im._]
O welcome to thy King! Thrice welcome!

REZON; [_Leaving his seat and coming toward NAAMAN._]
Stay!
The leper must appear before the priest,
The only one who can pronounce him clean.

[_NAAMAN turns; they stand looking each other in the face._]

Yea,--thou art cleansed: Rimmon hath pardoned thee,--
In answer to the daily prayers of her
Whom he restores to thine embrace,--thy wife.

[_TSARPI comes slowly toward NAAMAN._]

NAAMAN:
From him who rules this House will I receive
Nothing! I seek no pardon from his priest,
No wife of mine among his votaries!

TSARPI: [_Holding out her hands._]
Am I not yours? Will you renounce our vows?

NAAMAN:
The vows were empty,--never made you mine
In aught but name. A wife is one who shares
Her husband's thought, incorporates his heart
With hers by love, and crowns him with her trust.
She is God's remedy for loneliness,
And God's reward for all the toil of life.
This you have never been to me,--and so
I give you back again to Rimmon's House
Where you belong. Claim what you will of mine,--
Not me! I do renounce you,--or release you,--
According to the law. If you demand
A further cause than what I have declared,
I will unfold it fully to the King.

REZON: [_Interposing hurriedly._]
No need of that! This duteous lady yields
To your caprice as she has ever done;
She stands a monument of loyalty
And woman's meekness.

NAAMAN:
Let her stand for that!
Adorn your temple with her piety!
But you in turn restore to me the treasure
You stole at midnight from my tent.

REZON:
What treasure? I have stolen none from you.

NAAMAN:
The very jewel of my soul,--Ruahmah!
My King, the captive maid of Israel,
To whom thou didst commit my broken life
With letters to Samaria,--my light,
My guide, my saviour in this pilgrimage,--
Dost thou remember?

BENHADAD:
I recall the maid,--
But dimly,--for my mind is old and weary.
She was a fearless maid, I trusted her
And gave thee to her charge. Where is she now?

NAAMAN:
This robber fell upon my camp by night,--
While I was with Elisha at the Jordan,--
Slaughtered my soldiers, carried off the maid,
And holds her somewhere in imprisonment.
O give this jewel back to me, my King,
And I will serve thee with a grateful heart
For ever. I will fight for thee, and lead
Thine armies on to glorious victor