Ozm. What I resolve, I must not let her know;
But honour has decreed she must not go. 
What she resolves, I must prevent with care;
She shall not in my fame or danger share. 
I’ll give strict order to the guards which wait,
That, when she comes, she shall not pass the gate. 
Fortune, at last, has run me out of breath;
I have no refuge but the arms of death: 
To that dark sanctuary I will go;
She cannot reach me when I lie so low. [Exit.

SCENE III.—­The Albayzyn.

Enter, on one side, ALMANZOR, ABDALLA, ABDELMELECH, ZULEMA, HAMET. On the other side, the Duke of ARCOS, BOABDELIN, LYNDARAXA, and their Party.  After which the bars are opened; and at the same time BOABDELIN and ABDALLA pass by each other, each to his Party; when ABDALLA is passed on the other side, the Duke of ARCOS approaches the bars, and calls to ALMANZOR.

D.  Arcos. The hatred of the brave with battles ends,
And foes, who fought for honour, then are friends. 
I love thee, brave Almanzor, and am proud
To have one hour when love may be allowed. 
This hand, in sign of that esteem, I plight;
We shall have angry hours enough to fight. [Giving his hand.

Almanz. The man who dares, like you, in fields appear,
And meet my sword, shall be my mistress here. 
If I am proud, ’tis only to my foes;
Rough but to such who virtue would oppose. 
If I some fierceness from a father drew,
A mother’s milk gives me some softness too.

D.  Arcos. Since first you took, and after set me free,
(Whether a sense of gratitude it be,
Or some more secret motion of my mind,
For which I want a name that’s more than kind)
I shall be glad, by whate’er means I can,
To get the friendship of so brave a man;
And would your unavailing valour call,
From aiding those whom heaven has doomed to fall. 
We owe you that respect,
Which to the gods of foes besieged was shown,
To call you out before we take your town.

Almanz. Those whom we love, we should esteem them too,
And not debauch that virtue which we woo. 
Yet, though you give my honour just offence,
I’ll take your kindness in the better sense;
And, since you for my safety seem to fear,
I, to return your bribe, should wish you here. 
But, since I love you more than you do me,
In all events preserve your honour free;
For that’s your own, though not your destiny.

D.  Arcos. Were you obliged in honour by a trust,
I should not think my own proposals just;
But since you fight for an unthankful king,
What loss of fame can change of parties bring?

Almanz. It will, and may with justice too be thought,
That some advantage in that change I sought. 
And though I twice have changed for wrongs received,
That it was done for profit none believed. 
The king’s ingratitude I knew before;
So that can be no cause of changing more. 
If now I stand, when no reward can be,
’Twill show the fault before was not in me.