MARMADUKE There was a time, when this protecting hand
              Availed against the mighty; never more
              Shall blessings wait upon a deed of mine.

IDONEA Wild words for me to hear, for me, an orphan,
              Committed to thy guardianship by Heaven;
              And, if thou hast forgiven me, let me hope,
              In this deep sorrow, trust, that I am thine
              For closer care;—­here, is no malady.
      [Taking his arm.]

MARMADUKE There, is a malady—­
    (Striking his heart and forehead.) And here, and here,
              A mortal malady.—­I am accurst: 
              All nature curses me, and in my heart
              Thy curse is fixed; the truth must be laid bare. 
              It must be told, and borne.  I am the man,
              (Abused, betrayed, but how it matters not)
              Presumptuous above all that ever breathed,
              Who, casting as I thought a guilty Person
              Upon Heaven’s righteous judgment, did become
              An instrument of Fiends.  Through me, through me,
              Thy Father perished.

IDONEA Perished—­by what mischance?

MARMADUKE Beloved!—­if I dared, so would I call thee—­
              Conflict must cease, and, in thy frozen heart,
              The extremes of suffering meet in absolute peace.
          [He gives her a letter.]

IDONEA (reads)
              “Be not surprised if you hear that some signal judgment
              has befallen the man who calls himself your father; he is
              now with me, as his signature will shew:  abstain from
              conjecture till you see me. 
              “HERBERT. 
              “MARMADUKE.” 
              The writing Oswald’s; the signature my Father’s: 
       (Looks steadily at the paper.)
              And here is yours,—­or do my eyes deceive me? 
              You have then seen my Father?

MARMADUKE He has leaned
              Upon this arm.

IDONEA You led him towards the Convent?

MARMADUKE That Convent was Stone-Arthur Castle.  Thither
              We were his guides.  I on that night resolved
              That he should wait thy coming till the day
              Of resurrection.

IDONEA Miserable Woman,
              Too quickly moved, too easily giving way,
              I put denial on thy suit, and hence,
              With the disastrous issue of last night,
              Thy perturbation, and these frantic words. 
              Be calm, I pray thee!

MARMADUKE Oswald—­

IDONEA Name him not.

[Enter Female Beggar.]