from Canto I

151

“Was it for this you took your sudden journey,
     Under pretence of business indispensible
With that sublime of rascals your attorney,
     Whom I see standing there, and looking sensible
Of having play’d the fool? though both I spurn, he
     Deserves the worst, his conduct’s less defensible,
Because, no doubt, ‘twas for his dirty fee,
And not from any love to you nor me.

152

“If he comes here to take a deposition,
     By all means let the gentleman proceed;
You’ve made the apartment in a fit condition:—
     There’s pen and ink for you, sir, when you need—
Let every thing be noted with precision,
    I would not you for nothing should be fee’d—
But, as my maid’s undrest, pray turn your spies out.”
“Oh!” sobb’d Antonia, “I could tear their eyes out.”

153

“There is the closet, there the toilet, there
     The anti-chamber—search them under, over;
There is the sofa, there the great arm-chair,
     The chimney—which would really hold a lover.
I wish to sleep, and beg you will take care
     And make no further noise, till you discover
The secret cavern of this lurking treasure—
And when ‘tis found, let me, too, have that pleasure.

154

“And now, Hidalgo! now that you have thrown
     Doubt upon me, confusion over all,
Pray have the courtesy to make it known
    Who is the man you search for? how d’ye call
Him? what’s his lineage? let him but be shown—
     I hope he’s young and handsome—is he tall?
Tell me—and be assured, that since you stain
My honour thus, it shall not be in vain.

155

“At least, perhaps, he has not sixty years,
     At that age he would be too old for slaughter,
Or for so young a husband’s jealous fears—
     (Antonia! let me have a glass of water.)
I am ashamed of having shed these tears,
     They are unworthy of my father’s daughter;
My mother dream’d not in my natal hour
That I should fall into a monster’s power.

156

“Perhaps ‘tis of Antonia you are jealous,
     You saw that she was sleeping by my side
When you broke in upon us with your fellows:
     Look where you please—we’ve nothing, sir, to hide;
Only another time, I trust, you’ll tell us,
     Or for the sake of decency abide
A moment at the door, that we may be
Drest to receive so much good company.

157

“And now, sir, I have done, and say no more;
     The little I have said may serve to show
The guileless heart in silence may grieve o’er
     The wrongs to whose exposure it is slow:—
I leave you to your conscience as before,
     ‘Twill one day ask you why you used me so?
God grant you feel not then the bitterest grief!
Antonia! where’s my pocket-handkerchief?”

158

She ceased, and turn’d upon her pillow; pale
     She lay, her dark eyes flashing through their tears,
Like skies that rain and lighten; as a veil,
    Waved and o’ershading her wan cheek, appears
Her streaming hair; the black curls strive, but fail,
    To hide the glossy shoulder, which uprears
Its snow through all;—her soft lips lie apart,
And louder than her breathing beats her heart.

159

The Senhor Don Alfonso stood confused;
    Antonia bustled round the ransack’d room,
And, turning up her nose, with looks abused
     Her master, and his myrmidons, of whom
Not one, except the attorney, was amused;
    He, like Achates, faithful to the tomb,
So there were quarrels, cared not for the cause,
Knowing they must be settled by the laws.

160

With prying snub-nose, and small eyes, he stood,
     Following Antonia’s motions here and there,
With much suspicion in his attitude;
     For reputations he had little care;
So that a suit or action were made good,
     Small pity had he for the young and fair,
And ne’er believed in negatives, till these
Were proved by competent false witnesses.