You'll let me see your children at my knee? Ho, hide your face? Then there's a heart in you. Why should I toil through blood and groans and fire To make a name my shroud will wrap with me?

_Ber._ Toil then to give this land to God, and live So long as love shall live in men.

_Osw._ Pale fame! Have you no blood of mine? How could my fire Father this sluggish monk? There was a maid On Kidmir, Charilus' daughter, who has come In wag of him, which speaks a fearless wench,-- She taught you nothing in those moons you passed Upon her peaks?

_Ber._ Sir?

_Osw._ When I saw her face Flash from her veil, I could have sworn Your vow was drowned in her lake-eyes, and that Her captured softness had made easy way For royal Berenice. Now you talk Out of your cowl----

_Ber._ Not so! I am a knight! Your words have made me one! Now could I draw This sword that knows not blood----

_Osw._ I'll bout with thee For any woman. Come! Thou'lt be a man Ere long. Come, sir!

_Ber._ You've set a foot most foul Upon the flower of time!

_Osw._ It seems I've hit The mark i' the very eye.

_Ber._ The whitest thought That holds her first must shrive itself!

_Osw._ So, so! Come, end the song. She's yours. 'Tis not the moon You cry for, take an old man's word.

_Ber._ The moon Were nearer to me!

_Osw._ Trrr-rrr-rr!

_Ber._ My lord?

_Osw._ A woman. Ask and have. I'll send her here. This is the hour to bait you, and I'd not lose it For half of Suli.

_Ber._ Stay! I will not see her. I dare not look upon her lest I lose Christ and myself.

_Osw._ Are you so tuned? We'll have A wedding yet.

_Ber._ Forget that word, and I Forgive you for it.

_Osw._ A wedding, prince of Suli. This plain shall ring to Antioch.

_Ber._ Nay, father,-- And yet I thank you that your heart would make So fair a maid my bride.

_Osw._ Fair? That's no word. She's glory's darling pearl,--the morning's eye That makes the night forgot! When you have seen her----

_Ber._ When I have seen her?

_Osw._ Ay,----

_Ber._ Do you not speak Of Ardia?

_Osw._ Ardia! Gods! Wed Kidmir's trull? Make me a doting grandsire to the heir Of Charilus? Hear it, stars! Am I the fool O' the earth? Give up my English forests, bare My purse for troops, and foot by foot fight way To Suli sands,--all this that I may set A droning dotard's line upon a throne, And be the ass of chronicle? O, poison! Well, well, I'm done. The girl is fair enough. And you shall have her if she pleases you. But Berenice--there's your bride, my boy!

_Ber._ Wed Berenice? With that name you save me. By that I see the darkness coiling deep Along my bridal way. 'Twas Ardia's name That lit the path till I dared let my eyes, Though not my will, go venturing on 't.

_Osw._ My son,----

_Ber._ Never again, my father, speak to me In this night's strain. Till morning I shall pray. And then I fast. Good-night.

_Osw._ One moment. One! The sunrise feast? Will you not be with us? I drink with Charilus the cup of peace.

_Ber._ And love that breaks no peace?

_Osw._ [_Assenting_] See how you bend me? All that you ask I give, but you to me Yield nothing.

_Ber._ Sir, this sword, my knightly suit, And princely title, make denial for me.

_Osw._ Your pardon. I forget you count it much To give a crust and cell for this broad kingdom. I who have paid my heart out for a crown Must thank you now to wear it.

_Ber._ Good-night.

_Osw._ O, son, Have you no patience with a man grown old In many battles? Now feel I my age, Knowing the dearest blows of my long life Have bought me but this shadow. In you is drained Ambition's heart,--my every burning aim Fails here in you, and cools unforged, unshapen. Yet do you turn from me as though 'twere I Not you who gave the wound that parts us.

_Ber._ I?

_Osw._ Of all my sons I loved you best. You think I gave you to the friars with no twinge Here at my heart? Your mother said "One son We must return to God," and I said "Yea, So it be not my Bertrand." But her will Ran 'gainst me. When she had her way, I longed Through many a day to have you at my side, While you were happy with your songs and saints, Your father quite forgot.

_Ber._ [_Stirred_] Nay, not forgot. And I am with you now.

_Osw._ O, let me feel My son is mine! I'll yield you anything. Ay, even Ardia! She shall be my daughter----

_Ber._ By heaven that keeps me true, I will not hear That name again! There's maddest music in it. I see her when I hear it. [_Covering his eyes_]

_Osw._ [_Aside_] I see the lime Will catch you.

_Ber._ Again, good-night.

_Osw._ One favor, son. And slight too, by 'r lady!

_Ber._ Speak it, sir.

_Osw._ I gave my word you'd wait on Berenice. I' faith, I know not what excuse to make To Frederick. 'Tis barest courtesy To give her greeting.

_Ber._ I will welcome her, Our guest.

_Osw._ Enough! [_Going_] You'll wait us here?

_Ber._ I'll wait.

