Crossing an immense covered bridge, the origin of the Bridge of Sighs at Venice, over the royal gardens, which consisted entirely of cypress, the royal pair, preceded by the pages-in-waiting, entered the council chamber. The council was already a.s.sembled. On either side of a throne of sulphur, from which issued the four infernal rivers of Lethe, Phlegethon, Cocytus, and Acheron, were ranged the Eumenides and Parcae.

Lachesis and her sisters turned up their noses when they observed Proserpine; but the Eumenides could not stifle their fury, in spite of the hints of their more subdued but not less malignant companions.

'What is all this?' inquired Pluto.

'The const.i.tution is in danger,' said the Parcae in chorus.

'Both in church and state,' added the Furies. ''Tis a case of treason and blasphemy;' and they waved their torches and shook their whips with delighted antic.i.p.ation of their use.

'Detail the circ.u.mstances,' said Pluto, waving his hand majestically to Lachesis, in whose good sense he had great confidence.

'A man, a living man, has entered your kingdom, unknown and unnoticed,'

said Lachesis.

'By my sceptre, is it true?' said the astonished King. 'Is he seized?'

'The extraordinary mortal baffles our efforts,' said Lachesis. 'He bears with him a lyre, the charmed gift of Apollo, and so seducing are his strains that in vain our guards advance to arrest his course; they immediately begin dancing, and he easily eludes their efforts. The general confusion is indescribable. All business is at a standstill: Ixion rests upon his wheel; old Sisyphus sits down on his mountain, and his stone has fallen with a terrible plash into Acheron. In short, unless we are energetic, we are on the eve of a revolution.'

'His purpose?'

'He seeks yourself and--her Majesty,' added Lachesis, with a sneer.

'Immediately announce that we will receive him.'

The unexpected guest was not slow in acknowledging the royal summons.

A hasty treaty was drawn up; he was to enter the palace unmolested, on condition that he ceased playing his lyre. The Fates and the Furies exchanged significant glances as his approach was announced.

The man, the live man, who had committed the unprecedented crime of entering h.e.l.l without a licence, and the previous deposit of his soul as security for the good behaviour of his body, stood before the surprised and indignant Court of Hades. Tall and graceful in stature, and crowned with laurels, Proserpine was glad to observe that the man, who was evidently famous, was also good-looking.

'Thy purpose, mortal?' inquired Pluto, with awful majesty.

'Mercy!' answered the stranger in a voice of exquisite melody, and sufficiently embarra.s.sed to render him interesting.

'What is mercy?' inquired the Fates and the Furies.

'Speak, stranger, without fear,' said Proserpine. 'Thy name?'

'Is Orpheus; but a few days back the too happy husband of the enchanting Eurydice. Alas! dread King, and thou too, beautiful and benignant partner of his throne, I won her by my lyre, and by my lyre I would redeem her. Know, then, that in the very glow of our gratified pa.s.sion a serpent crept under the flowers on which we reposed, and by a fatal sting summoned my adored to the shades. Why did it not also summon me?

I will not say why should I not have been the victim in her stead; for I feel too keenly that the doom of Eurydice would not have been less forlorn, had she been the wretched being who had been spared to life. O King! they whispered on earth that thou too hadst yielded thy heart to the charms of love. Pluto, they whispered, is no longer stern: Pluto also feels the all-subduing influence of beauty. Dread monarch, by the self-same pa.s.sion that rages in our b.r.e.a.s.t.s alike, I implore thy mercy.

Thou hast risen from the couch of love, the arm of thy adored has pressed upon thy heart, her honied lips have clung with rapture to thine, still echo in thy ears all the enchanting phrases of her idolatry. Then, by the memory of these, by all the higher and ineffable joys to which these lead, King of Hades, spare me, oh! spare me, Eurydice!'

Proserpine threw her arms round the neck of her husband, and, hiding her face in his breast, wept.

'Rash mortal, you demand that which is not in the power of Pluto to concede,' said Lachesis.

'I have heard much of treason since my entrance into Hades,' replied Orpheus, 'and this sounds like it.'

'Mortal!' exclaimed Clotho, with contempt.

