Crime & punishment > Peveril of the peak, or, The days of Charles II

PEVERIL OF THE PEAK.
Act II.
Jul. Sorrow, Master Bridgenorth, finds little rest
on either. Tell me, 1 beseech you, what is to be
the fate of my parents, and why you separate me
from them ?
Major B. Julian Peveril, for thy mother’s sake
did I take thee from the grasp of those who thirst¬
ed for thee—For her sake have I brought thee a pri-
soner here, but to aid thy flight—a secret passage
from this room secures thy safety ; and, with the j
means I will provide, lose not a moment—make ;
for Liverpool; and, for the present, fly a kingdom
which—
Jul. Major Bridgenorth, your pardon for this in- ’
terruption, but I will not deceive thee :—Were I to I
accept your offer, it would be to attend my parents; j
they are in sorrow, and in danger—I am their only -
child—their only hope—and I will aid or perish with ■
them.
Major B. Aid them thou canst not—perish with
them thou mayest, and e’en accelerate their ruin, by j
being proved the accredited agent of Charlotte of
Derby.
Jul. What reason have you for such an allega-
Major B. Let this suffice. Hear me repeat the
last words of that woman, when you left her castle.
Thus she spoke:—“ I am a forlorn woman whom
sorrow has made selfish.”
Jul. By what mysterious means you have pro¬
cured your information I know not; but I do defy
it, as far as it attaches guilt to me or to that noble
Countess.
Major B. Perish then in thine obstinacy. For
the preserver of my Alice, your good mother, I
would have saved thee: But share the folly of thy
father, and die the death. [Exit.
JuL For what am I reserved ? Oh, dearest Alice ! .