Don Carlos

          Where have I laid my lute?   I must not seem to wait for him. My song   Shall be a signal to him.

SCENE VIII

The PRINCESS, DON CARLOS.

The PRINCESS has thrown herself upon an ottoman, and plays.

CARLOS (rushes in; he recognizes the PRINCESS, and stands thunderstruck)             Gracious Heaven!   Where am I?PRINCESS (lets her lute fall, and meeting him)   What? Prince Carlos! yes, in truth.CARLOS   Where am I? Senseless error; I have missed   The right apartment.PRINCESS              With what dexterous skill   Carlos contrives to hit the very room   Where ladies sit alone!CARLOS                Your pardon, princess!   I found – I found the antechamber open.PRINCESS   Can it be possible? I fastened it   Myself; at least I thought so —CARLOS                    Ay! you thought,   You only thought so; rest assured you did not.   You meant to lock it, that I well believe:   But most assuredly it was not locked.   A lute's sweet sounds attracted me, some hand   Touched it with skill; say, was it not a lute?

[Looking round inquiringly.

   Yes, there it lies, and Heaven can bear me witness   I love the lute to madness. I became   All ear, forgot myself in the sweet strain,   And rushed into the chamber to behold   The lovely eyes of the divine musician   Who charmed me with the magic of her tones.PRINCESS   Innocent curiosity, no doubt!   But it was soon appeased, as I can prove.      [After a short silence, significantly.   I must respect the modesty that has,   To spare a woman's blushes, thus involved   Itself in so much fiction.CARLOS (with sincerity)                 Nay, I feel   I but augment my deep embarrassment,   In vain attempt to extricate myself.   Excuse me for a part I cannot play.   In this remote apartment, you perhaps   Have sought a refuge from the world, to pour   The inmost wishes of your secret heart   Remote from man's distracting eye. By me,   Unhappy that I am, your heavenly dreams   Are all disturbed, and the atonement now   Must be my speedy absence.

[Going.

PRINCESS (surprised and confused, but immediately recovering herself)                 Oh! that step   Were cruel, prince, indeed!CARLOS                  Princess, I feel   What such a look in such a place imports:   This virtuous embarrassment has claims   To which my manhood never can be deaf.   Woe to the wretch whose boldness takes new fire   From the pure blush of maiden modesty!   I am a coward when a woman trembles.PRINCESS   Is't possible? – such noble self-control   In one so young, and he a monarch's son!   Now, prince, indeed you shall remain with me,   It is my own request, and you must stay.   Near such high virtue, every maiden fear   Takes wing at once; but your appearance here   Disturbed me in a favorite air, and now   Your penalty shall be to hear me sing it.CARLOS (sits down near the PRINCESS, not without reluctance)   A penalty delightful as the sin!   And sooth to say, the subject of the song   Was so divine, again and yet again   I'd gladly hear it.PRINCESS              What! you heard it all?   Nay, that was too bad, prince. It was, I think,   A song of love.CARLOS            And of successful love,   If I mistake not – dear delicious theme   From those most beauteous lips – but scarce so true,   Methinks, as beautiful.PRINCESS                What! not so true?   Then do you doubt the tale?CARLOS                  I almost doubt   That Carlos and the Princess Eboli,   When they discourse on such a theme as love,   May not quite understand each other's hearts.

[The PRINCESS starts; he observes it, and continues with playful gallantry.

   Who would believe those rosy-tinted cheeks   Concealed a heart torn by the pangs of love.   Is it within the range of wayward chance   That the fair Princess Eboli should sigh   Unheard – unanswered? Love is only known   By him who hopelessly persists in love.PRINCESS (with all her former vivacity)   Hush! what a dreadful thought! this fate indeed   Appears to follow you of all mankind,   Especially to-day.

[Taking his hand with insinuating interest.

