“I care not!” said the Jew, rendered desperate
by paternal affection; “do thy worst. My
daughter is my flesh and blood, dearer to me a thousand
times than those limbs which thy cruelty threatens.
No silver will I give thee, unless I were to pour it
molten down thy avaricious throat—–no,
not a silver penny will I give thee, Nazarene, were
it to save thee from the deep damnation thy whole
life has merited! Take my life if thou wilt, and
say, the Jew, amidst his tortures, knew how to disappoint
the Christian.”
“We shall see that,” said Front-de-Boeuf;
“for by the blessed rood, which is the abomination
of thy accursed tribe, thou shalt feel the extremities
of fire and steel!—–Strip him, slaves,
and chain him down upon the bars.”
In spite of the feeble struggles of the old man, the
Saracens had already torn from him his upper garment,
and were proceeding totally to disrobe him, when the
sound of a bugle, twice winded without the castle,
penetrated even to the recesses of the dungeon, and
immediately after loud voices were heard calling for
Sir Reginald Front-de-Boeuf. Unwilling to be found
engaged in his hellish occupation, the savage Baron
gave the slaves a signal to restore Isaac’s
garment, and, quitting the dungeon with his attendants,
he left the Jew to thank God for his own deliverance,
or to lament over his daughter’s captivity, and
probable fate, as his personal or parental feelings
might prove strongest.
Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words
Can no way change you to a milder form,
I’ll woo you, like a soldier, at arms’
end,
And love you ’gainst the nature of love, force
you.
Two Gentlemen of Verona
The apartment to which the Lady Rowena had been introduced
was fitted up with some rude attempts at ornament
and magnificence, and her being placed there might
be considered as a peculiar mark of respect not offered
to the other prisoners. But the wife of Front-de-Boeuf,
for whom it had been originally furnished, was long
dead, and decay and neglect had impaired the few ornaments
with which her taste had adorned it. The tapestry
hung down from the walls in many places, and in others
was tarnished and faded under the effects of the sun,
or tattered and decayed by age. Desolate, however,
as it was, this was the apartment of the castle which
had been judged most fitting for the accommodation
of the Saxon heiress; and here she was left to meditate
upon her fate, until the actors in this nefarious
drama had arranged the several parts which each of
them was to perform. This had been settled in
a council held by Front-de-Boeuf, De Bracy, and the
Templar, in which, after a long and warm debate concerning
the several advantages which each insisted upon deriving
from his peculiar share in this audacious enterprise,
they had at length determined the fate of their unhappy
prisoners.
It was about the hour of noon, therefore, when De
Bracy, for whose advantage the expedition had been
first planned, appeared to prosecute his views upon
the hand and possessions of the Lady Rowena.
