_Ber._ 'Twill do. (_Comes forward._) What have you done? The charming Julia is dissolv'd in woe, Her radiant eyes are quench'd in floods of tears; For you they fall; her blushes have confess'd it. _Or._ For me? what say'st thou? Julia weep for me! Yet she is gentle, and she would have wept For thee; for any who but seem'd unhappy. _Ber._ Ungrateful! _Or._ How? _Ber._ Not by her tears, I judge, But by her words not meant for me to hear. _Or._ What did she say? What didst thou hear, good Bertrand? Speak--I'm on fire. _Ber._ It is not safe to tell you. Farewell! I would not injure Rivers. _Or._ Stay, Or tell me all, or I renounce thy friendship. _Ber._ That threat unlocks my tongue; I must not lose thee. Sweet Julia wept, clasp'd her fair hands, and cried, Why was I left a legacy to Rivers, Robb'd of the power of choice? Seeing me she started, Would have recall'd her words, blush'd, and retir'd. _Or._ No more; thou shalt not tempt me to my ruin; Deny what thou hast said, deny it quickly, Ere I am quite undone; for, oh! I feel Retreating virtue touches its last post, And my lost soul now verges on destruction. --Bertrand, she promis'd to defer the marriage. _Ber._ Then my point's gain'd; that will make Rivers jealous. [_Aside._ She loves you. _Or._ No; and even if she did, I have no hope. _Ber._ You are too scrupulous. Be bold and be successful; sure of this, There is no crime a woman sooner pardons Than that of which her beauty is the cause. _Or._ Shall I defraud my friend? he bled to gain her! What! rob the dear preserver of my life Of all that makes the happiness of his? And yet her beauty might excuse a falsehood; Nay, almost sanctify a perjury. Perdition's in that thought--'twas born in hell. My soul is up in arms, my reason's lost, And love, and rage, and jealousy, and honour, Pull my divided heart, and tear my soul. [_Exit._ _Ber._ Rave on, and beat thy wings; poor bird! thou'rt lim'd, And vain will be thy struggles to get loose. --How much your very honest men lack _prudence_! Though all the nobler virtues fill one scale, Yet place but Indiscretion in the other; In worldly business, and the ways of men, That single folly weighs the balance down, While all th' ascending virtues kick the beam. Here's this Orlando now, of rarest parts, Honest, heroic, generous, frank, and kind As inexperience of the world can make him; Yet shall this single weakness, this _imprudence_, Pull down unheard-of plagues upon his head, And snare his heedless soul beyond redemption: While dull unfeeling hearts, and frozen spirits, Sordidly safe, secure, because untempted, Look up and wonder at the generous crime They wanted wit to frame, and souls to dare. ACT IV. SCENE--_An Apartment._