You are not happy,

   Dear prince – you're sad! I know too well you suffer,   And wherefore, prince? When with such loud appeal   The world invites you to enjoy its bliss —   And nature on you pours her bounteous gifts,   And spreads around you all life's sweetest joys.   You, a great monarch's son, and more – far more —   E'en in your cradle with such gifts endowed   As far eclipsed the splendor of your rank.   You, who in those strict courts where women rule,   And pass, without appeal, unerring sentence   On manly worth and honor, even there   Find partial judges. You, who with a look   Can prove victorious, and whose very coldness   Kindles aflame; and who, when warmed with passion,   Can make a paradise, and scatter round   The bliss of heaven, the rapture of the gods.   The man whom nature has adorned with gifts   To render thousands happy, gifts which she   Bestows on few – that such a man as this   Should know what misery is! Thou, gracious Heaven,   That gavest him all those blessings, why deny   Him eyes to see the conquests he has made?CARLOS (who has been lost in absence of mind, suddenly recovers himself by the silence of the PRINCESS, and starts up)   Charming! inimitable! Princess, sing   That passage, pray, again.PRINCESS (looking at him with astonishment)Where, Carlos, were   Your thoughts the while?CARLOS (jumps up)   By heaven, you do remind me   In proper time – I must away – and quickly.PRINCESS (holding him back)   Whither away?CARLOS           Into the open air.   Nay, do not hold me, princess, for I feel   As though the world behind me were in flames.PRINCESS (holding him forcibly back)   What troubles you? Whence comes these strange, these wild,   Unnatural looks? Nay, answer me!

[CARLOS stops to reflect, she draws him to the sofa to her.

                     Dear Carlos,   You need repose, your blood is feverish.   Come, sit by me: dispel these gloomy fancies.   Ask yourself frankly can your head explain   The tumult of your heart – and if it can —   Say, can no knight be found in all the court,   No lady, generous as fair, to cure you —   Rather, I should have said, to understand you?   What, no one?CARLOS (hastily, without thinking)           If the Princess Eboli —PRINCESS (delighted, quickly)   Indeed!CARLOS        Would write a letter for me, a few words   Of kindly intercession to my father; —   They say your influence is great.PRINCESS                     Who says so?

[Aside.

   Ha! was it jealousy that held thee mute!CARLOS   Perchance my story is already public.   I had a sudden wish to visit Brabant   Merely to win my spurs – no more. The king,   Kind soul, is fearful the fatigues of war   Might spoil my singing!PRINCESS                Prince, you play me false!   Confess that by this serpent subterfuge   You would mislead me. Look me in the face,   Deceitful one! and say would he whose thoughts   Were only bent on warlike deeds – would he   E'er stoop so low as, with deceitful hand,   To steal fair ladies' ribbons when they drop,   And then – your pardon! hoard them – with such care?

[With light action she opens his shirt frill, and seizes a ribbon which is there concealed.

CARLOS (drawing back with amazement)   Nay, princess – that's too much – I am betrayed.   You're not to be deceived. You are in league   With spirits and with demons!PRINCESS                   Are you then   Surprised at this? What will you wager, Carlos   But I recall some stories to your heart?   Nay, try it with me; ask whate'er you please,   And if the triflings of my sportive fancy —   The sound half-uttered by the air absorbed —   The smile of joy checked by returning gloom —   If motions – looks from your own soul concealed   Have not escaped my notice – judge if I   Can err when thou wouldst have me understand thee?CARLOS   Why, this is boldly ventured; I accept   The wager, princess. Then you undertake   To make discoveries in my secret heart   Unknown even to myself.PRINCESS (displeased, but earnestly)                Unknown to thee!   Reflect a moment, prince! Nay, look around;   This boudoir's not the chamber of the queen,   Where small deceits are practised with full license.   You start, a sudden blush o'erspreads your face.   Who is so bold, so idle, you would ask,   As to watch Carlos when he deems himself   From scrutiny secure? Who was it, then,   At the last palace-ball observed you leave   The queen, your partner, standing in the dance,   And join, with eager haste, the neighboring couple,   To offer to the Princess Eboli   The hand your royal partner should have claimed?   An error, prince, his majesty himself,   Who just then entered the apartment, noticed.CARLOS (with ironical smile)   His majesty? And did he really so?   Of all men he should not have seen it.PRINCESS   Nor yet that other scene within the chapel,   Which doubtless Carlos hath long since forgotten.   Prostrate before the holy Virgin's image,   You lay in prayer, when suddenly you heard —   'Twas not your fault – a rustling from behind   Of ladies' dresses. Then did Philip's son,   A youth of hero courage, tremble like   A heretic before the holy office.   On his pale lips died the half-uttered prayer.   In ecstasy of passion, prince – the scene   Was truly touching – for you seized the hand,   The blessed Virgin's cold and holy hand,   And showered your burning kisses on the marble.CARLOS   Princess, you wrong me: that was pure devotion!PRINCESS   Indeed! that's quite another thing. Perhaps   It was the fear of losing, then, at cards,   When you were seated with the queen and me,   And you with dexterous skill purloined my glove.

