'Yet I must be Queen someday'
Eloise had sobbed in parting
The Boy had begged for a reprieve
'One more hour before departing'
He looked into her eyes tormented
Until Eloise relented
'One last time we'll meet at midnight
Take our final leave by moonlight'
Concealed from the grieving pair
Her cruel half-brother took the air
And heard their sorrow o'er the wall
And comprehended all
His companion Libertine
Did not hear and had not seen
But discerned within the Prince
An eagerness not seen since
Last they hunted 'longside hounds
A'slaughtering without the grounds
'Soon we hunt again my friend
But before this good day end
My Trophy Room you must see'
The Libertine grinned brutishly
The Wanton ushered him within
A gallery of heads and skin
'Whichever fur whichever skull
Ask me - I remember well
How each ran and how it died'
Proclaimed the Wanton puffed with pride
Upon the desk a little thing
Fascinates the Libertine
'Tell me then if you dare
The story of the little bear'
'I was only nine years old
And had not been blooded
My father took me to the woods
Where the tracks are muddied
I pointed out the little rat
My father shook his head
But with my crossbow I took aim
And shot the vermin dead
That was not the end of sport
The mother in full cry
Burst upon us unawares
I saw my servants die
She roared and swung a bloody paw
Suddenly they were no more
Soon she too was dead and gone
Unless we count the skin upon
Her back which now, complete with head
Adorns the place where you tread'
The Libertine indeed was stood
Upon a bearskin black as blood
'We'll blooded was I on that day
Yet ever something brings dismay
That little rat's hidden twin
Never could I find again'
The Wanton paused in grim reflection
Then a smile lit his complexion
'Despite this glory all around
The hunt is passe - I have found
I tire of killing flesh and bone
Now I must kill for hearth and home
Let me tell you of my scheme'
The Wanton said to the Libertine
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