Page:Keats - Poetical Works, DeWolfe, 1884.djvu/395

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OTHO THE GREAT.
379

ACT IV.

Scene I. — Auranthe's Apartment.

Auranthe and Conrad discovered.

 Conrad. Well, well, I know what ugly jeopardyWe are caged in; you need not pester thatInto my ears. Prythee, let me be sparedA foolish tongue, that I may bethink meOf remedies with some deliberation.You cannot doubt but ’tis in Albert’s powerTo crush or save us?
 Auranthe. No, I cannot doubt.He has, assure yourself, by some strange means,My secret; which I ever hid from him,Knowing his mawkish honesty.
 Conrad.Cursed slave!
 Auranthe. Ay, I could almost curse him now myself.Wretched impediment! evil genius!A glue upon my wings, that cannot spread,When they should span the provinces! A snake,A scorpion, sprawling on the first gold step,Conducting to the throne high canopied.
 Conrad. You would not hear my counsel, when his lifeMight have been trodden out, all sure and hush’d;Now the dull animal forsooth must beIntreated, managed! When can you contriveThe interview he demands?
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