[CARLOS starts surprised.

   That prompted you to play it for a card?CARLOS   What words are these? O Heaven, what have I done?PRINCESS   Nothing I hope of which you need repent!   How pleasantly was I surprised to find   Concealed within the glove a little note,   Full of the warmest tenderest romance,CARLOS (interrupting her suddenly)   Mere poetry! no more. My fancy teems   With idle bubbles oft, which break as soon   As they arise – and this was one of them;   So, prithee, let us talk of it no more.PRINCESS (leaving him with astonishment, and regarding him for        some time at a distance).   I am exhausted – all attempts are vain   To hold this youth. He still eludes my grasp.      [Remains silent a few moments.   But stay! Perchance 'tis man's unbounded pride,   That thus to add a zest to my delight.   Assumes a mask of timid diffidence.   'Tis so.

[She approaches the PRINCE again, and looks at him doubtingly.

Explain yourself, prince, I entreat you.

   For here I stand before a magic casket,   Which all my keys are powerless to unlock.CARLOS   As I before you stand.PRINCESS (leaves him suddenly, walks a few steps up and down in silence, apparently lost in deep thought. After a pause, gravely and solemnly)               Then thus at last —   I must resolve to speak, and Carlos, you   Shall be my judge. Yours is a noble nature,   You are a prince – a knight – a man of honor.   I throw myself upon your heart – protect me   Or if I'm lost beyond redemption's power,   Give me your tears in pity for my fate.

[The PRINCE draws nearer.

   A daring favorite of the king demands   My hand – his name Ruy Gomez, Count of Silva,   The king consents – the bargain has been struck,   And I am sold already to his creature.CARLOS (with evident emotion)   Sold! you sold! Another bargain, then,   Concluded by this royal southern trader!PRINCESS   No; but hear all – 'tis not enough that I   Am sacrificed to cold state policy,   A snare is laid to entrap my innocence.   Here is a letter will unmask the saint!

[CARLOS takes the paper, and without reading it listens with impatience to her recital.

