Page:Stories from Old English Poetry-1899.djvu/210

188 Duke of Albany, her husband, that she might be free to unite herself to Edmund. Albany openly accused Goneril of her crime, and showed her the letter in which she had plotted against his life. Then Goneril went out from Albany’s presence maddened to frenzy, and first giving Regan a draught of deadly poison, she stabbed herself, and news was brought to the camp of the miserable end of both these unnatural women.

As soon as he could, while all these horrors were happening, the Duke sent to Lear’s prison to have him liberated; but alas! he sent too late. Edmund had before given orders that the prisoners should be secretly murdered, and when they arrived at the prison, they met Lear bearing out Cordelia in his arms, quite dead. It was pitiful to see how the old wronged king wept this last dear daughter, whose love had proved the only real love of all. He laid his ear upon her heart, to see if there were not the faintest beat, and watched eagerly for one little sign of breath; and when he found that she lay cold and still, his poor heart, that had borne so many sorrows, gave way at last, and with one bursting sigh, quite broke, and he fell dead beside her.

Such was the tragic end of King Lear and his three daughters.