Enter Ethwaid.
(Elburga turns away from him proudly.)
Ethw. Elburga, turn and look upon a friend.
Elb. (turning round haughtily, and looking on him with an assumed expression of anger and scornful contempt.)
Take thou a look that well beseems thy worth.
And hie thee hence, false traitor!
Ethw. Yes, I will hie me hence, and with me lead
A fair and beauteous subject to my will;
That will which may not be gainsaid. For now
High heaven, that hath decreed thy father's fall,
Hath also me appointed king of Mercia,
With right as fair as his; which I'll maintain,
And by the proudest in this lordly realm
Will be obey'd, even by thy lofty self.
Elb. Put shackles on my limbs, and o'er my head
Let your barr'd dungeons lowr; then may'st thou say,
"Walk not abroad," and so it needs must be:
But think'st thou to subdue, bold as thou art,
The lofty spirit of king Oswal's daughter?
Go bind the wild winds in thy hollow shield,
And bid them rage no more: they will obey thee.
Ethw. Yes, proud Elburga, I will shackle thee,
But on the throne of Mercia shalt thou sit,
Not in the dungeon's gloom.
Ay, and, albeit the wild winds do refuse
