# Teresa Contarini/Act IV
## ACT IV
### SCENE I

A street.---Enter Contarini and Steno
Contarini
    Know you his name?
Steno
    Antonio Foscarini.
    The same whom you a short time since despatched
    On the embassy to Switzerland.
Contarini
    So soon
    Returned?
Steno
    Some private cause of haste, it seems,
    Hath brought him hither. But a few days past,
    I know, he was not here.
Contarini
    Well---trace him out,
    He's desperate---and should be removed. Mark you?
Steno
    Signor, 'Tis done.
Contarini
    Be wary---but be speedy.
[ Exit Steno. Enter Fiorilla.
    A lady! I must smooth this troubled brow,
    For such fair meeting.
Fiorilla
    Well---my lord---
Contarini
    Fiorilla!
Fiorilla
    Am I so changed, that you scarce know me, sir?
    Then doth my mirror flatter, for it tells me
    Of features yet unaltered; and in truth
    They might be---for short space of time hath passed
    Since we last met.
Contarini
    They are all radiant still
    With beauty---and would be, though years had striven
    To steal some charm away. But those few days
    Have wrought a change in me. I'm wedded---lady.
Fiorilla
    Wedded? Aye, I have heard the tale---but sooth,
    It dwelt not in my mind. These idle rumors,
    You know, my lord, even when they merit credence,
    So lightly pass us by---we scarce are wont
    To give them heed!
Contarini
    And yet I hoped once, lady,
    Fiorilla would not heedlessly have listened
    To aught that spoke of me!
Fiorilla
    Ha! ha!
Contarini
    My bride---
    You have not seen her! Oh! her gentle beauty
    Might rival yours!
Fiorilla
    Indeed!
Contarini
    The rose perchance
    Upon her cheek wears not a bloom so rich;
    Her brow may be less haughty---but 'Tis moulded
    In form as perfect.
Fiorilla
    Gallant cavalier!
    Why in seclusion veil such matchless charms?
Contarini
    She seeks it.
Fiorilla
    Undisturbed to muse, no doubt,
    On you, to greet you with a dearer welcome
    When you invade her solitude. Happy bridegroom!
    Whom no tormenting sprite of jealousy
    Can haunt! whose treasured flower will yield its sweets
    To him alone---none other!
Contarini
    She would jest;
    Yet plays a smile too mocking on her lips
    For courtesy!---Fiorilla---
Fiorilla
    Nay, my lord---
    I would not that your gracious words be wasted
    On one so worthless, when far dearer cares
    Await you at your home. Your lady, doubtless,
    Mourns for your absence; or---perchance I err,
    Invokes the aid of some more courteous knight
    To while away the hours.
Contarini
    Ha!
Fiorilla
    Only, signor,
    A substitute. When the proud sun withdraws
    His beams, we hail the star---less bright indeed,
    That cheers the gloom.---Methinks I saw but now
    Young Foscarini.---Ho! there.---
Enter Marco
    Farewell my lord---I'll not detain you longer---
[ Exit Contarini.
    Let him go ponder on my words. Hence, Marco,
    Seek Loredano, and entreat his presence
    Now, at my house.
[ Exit Marco.
    I will no longer pause
    But strike the blow, and win a swift revenge!
[ Exit.

