Prologue 19
Othello looked at Brabatio seated at the
head of the table. They are still waiting for the one other guest to arrive.
The old member of Senate was getting irritated that the others are here, but
not his loved one; the daughter he had named Desdemona. She soon arrived, and
did not offer any curtsy bow to the one other who was also at the table; Lady
Alicia of Venice.
"Dear Desdemona, please greet our
guests." Brabatio looked sternly at her. The daughter of his looked up and
nodded to her father. She then nodded to the dark masked man and the several
guests in attendance, but stopped short of the lady who sat opposite her.
"And what of Lady Alicia? She is also
my guest." Brabatio was clearly then very upset. Desdemona looked to the
lady and leaned over.
"He snores and farts in the night.
Oh, the stench of it would even drive the rats to the cellar." Desdemona
told the lady who reacted with the disbelief in her eyes.
"Ah! Shut the fake expression. I am
just cautioning you not to be sway by the gold and coins in his care. They are
mine by law on his death." Desdemona continued on. The lady in focus was
upset and stood up to announce her departure from the table. The other guests
of her entourage chose to follow suit leaving Othello, Cassio and Brabatio
there with the errant young lady.
"What devil had taken your senses,
Desdemona? Lady Alicia was our guest....." Brabatio spoke to his daughter.
"She would not be anymore. Neither
would she spread herself for you, Father. I would not have her take over my
mother's bed." Desdemona stood up and looked to the other two.
"My mother died a long time ago, but
her spirits roam these walls. If my father choose to re-marry, he can do it in
another house." Desdemona made her statement and left the table. Cassio
got up and followed her. Othello looked to the departing couple and then back
at the older man.
"I think I would be leaving now,
Brabatio." Othello announced.
"No, please. Stay. I am in need of
some comforting." Brabatio looked to the doorway which his daughter had
taken. "I had tried to get a new mother for Desdemona, to quell her
....unruly manners, but she had desisted all my requests, and
....choices."
"I am sure Desdemona loved her mother
and ...." Othello tried to justify the outburst by the lady.
"Oh, you are not aware of her antics
as yet. You hardly knew her. Cassio did, as he was at his father side when they
came to visit us. Desdemona is a outspoken lady like her mother, and a believer
in fighting for the unprivileged or the so called innocents. She once argued
with me on the plight of a beggar who came to my kitchen for food."
Othello laughed and then apologized to the
older man.
"I am most amused at the lady's
character. Truly a strong one, and yet ....." Othello was cut off.
"Yeah, she is. If you can command a
Legion, perhaps one day you may over her." Brabatio hinted over. Othello
continued his laughter.
"Me? With my dark mask, many of them
shied away. I doubt I would be good for her. Cassio may be the one."
Othello was seldom wrong in his judgment, but the night he was very wrong to
assumed otherwise.
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