Come, 'tis but a few steps down that shady path, and we are
safe--a few steps and quickly trod. Hark! the respite is past even now.
Do you stand there marble still? Helen, if you stay here, we shall see
you no more. This lover of yours hates us all. He will take you to
England when the war is over if you outlive its bloody hazards, and we
are parted for ever. I shall see you no more, Helen, my child; my child,
I shall see you no more. (_She sinks upon the chair, and weeps aloud_.)
_Helen_. Has it come to this? Will you break my heart? If it were
continents and oceans that you bade me cross, but those few steps--Ah,
they would sever me from him for ever, and I cannot, I cannot, I
can _not_ take them,--there is no motion so impossible. Yes, they are
calling us. Do not stay.
(_Annie enters_.)
_Annie_. Mother, will you tell me what this means?
_Mrs. G_. Yes, come in. We will waste no more time about it. She will
stay here to meet her lover, she will forsake us for a traitor. We have
nursed an enemy among us. The babe I cherished in this bosom, whose
sleeping face I watched with a young mother's love, hath become my
enemy.
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