### SCENE II

An apartment in Contarini's palace.---Enter Teresa
Teresa
    Let him believe me false! Let him believe
    I spurned at truth---if such a thought can heal
    The bitter wound I planted in his breast!
    But mine---why---let it fester, and grow rank,
    And spread, and spread, till its consuming poison
    Hath eaten life out! Let him curse and hate me!
    Yet that were hard to bear! My misery, sure
    Might claim some pity! I would fain be thought on
    With grief, but not with scorn. I'd be remembered
    Like a dim, far off vision, wan and sad,
    Leaving a mournful yet a softened image,
    Mellowed by passing time to tenderer hues,
    To fade at length, like tremulous light, away!
Enter Stefano with a paper.
Stefano
    Lady---a cavalier without desired me
    To give you this.
Teresa (Takes the paper, looks at it,---then hurriedly averts her head)
    And bade you bring the answer?
Stefano
    He did.
Teresa
    To write to him! to speak with him!
    I must not;---will not! I have reared the barrier
    That aye must sever us, and will abide
    The die which duty cast.---Take it---Stefano---
    Tell him there is no answer.
[ Exit Stefano.
    Cruelty!
    Must we not probe deep, to dig out the venom?
    What matter if he deem me cold and proud?
    I must be so---to him!
Enter Matilda.
Matilda
    Hush! I have tidings.
    The unhappy Foscarini is without,
    And craves to see you.
Teresa
    Me!
Matilda
    For one short moment.
    Oh! had you seen him as he urged the boon---
    So suppliant, so desperate! his voice
    Tremulous with suffering.
Teresa
    Hold---Matilda---hold!
    He is already answered.
Matilda
    How?
Teresa
    You ask?
Matilda
    Oh, do not be so stern! what wrong can chance
    Or harm, if you will grant this poor request?
    But just to bid farewell, he says;---and then
    He'll fly from you for ever, into lands
    Where Venice is unheard of.
Teresa
    Urge no more!
    I will not see him. Let him go---and bury
    All thoughts of me for ever!
Matilda
    He'll not go;
    He will besiege you with his fruitless prayers,
    Though you are deaf to them.---Think of his danger.
Teresa
    What?
Matilda
    His life is sought by secret enemies.
    This is too certain; I myself have heard
    Dark-boding threats from Contarini's lips,
    Uttered when he thought none beheld. You know
    His cold blood-thirsty hate!
Teresa
    Oh, yes---too well!
    Hasten Matilda! warn him---bid him 'scape
    While there is time.
Matilda
    Alas! he will not heed
    Warning, except from you.
Teresa
    What must I do?
Matilda
    Speak to him---bid him leave this fatal place.
    He will obey you. Pause not! your delay
    May seal his fate.
Teresa
    No---no---say I command,
    Command him to be gone! by all that's past---(bitterly)
    The past! what curse is in that word! what claim
    Have I to his obedience?
Matilda
    Dear Teresa,
    Weigh not a fancied duty 'gainst his life;
    Think---should he fall beneath their eager swords---
    And you the cause?
Teresa
    Oh heaven! Away---and tell him
    I come.---I do no wrong---to save the innocent!
    Lead the way---quick---but softly.
[ Exeunt.

