Aquil. Ney, then—

Anto. Hold, hold, thy love, thy lord, thy hero Shall be preserv’d and safe.

Aquil. Or may this poniard
Rust in thy heart.

Anto. With all my soul.

Aquil. Farewell—

[Exit Aquilina

Anto. Adieu. Why, what a bloody-minded, inveterate, termagant strumpet have I been plagued with! Oh- h-h yet more! nay then I die, I die—I am dead already.

[Stretches himself out.

Enter Jaffeir.

Jaff. Final destruction seize on all the world:
Bend down, ye heavens, and shutting round this earth,
Crush the vile globe into its first confusion;
Scorch it, with elemental flames, to one curst cinder,
And all us little creepers in’t, called men,
Burn, burn to nothing: but let Venice burn
Hotter than all the rest: here kindle hell
Ne’er to extinguish, and let souls hereafter
Groan here, in all those pains which mine feels now.

Enter Belvidera.

Belv. My life—

[Meeting him.

Jaff. My plague—

[Turning from her.

Belv. Nay then I see my ruin
If I must die!

Jaff. No, Death’s this day too busy,
Thy father’s ill-timed mercy came too late.
I thank thee for thy labours though and him too,
But all my poor betray’d unhappy friends
Have summons to prepare for Fate’s black hour;
And yet I live.

Belv. Then be the next my doom.
I see thou’st pass’d my sentence in thy heart,
And I’ll no longer weep or plead against it,
But with the humblest, most obedient patience
Meet thy dear hands, and kiss ’em when they wound me;
Indeed I’m willing, but I beg thee do it
With some remorse, and where thou giv’st the blow,
View me with eyes of a relenting love,
And show me pity, for ’twill sweeten justice.

Jaff. Show pity to thee?

Belv. Yes, and when thy hands,
Charg’d with my fate, come trembling to the deed,
As thou hast done a thousand thousand dear times,
To this poor breast, when kinder rage has brought thee,
When our stinged hearts have leaped to meet each other,
And melting kisses sealed our lips together,
When joys have left me gasping in thy arms,
So let my death come now, and I’ll not shrink from’t.

Jaff. Nay, Belvidera, do not fear my cruelty,
Nor let the thoughts of death perplex thy fancy,
But answer me to what I shall demand
With a firm temper and unshaken spirit.

Belv. I will when I’ve done weeping—