voice—­methinks I hear it now, his voice
                When, after a broad flash that filled the cave,
                He said to me, that he had seen his Child,
                A face (no cherub’s face more beautiful)
                Revealed by lustre brought with it from heaven;
                And it was you, dear Lady!

IDONEA God be praised,
                That I have been his comforter till now! 
                And will be so through every change of fortune
                And every sacrifice his peace requires.—­
                Let us be gone with speed, that he may hear
                These joyful tidings from no lips but mine.

    [Exeunt IDONEA and Pilgrims.]

SCENE—­The Area of a half-ruined Castle—­on one side the entrance to a dungeon—­OSWALD and MARMADUKE pacing backwards and forwards.

MARMADUKE ’Tis a wild night.

OSWALD I’d give my cloak and bonnet
              For sight of a warm fire.

MARMADUKE The wind blows keen;
              My hands are numb.

OSWALD Ha! ha! ’tis nipping cold.
     [Blowing his fingers.]
              I long for news of our brave Comrades; Lacy
              Would drive those Scottish Rovers to their dens
              If once they blew a horn this side the Tweed.

MARMADUKE I think I see a second range of Towers;
              This castle has another Area—­come,
              Let us examine it.

OSWALD ’Tis a bitter night;
              I hope Idonea is well housed.  That horseman,
              Who at full speed swept by us where the wood
              Roared in the tempest, was within an ace
              Of sending to his grave our precious Charge: 
              That would have been a vile mischance.

MARMADUKE It would.

OSWALD Justice had been most cruelly defrauded.

MARMADUKE Most cruelly.

OSWALD As up the steep we clomb,
              I saw a distant fire in the north-east;
              I took it for the blaze of Cheviot Beacon: 
              With proper speed our quarters may be gained
              To-morrow evening.

[He looks restlessly towards the mouth of the dungeon.]

MARMADUKE When, upon the plank,
              I had led him ’cross [4] the torrent, his voice blessed me: 
              You could not hear, for the foam beat the rocks
              With deafening noise,—­the benediction fell
              Back on himself; but changed into a curse.

OSWALD As well indeed it might.

MARMADUKE And this you deem
              The fittest place?