Scene
The Guest Room of the Convent
HUGO, ERIC, and ORION. Enter URSULA, AGATHA, and Nuns.
Ursula:Hugo, we reject thine offers,Not that we can buySafety from the Church’s coffers,Neither can we fly.Far too great the price they seek is,Let their lawless throngCome, we wait their coming; weak isMan, but God is strong.
Eric:Think again on our proposals:It will be too lateWhen the robbers hold carousalsOn this side the gate.
Ursula:For myself I speak and othersWeak and frail as I;We will not desert our brothersIn adversity.
Hugo (to the Nuns):Does the Abbess thus advance herWill before ye all?
A Nun:We will stay.
Hugo: Is this thine answer,Agatha? The wallIs a poor protection truly,And the gates are weak,And the Norsemen most unruly.Come, then.
A Nun (to Agatha): Sister, speak!
Orion (aside to Hugo):Press her! She her fears dissembling,Stands irresolute;She will yield—her limbs are trembling,Though her lips are mute.[A trumpet is heard without.]
Eric:Hark! their savage war-horn blowingChafes at our delay.
Hugo:Agatha, we must be going.Come, girl!
Agatha (clinging to Ursula): Must I stay?
Ursula:Nay, my child, thou shalt not make meJudge; I cannot giveOrders to a novice.
Agatha: Take me,Hugo! Let me live!
Eric (to Nuns):Foolish women! will ye tarry,Spite of all we say?
Hugo:Must we use our strength and carryYou by force away?
Ursula:Bad enough thou art, Sir Norman,Yet thou wilt not doThis thing. Shame!—on men make war, man,Not on women few.
Eric:Heed her not—her life she barters,Of her free accord,For her faith; and, doubtless, martyrsHave their own reward.
Ursula:In the Church’s cause thy fatherNever grudged his blade—Hugo, did he rue it?
Orion: Rather!He was poorly paid.
Hugo:Abbess, this is not my doing;I have said my say;How can I avert the ruin,Even for a day,Since they count two hundred fairly,While we count a score;And thine own retainers barelyCount a dozen more?
Agatha (kneeling to Ursula):Ah! forgive me, Lady Abbess,Bless me ere I go;She who under sod and slab isLying, cold and low,Scarce would turn away in angerFrom a child so frail;Not dear life, but deadly danger,Makes her daughter quail.
Hugo:Eric, will those faces tearfulTo God’s judgment seatHaunt us?
Eric: Death is not so fearful.
Hugo: No, but life is sweet—Sweet for once, to me, though sinful.
Orion (to Hugo): Earth is scant of bliss;Wisest he who takes his skinfulWhen the chance is his.
(To Ursula):Lady Abbess! stay and welcomeOsric’s savage crew;Yet when pains of death and hell come,Thou thy choice may’st rue.
Ursula (to Orion):What dost thou ’neath roof-trees sacred?Man or fiend, depart!
Orion:Dame, thy tongue is sharp and acrid,Yet I bear the smart.
Ursula (advancing and raising up a crucifix):I conjure thee by this symbolLeave us![Orion goes out hastily.]
Hugo: Ha! the knave,He has made an exit nimble;Abbess! thou art brave.Yet once gone, we’re past recalling,Let no blame be mine.See, thy sisters’ tears are fallingFast, and so are thine.
Ursula:Fare you well! The teardrop splashesVainly on the ice.Ye will sorrow o’er our ashesAnd your cowardice.
Eric:Sorry am I, yet my sorrowCannot alter fate;Should Prince Otto come to-morrow,He will come too late.
Hugo:Nay, old comrade, she hath spokenWords we must not hear;Shall we pause for sign or token—Taunted twice with fear?Yonder, hilt to hilt adjusted,Stand the swords in which we trustedYears ago. Their blades have rusted,So, perchance, have we.Ursula! thy words may shame us,Yet we once were counted famous,Morituri, salutamus,Aut victuri, te! [They go out.]