'Nor is it in your power to return, sir,' said Tisiphone, shaking her whip.

'We have accounts to settle with you,' said Megaera.

'Spare her, spare her,' murmured Proserpine to her lover.

'King of Hades!' said Lachesis, with much dignity, 'I hold a responsible office in your realm, and I claim the const.i.tutional privilege of your attention. I protest against the undue influence of the Queen. She is a power unknown in our const.i.tution, and an irresponsible agent that I will not recognise. Let her go back to the drawing-room, where all will bow to her.'

'Hag!' exclaimed Proserpine. 'King of Hades, I, too, can appeal to you.

Have I accepted your crown to be insulted by your subjects?'

'A subject, may it please your Majesty, who has duties as strictly defined by our infernal const.i.tution as those of your royal spouse; duties, too, which, let me tell you, madam, I and _my order_ are resolved to perform.'

'G.o.ds of Olympus!' cried Proserpine. 'Is this to be a Queen?'

'Before we proceed further in this discussion,' said Lachesis, 'I must move an inquiry into the conduct of his Excellency the Governor of the Gates. I move, then, that Cerberus be summoned.

Pluto started, and the blood rose to his dark cheek. 'I have not yet had an opportunity of mentioning,' said his Majesty, in a low tone, and with an air of considerable confusion, 'that I have thought fit, as a reward for his past services, to promote Cerberus to the office of the Master of the Hounds. He therefore is no longer responsible.'

'O-h!' shrieked the Furies, as they elevated their hideous eyes.

'The const.i.tution has invested your Majesty with a power in the appointment of your Officers of State which your Majesty has undoubtedly a right to exercise,' said Lachesis. 'What degree of discretion it antic.i.p.ated in the exercise, it is now unnecessary, and would be extremely disagreeable, to discuss. I shall not venture to inquire by what new influence your Majesty has been guided in the present instance.

The consequence of your Majesty's conduct is obvious, in the very difficult situation in which your realm is now placed. For myself and my colleagues, I have only to observe that we decline, under this crisis, any further responsibility; and the distaff and the shears are at your Majesty's service the moment your Majesty may find convenient successors to the present holders. As a last favour, in addition to the many we are proud to remember we have received from your Majesty, we entreat that we may be relieved from their burthen as quickly as possible.' (Loud cheers from the Eumenides.)

'We had better recall Cerberus,' said Pluto, alarmed, 'and send this mortal about his business.'

'Not without Eurydice. Oh! not without Eurydice,' said the Queen.

'Silence, Proserpine!' said Pluto.

'May it please your Majesty,' said Lachesis, 'I am doubtful whether we have the power of expelling anyone from Hades. It is not less the law that a mortal cannot remain here; and it is too notorious for me to mention the fact that none here have the power of inflicting death.'

'Of what use are all your laws,' exclaimed Proserpine, 'if they are only to perplex us? As there are no statutes to guide us, it is obvious that the King's will is supreme. Let Orpheus depart, then, with his bride.'

'The latter suggestion is clearly illegal,' said Lachesis.

'Lachesis, and ye, her sisters,' said Proserpine, 'forget, I beseech you, any warm words that may have pa.s.sed between us, and, as a personal favour to one who would willingly be your friend, release Eurydice.

What! you shake your heads! Nay; of what importance can be a single miserable shade, and one, too, summoned so cruelly before her time, in these thickly-peopled regions?'

''Tis the principle,' said Lachesis; ''tis the principle. Concession is ever fatal, however slight. Grant this demand; others, and greater, will quickly follow. Mercy becomes a precedent, and the realm is ruined.'

'Ruined!' echoed the Furies.

'And I say _preserved!_' exclaimed Proserpine with energy. 'The State is in confusion, and you yourselves confess that you know not how to remedy it. Unable to suggest a course, follow mine. I am the advocate of mercy; I am the advocate of concession; and, as you despise all higher impulses, I meet you on your own grounds. I am their advocate for the sake of policy, of expediency.'

'Never!' said the Fates.

'Never!' shrieked the Furies.

'What, then, will you do with Orpheus?'