   Where Shall I find protection, prince? Till now   My virtue was defended by my pride,   At length —CARLOS          At length you yielded! Yielded? No.   For God's sake say not so!PRINCESS                 Yielded! to whom?   Poor piteous reasoning. Weak beyond contempt   Your haughty minds, who hold a woman's favor,   And love's pure joys, as wares to traffic for!   Love is the only treasure on the face   Of this wide earth that knows no purchaser   Besides itself – love has no price but love.   It is the costly gem, beyond all price,   Which I must freely give away, or – bury   For ever unenjoyed – like that proud merchant   Whom not the wealth of all the rich Rialto   Could tempt – a great rebuke to kings! to save   From the deep ocean waves his matchless pearl,   Too proud to barter it beneath its worth!CARLOS (aside)   Now, by great heaven, this woman's beautiful.PRINCESS   Call it caprice or pride, I ne'er will make   Division of my joys. To him, alone,   I choose as mine, I give up all forever.   One only sacrifice I make; but that   Shall be eternal. One true heart alone   My love shall render happy: but that one   I'll elevate to God. The keen delight   Of mingling souls – the kiss – the swimming joys   Of that delicious hour when lovers meet,   The magic power of heavenly beauty – all   Are sister colors of a single ray —   Leaves of one single blossom. Shall I tear   One petal from this sweet, this lovely flower,   With reckless hand, and mar its beauteous chalice?   Shall I degrade the dignity of woman,   The masterpiece of the Almighty's hand,   To charm the evening of a reveller?CARLOS   Incredible! that in Madrid should dwell   This matchless creature! and unknown to me   Until this day.PRINCESS            Long since had I forsaken   This court – the world – and in some blest retreat   Immured myself; but one tie binds me still   Too firmly to existence. Perhaps – alas!   'Tis but a phantom – but 'tis dear to me.   I love – but am not loved in turn.CARLOS (full of ardor, going towards her)                     You are!   As true as God is throned in heaven! I swear   You are – you are unspeakably beloved.PRINCESS   You swear it, you! – sure 'twas an angel's voice.   Oh, if you swear it, Carlos, I'll believe it.   Then I am truly loved!CARLOS (embracing her with tenderness)               Bewitching maid,   Thou creature worthy of idolatry   I stand before thee now all eye, all ear,   All rapture and delight. What eye hath seen thee —   Under yon heaven what eye could e'er have seen thee,   And boast he never loved? What dost thou here   In Philip's royal court! Thou beauteous angel!   Here amid monks and all their princely train.   This is no clime for such a lovely flower —   They fain would rifle all thy sweets – full well   I know their hearts. But it shall never be —   Not whilst I draw life's breath. I fold thee thus   Within my arms, and in these hands I'll bear thee   E'en through a hell replete with mocking fiends.   Let me thy guardian angel prove.PRINCESS (with a countenance full of love)                     O Carlos!   How little have I known thee! and how richly   With measureless reward thy heart repays   The weighty task of – comprehending thee!      [She takes his hand and is about to kiss it.CARLOS (drawing it back)   Princess! What mean you?PRINCESS (with tenderness and grace, looking at his hand attentively)                 Oh, this beauteous hand!   How lovely 'tis, and rich! This hand has yet   Two costly presents to bestow! – a crown —   And Carlos' heart: – and both these gifts perchance   Upon one mortal! – both on one – Oh, great   And godlike gift-almost too much for one!   How if you share the treasure, prince! A queen   Knows naught of love – and she who truly loves   Cares little for a crown! 'Twere better, prince,   Then to divide the treasure – and at once —   What says my prince? Have you done so already?   Have you in truth? And do I know the blest one?CARLOS   Thou shalt. I will unfold myself to thee,   To thy unspotted innocence, dear maid,   Thy pure, unblemished nature. In this court   Thou art the worthiest – first – the only one   To whom this soul has stood revealed.   Then, yes! I will not now conceal it – yes,   I love!PRINCESS        Oh, cruel heart! Does this avowal prove   So painful to thee? Must I first deserve   Thy pity – ere I hope to win thy love?CARLOS (starting)   What say'st thou?PRINCESS             So to trifle with me, prince!   Indeed it was not well – and to deny   The key —CARLOS         The key! the key! Oh yes, 'tis so!

[After a dead silence.

   I see it all too plainly! Gracious heaven!

[His knees totter, he leans against a chair, and covers his face with his hands. A long silence on both sides.

      The PRINCESS screams and falls.PRINCESS   Oh, horrible! What have I done!CARLOS                     Hurled down   So far from all my heavenly joys! 'Tis dreadful!PRINCESS (hiding her face in the cushion)   Oh, God! What have I said?CARLOS (kneeling before her)                  I am not guilty.   My passion – an unfortunate mistake —   By heaven, I am not guilty —PRINCESS (pushing him from her)                  Out of my sight,   For heaven's sake!CARLOS              No, I will not leave thee thus.   In this dread anguish leave thee —PRINCESS (pushing him forcibly away)                     Oh, in pity —   For mercy's sake, away – out of my sight!   Wouldst thou destroy me? How I hate thy presence!

[CARLOS going.

   Give, give me back the letter and the key.   Where is the other letter?CARLOS                  The other letter?PRINCESS   That from the king, to me —CARLOS (terrified)                  From whom?PRINCESS   The one I just now gave you.CARLOS                   From the king!   To you!PRINCESS   Oh, heavens, how dreadfully have I   Involved myself! The letter, sir! I must   Have it again.CARLOS   The letter from the king!   To you!PRINCESS        The letter! give it, I implore you   By all that's sacred! give it.CARLOS                    What, the letter   That will unmask the saint! Is this the letter?PRINCESS   Now I'm undone! Quick, give it me —CARLOS   The letter —PRINCESS (wringing her hands in despair)   What have I done? O dreadful, dire imprudence!CARLOS   This letter comes, then, from the king! Princess,   That changes all indeed, and quickly, too.   This letter is beyond all value – priceless!   All Philip's crowns are worthless, and too poor   To win it from my hands. I'll keep this letter.PRINCESS (throwing herself prostrate before him as he is going)   Almighty Heaven! then I am lost forever.

