Into my chamber through the doors and locks? Art thou a monstrous shadow which my madness

Has formed in the idle air?

DÆMON.

No. I am one

Called by the thought which tyrannizes thee
From his eternal dwelling; who this day
Is pledged to bear thee unto Cyprian.

JUSTINA.

So shall thy promise fail. This agony
Of passion which afflicts my heart and soul 110
May sweep imagination in its storm;

The will is firm.

DÆMON.

Already half is done

In the imagination of an act.

The sin incurred, the pleasure then remains; Let not the will stop half-way on the road.

JUSTINA.

I will not be discouraged, nor despair,
Although I thought it, and although 'tis true
That thought is but a prelude to the deed:-
Thought is not in my power, but action is:
I will not move my foot to follow thee.

DÆMON.

120

But a far mightier wisdom than thine own
Exerts itself within thee, with such power
Compelling thee to that which it inclines
That it shall force thy step; how wilt thou then
Resist, Justina?

'Tis shame, 'tis torment, 'tis despair.

DÆMON.

But how

Canst thou defend thyself from that or me,
If my power drags thee onward?

JUSTINA.

My defence

Consists in God.

[He vainly endeavours to force her, and at last

releases her.

DÆMON.

Woman, thou hast subdued me,

Only by not owning thyself subdued.
But since thou thus findest defence in God,
I will assume a feignèd form, and thus
Make thee a victim of my baffled rage.
For I will mask a spirit in thy form
Who will betray thy name to infamy,
And doubly shall I triumph in thy loss,
First by dishonouring thee, and then by turning
False pleasure to true ignominy.

JUSTINA.

I

140

[Exit.

Appeal to Heaven against thee; so that Heaven
May scatter thy delusions, and the blot
Upon my fame vanish in idle thought,
Even as flame dies in the envious air,
And as the floweret wanes at morning frost,
And thou shouldst never--But, alas! to

whom

Do I still speak?-Did not a man but now 150
Stand here before me?-No, I am alone;
And yet I saw him. Is he gone so quickly?
Or can the heated mind engender shapes
From its own fear? Some terrible and strange
Peril is near. Lisander! father! lord!

Livia!

Enter LISANDER and LIVIA.

LISANDER.

O, my daughter! What?

LIVIA.

What?

JUSTINA.

Saw you

A man go forth from my apartment now?— I scarce contain myself!

'Tis impossible; the doors

Which led to this apartment were all locked.

LIVIA (aside).

I dare say it was Moscon whom she saw,
For he was locked up in

my room.

LISANDER.

It must

Have been some image of thy phantasy.
Such melancholy as thou feedest is
Skilful in forming such in the vain air
Out of the motes and atoms of the day.

LIVIA.

My master's in the right.

160

JUSTINA.

O, would it were

Delusion; but I fear some greater ill.
I feel as if out of my bleeding bosom

170

My heart was torn in fragments; aye,
Some mortal spell is wrought against my frame;
So potent was the charm that, had not God
Shielded humble innocence from wrong,
I should have sought my sorrow and
my shame,
With willing steps.-Livia, quick, bring my
cloke,

my

For I must seek refuge from these extremes
Even in the temple of the highest God
Where secretly the faithful worship.

LIVIA.

JUSTINA (putting on her cloke).

Here.

In this, as in a shroud of snow, may I
Quench the consuming fire in which I burn,
Wasting away!

LISANDER.

And I will go with thee.

LIVIA.

When I once see them safe out of the house

I shall breathe freely.

180

JUSTINA.

So do I confide

In thy just favour, Heaven!

LISANDER.

Let us go.

JUSTINA.

Thine is the cause, great God! turn for
And for thine own, mercifully to me!