_Enter Agrippina, Fulvia, and Attendants._ _AGRIPPINA._ My dearest daughter, I have longed for this embrace. Where else but here Beside this sacred tomb should we have met? I should have been much with thee in thy sorrow, But am forbidden the palace. _Oct._ I must thank thee Doing this grace to my unhappy brother. The gods grant thee kind messages. Farewell. _Agr._ Nay, go not thus. See how I hang these garlands. _Oct._ Not there, nay, not on mine; not there! thy grief 1891 Must own a lower place; mix not its show With mine. He was my brother. _Agr._ Thou art right. Set them here, Fulvia. If my heart is wronged, ’Tis done unwittingly; thou canst not know. _Oct._ I leave thee. _Agr._ Grant one word. _Oct._ Would’st thou be kind ’Twill be but one. _Agr._ ’Tis this then: I am kind. In sum ’twas this I came to say. _Oct._ If hither Thou didst but come to seek me, know I had chosen The hour to be alone. _Agr._ My dearest child, 1900 My injured child! See, I would have thee trust My friendship. ’Twas my constant, loving wish To right thy brother’s wrongs, and now my heart Is wholly turned on thee. _Oct._ Think not of me. Am I not past all help? nor do I crave The help that leads to death. _Agr._ O never dream That I had hand in that accursèd deed. The terror of it rather hath possessed My purpose with the justice of revenge. 1909 _Oct._ I cannot thank thee, and from thy messengers Have gathered all. There’s nought to say. Farewell. _Agr._ Thou dost not know Poppæa marries Cæsar. _Oct._ Ay. _Agr._ Thou consentest? _Oct._ Say, would my refusal Or my consent be counted? _Agr._ It shall not be. _Oct._ It matters not. _Agr._ Thou lookest for divorce? _Oct._ Can I remain his wife who killed my brother? _Agr._ Thou art the last branch of the house of Claudius, And if thou wilt forget the hurt now done thee, May’st yet retrieve thy blood; but being too proud, Wilt more dishonour what thou seemest to honour. If now thou’rt brave, and wilt join hands with me...