[_Exit Oswald. Bertrand sits with head bowed and does not heed maskers who enter and dance about him. They cover him with their garlands as they go off. A song is heard within_]

What save winds shall kiss his bones Bleaching on the desert stones? What but waves o'er him shall sigh Who doth drownèd sea-deep lie? What save worms to him shall come Locked in earth, bound, keyless, dumb?

Wild the wind and cold the wave, Sharp the tooth within the grave! Be such kisses for my ghost, Heart, my Heart, when thou art lost! Love me, Love, an hour and we Mock the cold eternity!

_Ber._ [_Taking up a flower_] Eternity in this?

[_Ardia enters. He does not see her until she speaks_]

_Ard._ Prince Bertrand?

_Ber._ [_Rising_] You? Not Berenice!

_Ard._ Ah ... you wait for her?

_Ber._ Who brought you here?

_Ard._ The earl. Your father.

_Ber._ He! What said he?

_Ard._ That you prayed to see me, sir.

_Ber._ O, faithless! He deceived you.

_Ard._ I will go.

_Ber._ Stay--tell me--how you fare.

_Ard._ Nay, you await The princess.

_Ber._ You've all comfort? No least lack?

_Ard._ I've food and bed, but little company.

_Ber._ My father's plans press hard, and I'm a part Of them. Each hour he calls me.

_Ard._ I know, my lord, This is not Kidmir. I've my father too. You've yours ... and Berenice.

_Ber._ Nay, it seems Fate hath her changelings. You have come, not she.

_Ard._ I sought no meeting, sir, but being here, I'll ask you of my father. Is he safe? Earl Oswald means no treachery to his guest?

_Ber._ At sunrise he will drink the cup of peace.

_Ard._ That's hours away! He knows your life is pledged For Charilus' safety?

_Ber._ No. I will not wake A doubt against his honor.

_Ard._ He should know. I've seen his eyes. Good hap, you have your mother's.

_Ber._ If he be vile as you so fear he is, My pledge would be no leash to his hold will. He'd chain me here till he destroyed your brothers. Let him know naught, I'm free to keep my oath. But this should not be spoken. We do wrong To talk of things that have no being save In our own midnight fears.

_Ard._ Well, I shall sleep. Good-night, my lord.

_Ber._ Am I not Vairdelan?

_Ard._ Ay, when you smile so. [_Holds out her hands, and drops them untouched_] Far, O far from Kidmir!

_Ber._ Yea, an eternal journey my lost soul May find it. Ardia, counsel me. Two ways Stretch long before me, and I faint In daring either. Give me of your strength.

_Ard._ My strength? I have none.

_Ber._ You have God's. Men, proud in valor, stray and lose his hand; The woman holds it ever, walking floods And trampling fire where men go down.

_Ard._ Tell me! How may I help you?

_Ber._ Sit then. I will speak. [_She sits; He stands near her_] I have agreed to be the sovereign Of sword-won Suli.

_Ard._ None will better serve Where he is master. O, this spear-torn land Shall flower to heaven and mate her bloom with stars!

_Ber._ A bloom that dies with me?

_Ard._ Death cannot make The spirit barren.

_Ber._ [_At distance_] Through me my father hopes To found a princely house o'er-topping Asia With Christ-lit towers.

_Ard._ Oh!... Then you will wed.

_Ber._ [_His eyes down_] My bride is chosen.

_Ard._ [_Rising_] Chosen? [_Sits again_] Nay.... I know....

_Ber._ [_Returning_] Your hidden eyes hide not the loathing there For me forsworn. Why have I troubled you? Look on me, Ardia. I am not yet fallen. I take your answer. You have chosen my way, And I set forth upon it--_not_ forsworn.

_Ard._ That word is naught. I do not think of it.

_Ber._ Must man not keep his pledge?

_Ard._ To mortals, yes. For so our lives are knit, and part to part Keep sound and whole. But pledges unto God Man cannot make or keep till he may bind The Will that journeys with the launchèd world. So might His rivers say "Here will we rest, And worship thee," nor run into the sea, And God must be content though all his fields Burn waterless. So might the winds vow Him Unbroken calm, and God who needs his storms Must still his own desire while his dear earth Goes pestilent.

_Ber._ Unsentient things! He shares His will with man.

_Ard._ But not to enslave his own. Christ seals no bond the lips lay on the soul That is each instant new as life, as change, As the importuning world. Ah, he who sells To one hour's narrow need the zenith light Of unborn days would snuff out time and know No rising sun. Himself would be a slavedom Where never Christ would walk.

_Ber._ Is 't Ardia speaks?

_Ard._ Truth speaks, not I. If man must vow, Let it not be to love no woman,--wear The vest of fire, and in a sunless cell Chain Heaven-arteried life,--then peering out, Cling to the nested eaves transfixed to see His fled desires wear the horizon flame. But let him vow his Christ shall shrink no vein Of broad and pauseless being; ay,--shall keep Sweet surgence with his blood, climb with his spirit Time's lifting hills, and hold in watch with him The unshrouding pinnacles where love puts off The old clouds for the dawn. Forsworn? O, heart Cell-bound, thy very vows deny thy Christ. Who serve him wear no chains.

