Act 1 — SCENE IV
Reading edition
A room in the Lord Cardinal Cesare Borgia’s Palace of Borgo Sant’ Angelo.
It is dead midnight: lights are burning. Lord Cardinal Cesare, in the black satin dress of a Spanish gentleman, with jewelled poignard, reclines on a couch. He appears to be sleeping, except that now and again he slowly rolls from hand to hand a gold ball of perfumes. His Spanish page Juanito Grasica is asleep. Behind the couch, across a table, the great ceremonial sword lies naked, and near it is a new purchase, the sleeping Cupid with broken foot of Messer Buonarotti.
Donna Lucrezia Borgia enters with Donna Adriana Orsini, whose hand she clasps: she looses it, and, after a moment’s pause, comes to her brother.
LUCREZIA.
Madonna Adriana brought me here; She stays without: I go back to the convent. Cesare—tell me all that I should pray.
CESARE.
[Turning his head back towards her from the couch.
Amanda, that your scruples be removed; That I be Cesar.
LUCREZIA.
Take a little rest.
CESARE.
Shall you, from prayer? To-night you look a sibyl. Who did this deed?
LUCREZIA.
Let Juan play the lute; You must have music through these restless nights. How lost you look!
CESARE.
You startled me. How lost!
[He closes his eyes.
LUCREZIA.
[Stealing away to Adriana.] He is dreaming; he has quite forgotten me. Come, Adriana, soft! As an astronomer He must not be disturbed: he is quite lost.