ANGELICA.-O, my dear lady! how shall I be grateful For so much kindness? Remember that you come again to-morrow. ANGELICA. I will. And may the blessed Virgin guard you, And all good angels. PRECIOSA. [Exit. May they guard thee too, And all the poor; for they have need of angels. Now bring me, dear Dolores, my basquina, My richest maja dress,-my dancing dress, And my most precious jewels! Make me look Fairer than night e'er saw me! I've a prize To win this day, worthy of Preciosa! (Enter BELTRAN CRUZADO.) CRUZADO.-Ave Maria! PRECIOSA. O God! my evil genius! What seekst thou here to-day? CRUZADO. - Thyself, my child! PRECIOSA. What is thy will with me? Gold! gold! PRECIOSA.-I gave thee yesterday; I have no more. CRUZADO. The gold of the Busné 20-give me his gold! PRECIOSA.-I gave the last in charity to-day. PRECIOSA. CRUZADO.-Curses upon thee! child! It is the truth. Thou art not my Hast thou given gold away, and not to me? PRECIOSA. Who needs it more. CRUZADO. To one No one can need it more. PRECIOSA.-Thou art not poor. CRUZADO. What, I, who lurk about In dismal suburbs and unwholesome lanes; I, who am housed worse than the galley slave, I, who am fed worse than the kenneled hound; I, who am clothed in rags,-Beltran Cruzado, Not poor! PRECIOSA. hands. Thou hast a stout heart and strong Thou canst supply thy wants; what wouldst thou more? CRUZADO.- The gold of the Busné! give me his gold! PRECIOSA.-Beltran Cruzado! hear me once for all. I speak the truth. So long as I had gold, CRUZADO. Thou shalt no longer And if I have it not, dwell here in rich Wear silken dresses, feed on dainty food, What! march again? CRUZADO.-Ay, with all speed. I hate the crowded town! I cannot breathe shut up within its gates! Beltran Cruzado, Count of the Calés ! 21 PRECIOSA.-God speed thee on thy march!-] cannot go. CRUZADO.-Remember who I am, and who thou art! Be silent and obey! Yet one thing more. PRECIOSA (with emotion).-O, I beseech thee! Too feeble to resist, and do not force me CRUZADO. O child, child, child Woe is me! [Erit. Befall what may; they cannot take that from me [Exu. SCENE 11. A room in the ARCHBISHOP's Palace. The ARCHBISHOP and ú CARDINAL seated. ARCHBISHOP.-Knowing how near it touched the public morals, And that our age is grown corrupt and rotten CARDINAL. ARCHBISHOP. Know and approve. That, by a mandate from his Holiness, CARDINAL. It was a cruel sport. ARCHBISHOP. And farther, 1 trust for ever. A barbarous pastime, Disgraceful to the land that calls itself CARDINAL. Yet the people Among the Roman populace of old, And therefore have induced your grace to see (Enter a servant.) SERVANT. The dancing-girl, and with her the musicians Your grace was pleased to order, wait without. ARCHBISHOP.-Bid them come in. Now shall your eyes behold In what angelic yet voluptuous shape (Enter PRECIOSA, with a mantle thrown over her head. She advances slowly, in a modest, half-timid attitude.) CARDINAL (side).-O what a fair and ministering angel - Was lost to heaven when this sweet woman fell! PRECIOSA (kneeling before the Archbishop).I have obeyed the order of your grace. If I intrude upon your better hours, I proffer this excuse, and here beseech Your holy benediction. ARCHBISHOP. May God bless thee, And lead thee to a better life. Arise. CARDINAL (aside).-Her acts are modest, and her words discreet! I did not look for this! Come hither, child. PRECIOSA. Thus I am called. CARDINAL. That is a Gipsy name. father? Who is thy PRECIOSA.-Beltran Cruzado, Count of the Calés. ARCHBISHOP.-I have a dim remembrance of that man; He was a bold and reckless character, A sunburnt Ishmael! CARDINAL. Thy earlier days? PRECIOSA. Dost thou remember Yes; by the Darro's side My childhood passed. I can remember still The river, and the mountains capped with snow; The villages, where, yet a little child, I told the traveller's fortune in the street; The march across the moor; the halt at noon; Gardens and palace walls. ARCHBISHOP. 'Tis the Alhambra, Under whose towers the Gipsy camp was pitched. |