Duchess monologue (Act 3) — The Duchess of Padua

He was asleep; Come closer, love, and I will tell you all. I had resolved to kill myself to-night. About an hour ago I waked from sleep, And took my dagger from beneath my pillow, Where I had hidden it to serve my need, And drew it from the sheath, and felt the edge, And thought of you, and how I loved you, Guido, And turned to fall upon it, when I marked The old man sleeping, full of years and sin; There lay he muttering curses in his sleep, And as I looked upon his evil face Suddenly like a flame there flashed across me, There is the barrier which Guido spoke of: You said there lay a barrier between us, What barrier but he?— I hardly know What happened, but a steaming mist of blood Rose up between us two.