JULIA
               You have often told me
That a bad compromise was better even
Than a good verdict.

VALDESSO.
                 Yes, in suits at law;
Not in religion.  With the human soul
There is no compromise.  By faith alone
Can man be justified.

JULIA.
                 Hush, dear Valdesso;
That is a heresy.  Do not, I pray you,
Proclaim it from the house-top, but preserve it
As something precious, hidden in your heart,
As I, who half believe and tremble at it.

VALDESSO.
I must proclaim the truth.

JULIA.
                           Enthusiast!
Why must you?  You imperil both yourself
And friends by your imprudence.  Pray, be patient.
You have occasion now to show that virtue
Which you lay stress upon.  Let us return
To our lost pathway.  Show me by what steps
I shall walk in it.
                  [Convent bells are heard.

VALDESSO.
                  Hark! the convent bells
Are ringing; it is midnight; I must leave you.
And yet I linger.  Pardon me, dear Countess,
Since you to-night have made me your confessor,
If I so far may venture, I will warn you
Upon one point.

JULIA.
      What is it?  Speak, I pray you,
For I have no concealments in my conduct;
All is as open as the light of day.
What is it you would warn me of?

VALDESSO.
                      Your friendship
With Cardinal Ippolito.

JULIA.
                       What is there
To cause suspicion or alarm in that,
More than in friendships that I entertain
With you and others?  I ne'er sat with him
Alone at night, as I am sitting now
With you, Valdesso.

VALDESSO.
            Pardon me; the portrait
That Fra Bastiano painted was for him.
Is that quite prudent?

JULIA.
              That is the same question
Vittoria put to me, when I last saw her.
I make you the same answer.  That was not
A pledge of love, but of pure gratitude.
Recall the adventure of that dreadful night
When Barbarossa with two thousand Moors
Landed upon the coast, and in the darkness
Attacked my castle.  Then, without delay,
The Cardinal came hurrying down from Rome
To rescue and protect me.  Was it wrong
That in an hour like that I did not weigh
Too nicely this or that, but granted him
A boon that pleased him, and that flattered me?

VALDESSO.
Only beware lest, in disguise of friendship
Another corsair, worse than Barbarossa,
Steal in and seize the castle, not by storm
But strategy.  And now I take my leave.

JULIA.
Farewell; but ere you go look forth and see
How night hath hushed the clamor and the stir
Of the tumultuous streets.  The cloudless moon
Roofs the whole city as with tiles of silver;
The dim, mysterious sea in silence sleeps;
And straight into the air Vesuvius lifts
His plume of smoke.  How beautiful it is!
                   [Voices in the street.

GIOVAN ANDREA.
Poisoned at Itri.

ANOTHER VOICE.
         Poisoned?  Who is poisoned?

GIOVAN ANDREA.
The Cardinal Ippolito, my master.
Call it malaria.  It was sudden.
                    [Julia swoons.

V.

VITTORIA COLONNA

A room in the Torre Argentina.

VITTORIA COLONNA and JULIA GONZAGA.

VITTORIA.
Come to my arms and to my heart once more;
My soul goes out to meet you and embrace you,
For we are of the sisterhood of sorrow.
I know what you have suffered.

JULIA.
                          Name it not.
Let me forget it.

VITTORIA.
                  I will say no more.
Let me look at you.  What a joy it is
To see your face, to hear your voice again!
You bring with you a breath as of the morn,
A memory of the far-off happy days
When we were young.  When did you come from Fondi?

JULIA.
I have not been at Fondi since--

VITTORIA.
                             Ah me!
You need not speak the word; I understand you.

JULIA.
I came from Naples by the lovely valley
The Terra di Lavoro.

VITTORIA.
                    And you find me
But just returned from a long journey northward.
I have been staying with that noble woman
Renee of France, the Duchess of Ferrara.

JULIA.
Oh, tell me of the Duchess.  I have heard
Flaminio speak her praises with such warmth
That I am eager to hear more of her
And of her brilliant court.

VITTORIA.
                    You shall hear all
But first sit down and listen patiently
While I confess myself.

JULIA.
                      What deadly sin
Have you committed?

VITTORIA.
                  Not a sin; a folly
I chid you once at Ischia, when you told me
That brave Fra Bastian was to paint your portrait.

JULIA
Well I remember it.

VITTORIA.
                  Then chide me now,
For I confess to something still more strange.
Old as I am, I have at last consented
To the entreaties and the supplications
Of Michael Angelo--