To fall'n deserted merit, she will have;
And such security as should-be heirs,
Who stand i' the way of younger, petted minions,
Find in the house of an estranged sire,
Her children will receive.—Alas, alas!
The very bonds of soul-devoted love,
That did so long entwine a husband's heart,
For her own life the cord of execution
Will surely prove.—Detested cruelty!
But is it so? My head is all confusion,
My heart all fire;—I know not what thou said'st.
MONTEBESA.
To hold discourse on such a wayward subject.
She whom thou lov'st so dearly as a brother,
I as a mother do most truly love.
Let this suffice thee, and retire awhile,
For I expect Artina, and 't is meet
She be not now overwhelm'd with thy distress.
Ha! she is here already; tripping lightly
With sparkling eyes, like any happy child,
Who bears away the new-robb'd rock-bird's spoil.
Enter Artina, gayly, with an embroidered scarf of many colours in her hand, and running up to Montebesa.
ARTINA.
