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Scene II.] THE VARANGIAN. 323
T' abide thine utmost wrath ;
The deaths-man on me do his fatal office,
and when thou bidd'st
I shall forgive thee with my latest breath,
And pray for blessings on thine honoured head.
My doom is fixed : but heed thou my last words,
Beware thy Norman wife ! She knows no mercy,
For harder is she than the nether rock,
And her base heart swells like th' envenomed toad
Found hidden in its centre.
JUDITH.
Mark you this ?
Unmannered ruffian ! may all evil things,
All curses human nature e'er endured,
Light on thee, and thy death the prelude be
To fiercer plagues hereafter !
WALTHEOF.
Peace, dear wife :
Descend not to such wrath. Who waits within ?
Enter Attendants.
Hence to a dungeon lead this guilty man.
A crime hath he committed, which demands
His death at early dawn. [Exit Hereward, guarded.
JUDITH.
Why not to-day ? why not this very hour ?
WALTHEOF.
Be thou less eager, lady, for his blood.
To him who sought my life, I'd not deny
A fitting time to make his peace with Heaven,
Life ! what is life
JUDITH.
Compared, my lord, with honour, whose deep wounds
Y2