_Ber._ You think me true? And yet I felt your wounded, doubting eyes Raining me scorn. Why was it, Ardia?

_Ard._ Scorn? I have forgot why 'twas--or shall forget.

_Ber._ And there was pity too, that dropped your lids. And would have sheltered me. Is that forgot?

_Ard._ Nay, that.... I'll tell you that. I thought of Love, Man's angel, and the heart-lone way of him Who missed and found her not. Never to take More courage from the fall of her sure feet On heights that wind between death and the stars; Or where his road burns through the shadeless sands, Reach for the hand with fountains in its touch And feel the palm-breath round him. Not to know Her eyes when night is come, and there's no star; Her breast, that pillowing the darkened waste, Keeps warm the bitten earth and gives him dream To meet and match the dawn. So wept my thoughts, Forgetting that you are no wanderer, But kingly housed will rule a tamèd realm. Or should a harvest come of spears, not grain, Yet is your princess brave and beautiful, And bears, may be, a mating heart. Love then Will come to you----

_Ber._ My princess?

_Ard._ Berenice. Your father's choice ... and yours.

_Ber._ My Ardia! Mine! Could such a lie creep to your soul and find No lances at the door? [_Kneels, kissing her hands_] My love, my love, my love! Let honors fail, and stars forget my name, 'Tis thou shalt walk beside me, thou my chosen! I'll hear thy footfall on the winter steep, And take thy hand where desert noons are white, But close thy breast shall lie upon my heart, Nor pillow the bitten waste, my own, my own! [_She moves from him. He rises_] Why are you silent, pale, and heaven-still?

_Ard._ I must be still. I've mourned my heart-walls thin. This joy will break them. Joy to hear your voice With love's mate-music in it cry to me. My joy! I'll drink it all, nor lose one drop, For I shall have no more.

_Ber._ No more? No less Than life can hold!

_Ard._ Hear me, my lord.

_Ber._ You love me!

_Ard._ I shall not be your wife.

_Ber._ You're mine--all mine!

_Ard._ You hold your vow yet sacred, breaking it By the sole might of love. You do not feel The vision round you in whose light that vow Falls like a grave-cloth from an angel's limbs. Ah, Christ would be no bridal guest of ours, Shut out by your heart's fear. [_He stands as if stricken_] You see 'tis true. You listen for his sanction, and you hear The ring of your own vow. [_He sits bowed_] You hear it now Above your passion's chime. 'Twill fill the air When love's mad bells grow quiet, and your soul Asks the old question. Let me then be far From thee, nor stay to be a claspèd fire Eating thy side.

_Ber._ You'll heal me of my fear. [_Reaching his hands to her_] My fountain and my palm!

_Ard._ Your doubt would stir Beneath your tenderest deep. My nearing step Would as a trumpet start its buried storm To sweep our meeting eyes.

_Ber._ If Christ would give A sign,--leave me no choice,--no other way

_Ard._ The torch of Fate but blinds us when the heart Beareth no light.

_Ber._ Not Fate, but Heaven--there I'd read my sign.

_Ard._ Hope not, my lord, that Heaven Will drive me to your arms. Farewell.

_Ber._ No, no! To keep you I'll dare hell----

_Ard._ Dare hell? My love Walks not that fiery verge, but waits thine own In regions nearer God. There we shall meet, And there will be no hell. [_Turns to go, but is drawn back by his grief_] Thou art a prince Of Christ. Arise and rule this land for him. There is no sin in you. You've kissed my hands, And they are bright as stars!

_Ber._ O, can you go? You do not love me. In your breast are wings-- No heart, but wings that seek the mountain sky. Go perch above me, leave me dying here. And cool your bosom with a virgin song To mateless heaven!

_Ard._ Who is cruel now? You have the world to feed on, need not eat Your heart as I must--I, the woman. Dear, Where Kidmir cliffs climb highest to the sky I'll keep my watch, but thou shall rise above me In thought of men. O'er all discerning shall Thy purpose wing, perhaps be drunk of clouds, But light shall follow where thine aim has sped, And leading upward with your comrade world, My Kidmir shall seem lowly, where I walk With stintless ache beneath the cedar boughs On pain's moon nights. And oh, the Springs to pass, When each bride-bud shall be a wound to me, When grasses young, and softly pushing moss, Shall urge my feet like fire, and I must stand Quite still ... quite still ... with all my unborn babes Dead in my heart.

_Ber._ [_Motionless_] You dare not leave me now. You dare not, Ardia.

_Ard._ I dare not stay.

[_As she nears the great doors they rumble shut and are noisily barred without_]

_Ard._ Ho! Open, open, open! I pray you, open! [_Beats on door, then leans to the silence_] Shut in ... shut in! So Oswald's treachery Begins with me. My father, we are lost. You are to die, and I--to-morrow, oh, My honor will go wasting on the fields With every soldier's breath! You hear, my lord? We are shut in....

_Ber._ The miracle!

_Ard._ Together....

_Ber._ The sign! the sign!

_Ard._ For all the night....

_Ber._ For all Eternity! There is no other way. I take you as from Christ. My bride, my bride!

[Curtain]