### SCENE III

A Garden, near the palace of Contarini. On one side the palace of the Spanish ambassador
Enter Foscarini.
Foscarini
    She would repel me! but I'll see her once
    Before we part for ever: claim her pardon.
    How could I deem her worthless! Oh, what wild
    Playthings of fortune we---who if the cup
    We drink hath aught of bitter---dash it down---
    And madly spurn the sweetness in the dregs!
    We tear the wound---and hate the balm that heals it!
Enter Teresa.
    Teresa!
Teresa
    Signor---
Foscarini
    So cold! then all I feared is true:
    You love me not!
Teresa
    Hush---busy torturer!
    Should I be here, else?
Foscarini (bitterly)
    Such was not your welcome
    When last we met!
Teresa
    And is all else unchanged?
    Look in my face, and read what I have borne
    Since then.
Foscarini
    Alas! so wasted and so wan---
    Yet never half so lovely!
Teresa
    Why---that's well---
    If burning sorrow could dry up life's springs---
    But they flow on---though every fount is sealed
    That could renew them. Strange---that life should cling
    But closer as we strive to shake it off!
    And mock its tenement, though that be worn
    Too thin to harbor it!
Foscarini
    Nay---you talk wildly.
Teresa
    Oh, there has been a weary fever here,
    That scorched---and scorched---as it would sear my brain,
    'Till that grew wayward. All things seemed a vision,
    'Measureless, shadowy---strange---yet dim and fleeting'---
    But I'm awake now!
Foscarini
    Awake to keener grief,
    I would not add to it!
Teresa
    You pity me!
    You have forgiven me! All my fault and wrong,
    And suffering---you know!
Foscarini
    All---but too well.
    I know you guiltless.
Teresa
    No---you know not half
    The wild, bad thoughts I've cherished.---Foscarini,
    I've wished thee dead! I've looked upon the sky
    When the fierce tempest blackened it---and hoped---
    And hoped its wings would sweep thee to destruction!
    Invoked the hoary mountain rocks to crush thee!
    Prayed, as I ne'er before have prayed for weal
    Of thine or mine---for death---ere thou shouldst come
    To find me thus.---Why art thou here?
Foscarini
    I come
    To look on you once more; to hear your voice
    Even in these groves---where we were wont to meet
    In happy hours------
Teresa
    Speak not, speak not of them!
    They're angels, whose accusing voice to heaven
    Doth tell of broken faith, and trampled hopes,
    And injured goodness! They have baneful influence,---
    They made me what I am!
Foscarini
    Mine own Teresa!
    Let me so call you now---blame not yourself
    For what hath severed us. I blame you not.
    Heaven doth attest my truth, I hold you now,
    As pure, as guiltless of all wrong---as when
    I first believed you.
Teresa
    Oh! thou wilt not hate me!
    I bless thee for it! That fear has wrought so oft
    My thoughts to bitterness! It was a phantom
    That haunted me, and mocked my tears! No---no!
    Thy pity, like the angel of Heaven's mercy,
    Will smile---and smile---and soothe me as I pass
    Down to the cold and welcome grave---and then---
    When I am dead---thou'lt think on me---weep for me---
    Wilt thou not, Foscarini?
Foscarini
    Listen to me!
    The victim hath no duties. That forced vow
    Which came not from the heart, and bears no sanction
    Of the consenting will, Heaven did not register.
Teresa
    What mean you?
Foscarini
    You are mine! Good spirits have heard
    Our vows, and sealed those bonds, which mortal hands
    Can never loose. Far from this hated land
    Shine skies as bright---and fields as verdant bloom
    To bless the fond and true. Escape with me.
    The ship is waiting---let it bear us far
    To some propitious clime, where no regrets
    Or misery shall pursue us.
Teresa
    Ha! a fitting
    Companion to your flight! a fugitive wife!
    Whose wife? 'Tis well---peace I have lost---and you
    Would take all that remains!
Foscarini
    Forgive---forgive me!
    'Twas but a thought of madness. It is past.
    I'll not offend again. Now shall you know
    What he can dare, who loses you!
Teresa
    What frenzy
    Gleams in your eye! No---Foscarini---no!
    You could not do so wild, so fierce a wrong,
    Because the blossom of young life is blighted,
    To pluck its stem of verdure from the root!
    Live---for my sake! Hence from this wretched city,
    Where you are watched, and sought for, as the bloodhound
    Doth seek his prey! Go---go! we may not meet
    On earth again.
Foscarini
    So wretched------'
Teresa
    'Happier far
    Than I, since you in liberty may weep;
    While I in secret, chided, must pour forth
    The bitter drops that burn where'er they fall.
    Remain not here'---we part------
Enter Matilda, hastily.
Matilda
    Begone---with speed!
    You're traced, and to this spot. Your husband comes
    With men and torches to arrest him. Hence!
[ to Foscarini.
    Not that way! There they throng the path! This side!
    You may escape them there!
[ points in the direction of the Spanish palace.
Teresa (withholding him)
    No! no! not there!
Matilda
    It is the only way.
Teresa
    The Spaniard dwells there!
    'Tis death to enter these forbidden walls!
    Is it not so decreed?
Foscarini
    'Tis infamy
    To you, if I remain!
Teresa
    You shall not go.
    What is a name to me? Stay---I'll reveal
    All---all to Contarini; I will plead
    Even at his feet! He'll hear me, and will save you!
Foscarini
    You know him not; he'd spurn you, and his slaves
    Would scoff at you. No---no---I choose my death,
    Rather than your disgrace!
Teresa (clinging to him)
    Break not my hold!
    I caused thy danger---I alone! I'll shield thee
    With my entwining arms. They shall not strike---
    Or if they do---mine---mine---shall be the death!
Foscarini
    Love! love! my fate
    Preserves me for embrace so blest as this,
    Only when I must break from it! Oh! death
    Would have such sweetness thus!
[ footsteps heard.
    Hence---let me go!
    They'll not arrest me. I will never fall,
    Trust me, by hands ignoble, while this weapon
    Can serve me truly!
[ breaks from her, and exit. Enter Contarini and Steno, with servants bearing torches.
Contarini
    Ha! the traitor fled!
    But one way's open. Steno---haste---withdraw
    Your trusty men, and search within the walls
    Of yonder palace. He is proved a traitor.
[ Exeunt Steno and servants.
    He's in my toils---and you---so fair and false------
(Tumult---the report of a pistol heard)
Teresa
    Lost! lost!
(Re-enter Steno and servants, dragging in Foscarini , who is wounded. The curtain falls)