[Exit CARLOS.

SCENE IX

The PRINCESS alone.

She seems overcome with surprise, and is confounded.

After CARLOS' departure she hastens to call him back.

PRINCESS   Prince, but one word! Prince, hear me. He is gone.   And this, too, I am doomed to bear – his scorn!   And I am left in lonely wretchedness,   Rejected and despised!

[Sinks down upon a chair. After a pause

               And yet not so;   I'm but displaced – supplanted by some wanton.   He loves! of that no longer doubt is left;   He has himself confessed it – but my rival —   Who can she be? Happy, thrice happy one!   This much stands clear: he loves where he should not.   He dreads discovery, and from the king   He hides his guilty passion! Why from him   Who would so gladly hail it? Or, is it not   The father that he dreads so in the parent?   When the king's wanton purpose was disclosed,   His features glowed with triumph, boundless joy   Flashed in his eyes, his rigid virtue fled;   Why was it mute in such a cause as this?   Why should he triumph? What hath he to gain   If Philip to his queen —

[She stops suddenly, as if struck by a thought, then drawing hastily from her bosom the ribbon which she had taken from CARLOS, she seems to recognize it.

                Fool that I am!   At length 'tis plain. Where have my senses been?   My eyes are opened now. They loved each other   Long before Philip wooed her, and the prince   Ne'er saw me but with her! She, she alone   Was in his thoughts when I believed myself   The object of his true and boundless love.   O matchless error! and have I betrayed   My weakness to her?

[Pauses.

              Should his love prove hopeless?   Who can believe it? Would a hopeless love   Persist in such a struggle? Called to revel   In joys for which a monarch sighs in vain!   A hopeless love makes no such sacrifice.   What fire was in his kiss! How tenderly   He pressed my bosom to his beating heart!   Well nigh the trial had proved dangerous   To his romantic, unrequited passion!   With joy he seized the key he fondly thought   The queen had sent: – in this gigantic stride   Of love he puts full credence – and he comes —   In very truth comes here – and so imputes   To Philip's wife a deed so madly rash.   And would he so, had love not made him bold?   'Tis clear as day – his suit is heard – she loves!   By heaven, this saintly creature burns with passion;   How subtle, too, she is! With fear I trembled   Before this lofty paragon of virtue!   She towered beside me, an exalted being,   And in her beams I felt myself eclipsed;   I envied her the lovely, cloudless calm,   That kept her soul from earthly tumults free.   And was this soft serenity but show?   Would she at both feasts revel, holding up   Her virtue's godlike splendor to our gaze,   And riot in the secret joys of vice?   And shall the false dissembler cozen thus,   And win a safe immunity from this   That no avenger comes? By heavens she shall not!   I once adored her, – that demands revenge: —   The king shall know her treachery – the king!

[After a pause.

   'Tis the sure way to win the monarch's ear![Exit

SCENE X

A chamber in the royal palace.

DUKE OF ALVA, FATHER DOMINGO.

