with Eglamore--
GRACIOSA Think how unhappy I would be if even now I loved you, and how I would loathe myself!
THE DUKE It is his nature to scheme, and he weaves his plots as inevitably as the spider does her web--
GRACIOSA But I am getting angry over nothing. Nothing has happened except that I have dreamed--of a Guido. And there is no Guido. There is only an Eglamore, a lackey in attendance upon his master.
THE DUKE Believe me, it is wiser to forget this clever lackey--as I do--except when there is need of his services. I think that you have no more need to consider him--
_He takes the girl's hand. GRACIOSA now looks at him as though seeing him for the first time. She is vaguely frightened by this predatory beast, but in the main her emotion is as yet bewilderment._
THE DUKE For you are very beautiful, Graciosa. You are as slim as a lily, and more white. Your eyes are two purple mirrors in each of which I see a tiny image of Duke Alessandro. (_GUIDO takes a step forward, and the DUKE now addresses him affably._) Those nuns they are fetching me are big high-colored wenches with cheeks like apples. It is not desirable that women should be so large. Such women do not inspire a poet. Women should be little creatures that fear you. They should have thin plaintive voices, and in shrinking from you should be as slight to the touch as a cobweb. It is not possible to draw inspiration from a woman's beauty unless you comprehend how easy it would be to murder her.
GUIDO (_Softly, without expression._) God, God!
_The DUKE looks with delight at GRACIOSA, who stands bewildered and childlike._
THE DUKE You fear me, do you not, Graciosa? Your hand is soft and cold as the skin of a viper. When I touch it you shudder. I am very tired of women who love me, of women who are infatuated by my beauty. You, I can see, are not infatuated. To you my touch will always be a martyrdom, you will always loathe me. And therefore I shall not weary of you for a long while, because the misery and the helplessness of my lovely victim will incite me to make very lovely verses.
_He draws her to the bench, sitting beside her._
THE DUKE Yes, Graciosa, you will inspire me. Your father shall have all the wealth and state that even his greedy imaginings can devise, so long as you can contrive to loathe me. We will find you a suitable husband--say, in Eglamore here. You shall have flattery and titles, gold and fine glass, soft stuffs and superb palaces and many lovely jewels--
_The DUKE glances down at the pedler's pack._
THE DUKE But Eglamore also has been wooing you with jewels. You must see mine, dear Graciosa.
GRACIOSA (_Without expression._) Count Eglamore said that I must.
THE DUKE (_Raises the necklace, and lets it drop contemptuously._) Oh, not such trumpery as this. I have in Florence gems which have not their fellows anywhere, gems which have not even a name, and the value of which is incalculable. I have jewels engendered by the thunder, jewels taken from the heart of the Arabian deer. I have jewels cut from the brain of a toad, and from the eyes of serpents. I have jewels which are authentically known to have fallen from the moon. Well, we will select the rarest, and have a pair of slippers encrusted with them, and in these slippers you shall dance for me, in a room that I know of--
GUIDO (_Without moving._) Highness--!
THE DUKE It will all be very amusing, for I think that she is now quite innocent, as pure as the high angels. Yes, it will be diverting to make her as I am. It will be an atrocious action that will inspire me to write lovelier verses than even I have ever written.
GUIDO She is a child--
THE DUKE Yes, yes, a frightened child who cannot speak, who stays as still as a lark that has been taken in a snare. Why, neither of her sisters can compare with this, and, besides, the elder one had a quite ugly mole upon her thigh--But that old rogue Balthazar Valori has a real jewel to offer, this time. Well, I will buy it.
GUIDO Highness, I love this child--
THE DUKE Ah, then you cannot ever be her husband. You would have suited otherwise. But we will find some other person of discretion--
_For a moment the two men regard each other in silence. The DUKE becomes aware that he is being opposed. His brows contract a little, but he rises from the bench rather as if in meditation than in anger. Then GUIDO drops the cloak and gloves he has been holding until this. His lackeyship is
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