GUIDO (With as much irony as the pleasure he takes in being again with this dear child permits.) That "Oh, yes, you!" is a very fitting reward for my devotion. For I find that nowadays I travel about the kingdom buying jewels less for my patrons at court than for the pleasure of having your eyes appraise them, and smile at me.
GRACIOSA (With the condescension of a great lady.) Guido, you have in point of fact been very kind to me, and very amusing, too, in my loneliness on the top of this hill. (Drawing back the sleeve from her left arm, she reveals the trinket there.) See, here is the turquoise bracelet I had from you the second time you passed. I wear it always—secretly.
GUIDO That is wise, for the turquoise is a talisman. They say that the woman who wears a turquoise is thereby assured of marrying the person whom she prefers.
GRACIOSA I do not know about that, nor do I expect to have much choice as to what rich nobleman marries me, but I know that I love this bracelet—
GUIDO In fact, they are handsome stones.
GRACIOSA Because it reminds me constantly of the hours which I have spent here with my lute—
GUIDO Oh, with your lute!
GRACIOSA And with your pack of lovely jewels—
GUIDO Yes, to be sure! with my jewels.
GRACIOSA And with you.
GUIDO There is again my gracious lady. Now, in reward for that, you shall feast your eyes.
GRACIOSA (All eagerness.) And what have you to-day?
GUIDO opens his pack. She bends above it with hands outstretched.
GUIDO (Taking out a necklace.) For one thing, pearls, black pearls, set with a clasp of emeralds. See! They will become you.
GRACIOSA (Taking them, pressing them to her cheek.) How cool! But I—poor child of a poor noble—I cannot afford such.
GUIDO Oh, I did not mean to offer them to you to-day. No, this string is intended for the Duke's favorite, Count Eglamore.
GRACIOSA (Stiffening.) Count Eglamore! These are for him?
GUIDO For Count Eglamore.
GRACIOSA Has the upstart such taste?
GUIDO If it be taste to appreciate pearls, then the Duke's chief officer has excellent taste. He seeks them far and wide. He will be very generous in paying for this string.
GRACIOSA drops the pearls, in which she no longer delights. She returns to the bench, and sits down and speaks with a sort of disappointment.
GRACIOSA I am sorry to learn that this Eglamore is among your patrons.
GUIDO (Still half engrossed by the contents of his pack. The man loves jewels equally for their value and their beauty.) Oh, the nobles complain of him, but we merchants have no quarrel with Eglamore. He buys too lavishly.
GRACIOSA Do you think only of buying and selling, Guido?
GUIDO It is a pursuit not limited to us who frankly live by sale and purchase .Count Eglamore, for example, knows that men may be bought as readily as merchandise. It is one reason why he is so hated—by the unbought.
GRACIOSA (Irritated by the title.) Count Eglamore, indeed! I ask in my prayers every night that some honest gentleman may contrive to cut the throat of this abominable creature.
GUIDO (His hand going to his throat.) You pray too much, madonna. Even very pious people ought to be reasonable.
GRACIOSA (Rising from the bench.) Have I not reason to hate the man who killed my kinsman?
GUIDO (Rising from his gems.) The Marquis of Cibo conspired, or so the court judged—
GRACIOSA I know nothing of the judgment. But it was this Eglamore who discovered the plot, if there indeed was any plot, and who sent my cousin Cibo to a death—(pointing to the shrine)—oh, to a death as horrible as that. So I hate him.
GUIDO Yet you have never even seen him, I believe?
GRACIOSA And it would be better for him never to see me or any of my kin. My father, my uncles and my cousins have all sworn to kill him—
GUIDO So I have gathered. They remain among the unbought.
GRACIOSA (Returning, sits upon the bench, and speaks regretfully.) But they have never any luck. Cousin Pietro contrived to have a beam dropped on Eglamore's head, and it missed him by not half a foot—
GUIDO Ah, yes, I remember.
GRACIOSA And Cousin Georgio stabbed him in the back one night, but the coward had on chain-armor under his finery—
GUIDO I remember that also.
GRACIOSA And Uncle Lorenzo poisoned his soup, but a pet dog got at it first. That was very unfortunate.
GUIDO Yes, the dog seemed to think so, I remember.
GRACIOSA However, perseverance is always rewarded. So I still hope that one or another of my kinsmen will contrive to kill this Eglamore before I go to court.
GUIDO (Sits at her feet.) Has my Lord Balthazar yet set a day for that presentation?
GRACIOSA Not yet.
GUIDO I wish to have this Eglamore's accounts all settled by that date.
GRACIOSA But in three months, Guido, I shall be sixteen. My sisters went to court when they were sixteen.
GUIDO In fact, a noble who is not rich cannot afford to continue supporting a daughter who is salable in marriage.
GRACIOSA No, of course not. (She speaks in the most matter-of-fact tone possible. Then, more impulsively, the girl slips down from the bench, and sits by him on the around.) Do you think I shall make as good a match as my sisters, Guido? Do you think some great rich nobleman will marry me very soon? And shall I like the court! What shall I see there?
GUIDO Marvels. I think—yes, I am afraid that you will like them.
GRACIOSA And Duke Alessandro—shall I like him?
GUIDO Few courtiers have expressed dislike of him in my presence.
GRACIOSA Do you like him? Does he too buy lavishly?