DOMINGO   Something to tell me!ALVA               Ay! a thing of moment,   Of which I made discovery to-day,   And I would have your judgment on it.DOMINGO                       How!   Discovery! To what do you allude?ALVA   Prince Carlos and myself this morning met   In the queen's antechamber. I received   An insult from him – we were both in heat —   The strife grew loud – and we had drawn our swords.   Alarmed, from her apartments rushed the queen.   She stepped between us, – with commanding eye   Of conscious power, she looked upon the prince.   'Twas but a single glance, – but his arm dropped,   He fell upon my bosom – gave me then   A warm embrace, and vanished.DOMINGO (after a pause)                   This seems strange.   It brings a something to my mind, my lord!   And thoughts like these I own have often sprung   Within my breast; but I avoid such fancies —   To no one have I e'er confided them.   There are such things as double-edged swords   And untrue friends, – I fear them both.   'Tis hard to judge among mankind, but still more hard   To know them thoroughly. Words slipped at random   Are confidants offended – therefore I   Buried my secret in my breast, till time   Should drag it forth to light. 'Tis dangerous   To render certain services to kings.   They are the bolts, which if they miss the mark,   Recoil upon the archer! I could swear   Upon the sacrament to what I saw.   Yet one eye-witness – one word overheard —   A scrap of paper – would weigh heavier far   Than my most strong conviction! Cursed fate   That we are here in Spain!ALVA                 And why in Spain?DOMINGO   There is a chance in every court but this   For passion to forget itself, and fall.   Here it is warned by ever-wakeful laws.   Our Spanish queens would find it hard to sin —   And only there do they meet obstacles,   Where best 'twould serve our purpose to surprise them.ALVA   But listen further: Carlos had to-day   An audience of the king; the interview   Lasted an hour, and earnestly he sought   The government of Flanders for himself.   Loudly he begged, and fervently. I heard him   In the adjoining cabinet. His eyes   Were red with tears when I encountered him.   At noon he wore a look of lofty triumph,   And vowed his joy at the king's choice of me.   He thanked the king. "Matters are changed," he said,   "And things go better now." He's no dissembler:   How shall I reconcile such contradictions?   The prince exults to see himself rejected,   And I receive a favor from the king   With marks of anger! What must I believe?   In truth this new-born dignity doth sound   Much more like banishment than royal favor!DOMINGO   And is it come to this at last? to this?   And has one moment crumbled into dust   What cost us years to build? And you so calm,   So perfectly at ease! Know you this youth?   Do you foresee the fate we may expect   Should he attain to power? The prince! No foe   Am I of his. Far other cares than these   Gnaw at my rest – cares for the throne – for God,   And for his holy church! The royal prince —   (I know him, I can penetrate his soul),   Has formed a horrible design, Toledo!   The wild design – to make himself the regent,   And set aside our pure and sacred faith.   His bosom glows with some new-fangled virtue,   Which, proud and self-sufficient, scorns to rest   For strength on any creed. He dares to think!   His brain is all on fire with wild chimeras;   He reverences the people! And is this   A man to be our king?ALVA               Fantastic dreams!   No more. A boy's ambition, too, perchance   To play some lofty part! What can he less?   These thoughts will vanish when he's called to rule.DOMINGO   I doubt it! Of his freedom he is proud,   And scorns those strict restraints all men must bear   Who hope to govern others. Would he suit   Our throne? His bold gigantic mind   Would burst the barriers of our policy.   In vain I sought to enervate his soul   In the loose joys of this voluptuous age.   He stood the trial. Fearful is the spirit   That rules this youth; and Philip soon will see   His sixtieth year.ALVA             Your vision stretches far!DOMINGO   He and the queen are both alike in this.   Already works, concealed in either breast,   The poisonous wish for change and innovation.   Give it but way, 'twill quickly reach the throne.   I know this Valois! We may tremble for   The secret vengeance of this quiet foe   If Philip's weakness hearken to her voice!   Fortune so far hath smiled upon us. Now   We must anticipate the foe, and both   Shall fall together in one fatal snare.   Let but a hint of such a thing be dropped   Before the king, proved or unproved, it reeks not!   Our point is gained if he but waver. We   Ourselves have not a doubt; and once convinced,   'Tis easy to convince another's mind.   Be sure we shall discover more if we   Start with the faith that more remains concealed.ALVA   But soft! A vital question! Who is he   Will undertake the task to tell the king?DOMINGO   Nor you, nor I! Now shall you learn, what long   My busy spirit, full of its design,   Has been at work with, to achieve its ends.   Still is there wanting to complete our league   A third important personage. The king   Loves the young Princess Eboli – and I   Foster this passion for my own designs.   I am his go-between. She shall be schooled   Into our plot. If my plan fail me not,   In this young lady shall a close ally —   A very queen, bloom for us. She herself   Asked me, but now, to meet her in this chamber.   I'm full of hope. And in one little night   A Spanish maid may blast this Valois lily.ALVA   What do you say! Can I have heard aright?   By Heaven! I'm all amazement. Compass this,   And I'll bow down to thee, Dominican!   The day's our own.DOMINGO             Soft! Some one comes: 'tis she —   'Tis she herself!ALVA             I'm in the adjoining room   If you should —DOMINGO            Be it so: I'll call you in.

[Exit ALVA.