_Or._ So then, all's over; I've betray'd my secret, And stuck a poison'd dagger in her heart, Her innocent heart. Why, what a wretch am I! Ruin approaches;--shall I tamely meet it, And dally with destruction till it blast me? No, I will fly thee, Julia, fly for ever. Ah, fly! what then becomes of Emmelina? Shall I abandon _her_? it must be so; Better escape with this poor wreck of honour, Than hazard all by staying--Rivers here? _Enter_ RIVERS. _Riv._ The same. My other self! My own Orlando! I came to seek thee; 'twas in thy kind bosom My suffering soul repos'd its secret cares, When doubts and difficulties stood before me; And now, now, when my prosperous fortune shines, And gilds the smiling hour with her bright beams, Shall I become a niggard of my bliss, Defraud thee of thy portion of my joys, And rob thee of thy well-earn'd claim to share them? _Or._ That I have ever lov'd thee, witness Heaven! That I have thought thy friendship the best blessing That mark'd the fortune of my happier days, I here attest the sovereign Judge of hearts! Then think, O think, what anguish I endure, When I declare, in bitterness of spirit, That we must part---- _Riv._ What does Orlando mean? _Or._ That I must leave thee, Rivers; must renounce Thy lov'd society. _Riv._ Thou hast been injur'd; Thy merit has been slighted; sure my father, Who knew how dear I held thee, would not wrong thee. _Or._ He is all goodness; no--there is a cause---- Seek not to know it. _Riv._ Now, by holy friendship! I swear thou shalt not leave me; what! just now, When I have safely pass'd so many perils, Escap'd so many deaths, return'd once more To the kind arms of long-desiring friendship; Just now, when I expected such a welcome, As happy souls in Paradise bestow Upon a new inhabitant, who comes To taste their blessedness, you coldly tell me You will depart; it must not be, Orlando. _Or._ It must, it must. _Riv._ Ah, must! then tell me wherefore? _Or._ I would not dim thy dawn of happiness, Nor shade the brighter beams of thy good fortune, With the dark sullen cloud that hangs o'er mine. _Riv._ Is this the heart of him I call'd my friend, Full of the graceful weakness of affection? How have I known it bend at my request! How lose the power of obstinate resistance, Because his friend entreated! This Orlando! How is he chang'd! _Or._ Alas, how chang'd indeed! How dead to every relish of delight! How chang'd in all but in his love for thee! Yet think not that my nature is grown harder, That I have lost that ductile, yielding heart; Rivers, I have not--oh! 'tis still too soft; E'en now it melts, it bleeds in tenderness-- Farewell!--I dare not trust myself--farewell! _Riv._ Then thou resolv'st to go? _Or._ This very day.