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

PEVERIL OP THE PEAK.
Act 11.
my spirits fail when I contemplate the scene of
wretchedness before me, and, to secure iny father’s
safety and thy hand, resign those fatal papers which
have involved me in such misery.—(A lute heard.)
—What sounds are these ?
(Alice sings the last verse of the duett in which
she hound Julian to abide by her lady, in the
first act.)
Yes, fairest maid, I understand. You then still
watch over the fortunes of your faithful Julian ; and
but with life will I desert my duty.
A Voice. (Fenella's) is heard behind which says,
—There are others who watch over the safety of Ju¬
lian.
Jul. What witchery is this! ’Tis the voice of a
female, but resembles not the tones of Alice.
Voice. Are no tones welcome to the ears of Ju¬
lian but those of Alice ? Swear to renounce that
maid—Your liberty shall be secured, and your pa¬
rents’ lives, together with your fidelity to the noble
Countess of Derby, preserved inviolate.
Jul. I cannot purchase liberty at such a price.
Voice. Then die in your obstinacy; for Alice and
Julian shall never be united.
Jul. How ?—Never!
Voice. Never ! Thy refusal of my terms has
placed Alice Bridgenorth in the power of one who
hates thee and thine so deeply, that, to* secure thy
misery, her doom is sealed.
Jul. My senses grow bewildered ! Is this a plot
to aid the projects of my jailer; or do, in truth, the
spirits of another world hold converse with us ? ’Tis
said, that, in an hour like this, the evil one has
tempted—has subdued. Alice, let thy pure influ¬
ence watch over and preserve me from every thought
of basely yielding to my enemies.