Mortadello

8 MORTADELLO MAGDALENA. I thank you, my good lord. This hand I place in yours. Shall help you to hold fast our land, while life endures. The faith of Mortadello guard, his love keep warm. Alike his city and his ward, from hate and harm. MORTADELLO. God grant it. All is now arranged, the council firm. The houses hostile or estranged all brought to term, The Doge content, the Church well bribed, the navy ours, None left that might have circumscribed our parted powers. That blessed hour that joins our hearts and hands in one Sees also the State’s careless crafts in unison. Enter ORLANDO, by bridge. Seeing MORTADELLO, he shrinks back into the shadow, drops to his knees, and crawls un- perceived across the bridge, hiding on the steps, and listening intently. MAGDALENA. You forget Monica. MORTADELLO. Alone she stands, alone. MAGDALENA. But still she stands. MORTADELLO. With empty hands. MAGDALENA. May grasp a throne. MORTADELLO. Nay, though the snake’s unwounded, low she cringes, crawls And licks the dust. MAGDALENA. I tell you no ! her strength appals. She towers in isolation, as a spire of ice Consummate domination has o’ the precipice. Serene, august, untroubled, cold, her prayers are worth More than our steel, more than our gold, that bind the earth.