The Jewel Merchants | Page 5

creature.
GUIDO (_His hand going to his throat._) You pray too much, madonna. Even very pious people ought to be reasonable.
GRACIOSA (_Rising from the bench._) Have I not reason to hate the man who killed my kinsman?
GUIDO (_Rising from his gems._) The Marquis of Cibo conspired, or so the court judged--
GRACIOSA I know nothing of the judgment. But it was this Eglamore who discovered the plot, if there indeed was any plot, and who sent my cousin Cibo to a death--(_pointing to the shrine_)--oh, to a death as horrible as that. So I hate him.
GUIDO Yet you have never even seen him, I believe?
GRACIOSA And it would be better for him never to see me or any of my kin. My father, my uncles and my cousins have all sworn to kill him--
GUIDO So I have gathered. They remain among the unbought.
GRACIOSA (_Returning, sits upon the bench, and speaks regretfully._) But they have never any luck. Cousin Pietro contrived to have a beam dropped on Eglamore's head, and it missed him by not half a foot--
GUIDO Ah, yes, I remember.
GRACIOSA And Cousin Georgio stabbed him in the back one night, but the coward had on chain-armor under his finery--
GUIDO I remember that also.
GRACIOSA And Uncle Lorenzo poisoned his soup, but a pet dog got at it first. That was very unfortunate.
GUIDO Yes, the dog seemed to think so, I remember.
GRACIOSA However, perseverance is always rewarded. So I still hope that one or another of my kinsmen will contrive to kill this Eglamore before I go to court.
GUIDO (_Sits at her feet._) Has my Lord Balthazar yet set a day for that presentation?
GRACIOSA Not yet.
GUIDO I wish to have this Eglamore's accounts all settled by that date.
GRACIOSA But in three months, Guido, I shall be sixteen. My sisters went to court when they were sixteen.
GUIDO In fact, a noble who is not rich cannot afford to continue supporting a daughter who is salable in marriage.
GRACIOSA No, of course not. (_She speaks in the most matter-of-fact tone possible. Then, more impulsively, the girl slips down from the bench, and sits by him on the around._) Do you think I shall make as good a match as my sisters, Guido? Do you think some great rich nobleman will marry me very soon? And shall I like the court! What shall I see there?
GUIDO Marvels. I think--yes, I am afraid that you will like them.
GRACIOSA And Duke Alessandro--shall I like him?
GUIDO Few courtiers have expressed dislike of him in my presence.
GRACIOSA Do you like him? Does he too buy lavishly?
GUIDO Eh, madonna! some day, when you have seen his jewels--
GRACIOSA Oh! I shall see them when I go to court?
GUIDO Yes, he will show them to you, I think, without fail, for the Duke loves beauty in all its forms. So he will take pleasure in confronting the brightness of your eyes with the brightness of the four kinds of sapphires, of the twelve kinds of rubies, and of many extraordinary pearls--
GRACIOSA (_With eyes shining, and lips parted._) Oh!
GUIDO And you will see his famous emerald necklace, and all his diamonds, and his huge turquoises, which will make you ashamed of your poor talisman--
GRACIOSA He will show all these jewels to me!
GUIDO (_Looking at her, and still smiling thoughtfully._) He will show you the very finest of his gems, assuredly. And then, worse still, he will be making verses in your honor.
GRACIOSA It would be droll to have a great duke making songs about me!
GUIDO It is a preposterous feature of Duke Alessandro's character that he is always making songs about some beautiful thing or another.
GRACIOSA Such strange songs, Guido! I was singing over one of them just before you came,--
Let me have dames and damsels richly clad To feed and tend my mirth, Singing by day and night to make me glad--
But I could not quite understand it. Are his songs thought good?
GUIDO The songs of a reigning duke are always good.
GRACIOSA And is he as handsome as people report?
GUIDO Tastes differ, of course--
GRACIOSA And is he--?
GUIDO I have a portrait of the Duke. It does not, I think, unduly flatter him. Will you look at it?
GRACIOSA Yes, yes!
GUIDO (_Drawing out a miniature on a chain._) Here is the likeness.
GRACIOSA But how should you--?
GUIDO (_Seeing her surprise._) Oh, it was a gift to me from his highness for a special service I did him, and as such must be treasured.
GRACIOSA Perhaps, then, I shall see yon at court, Messer Guido, who are the friend of princes?
GUIDO If you do, I ask only that in noisy Florence you remember this quiet garden.
GRACIOSA (_Looks at him silently, then glances at the portrait. She speaks with evident disappointment._) Is this the Duke?
GUIDO You may see his arms on it, and on the back his inscription.
GRACIOSA Yes, but--(_looking