[506]Ed.1. “in.”[507]Ed.2. “rand.”[508]Some copies ofed.1. “mazde.”[509]Added ined.2.[510]Ed.1. “led.”—Ed.2. “ledde.”[511]Some copies ofed.1. “try.”[512]The text is not satisfactory, though the meaning is perfectly plain.—Quy. “Judgment is just,yea, e’enfrom,”&c.[513]“i.e.without the ceremony of an usher to give notice of its approach, as is usual in courts. As fine as Shakespeare: ‘the bleak air thy boisterous chamberlain.’”—Charles Lamb.[514]Ed.2. “pierce.”[515]Oldeds.“lou’d.”[516]Oldeds.“bloud.”[517]Oldeds.“What sinne in good,”&c.[518]Cuckolds.[519]To carry coalswas esteemed the vilest employment to which a man could be put.[520]Ed.2. “hath.”[521]“What [ed.1.Of what] religion ... cuckold” (ll.123-137).—This passage is not found in some copies ofed.1.[522]Cf.Day’sIsle of Gulls,iii.1:—“Lys.Thou speak’st like a Christian: prethee what religion art of?Man.How many soever I make use of, I’ll answer with Piavano Orlotto the Italian, I profess the Duke’s only.Demet.What’s his reason for that?Man.A very sound reason: for, says he, I came raw into the world and I would not willingly go roasted out.”[523]Ed.2. “Yfaith.”[524]“There goes but a pair of shears betwixt”—i.e., they are cut out of the same piece. An old proverbial expression.[525]Ed.1. “that.”[526]Omitted ined.2.[527]Ed.1. “Looseth”
[506]Ed.1. “in.”
[507]Ed.2. “rand.”
[508]Some copies ofed.1. “mazde.”
[509]Added ined.2.
[510]Ed.1. “led.”—Ed.2. “ledde.”
[511]Some copies ofed.1. “try.”
[512]The text is not satisfactory, though the meaning is perfectly plain.—Quy. “Judgment is just,yea, e’enfrom,”&c.
[513]“i.e.without the ceremony of an usher to give notice of its approach, as is usual in courts. As fine as Shakespeare: ‘the bleak air thy boisterous chamberlain.’”—Charles Lamb.
[514]Ed.2. “pierce.”
[515]Oldeds.“lou’d.”
[516]Oldeds.“bloud.”
[517]Oldeds.“What sinne in good,”&c.
[518]Cuckolds.
[519]To carry coalswas esteemed the vilest employment to which a man could be put.
[520]Ed.2. “hath.”
[521]“What [ed.1.Of what] religion ... cuckold” (ll.123-137).—This passage is not found in some copies ofed.1.
[522]Cf.Day’sIsle of Gulls,iii.1:—
“Lys.Thou speak’st like a Christian: prethee what religion art of?Man.How many soever I make use of, I’ll answer with Piavano Orlotto the Italian, I profess the Duke’s only.Demet.What’s his reason for that?Man.A very sound reason: for, says he, I came raw into the world and I would not willingly go roasted out.”
[523]Ed.2. “Yfaith.”
[524]“There goes but a pair of shears betwixt”—i.e., they are cut out of the same piece. An old proverbial expression.
[525]Ed.1. “that.”
[526]Omitted ined.2.
[527]Ed.1. “Looseth”
SCENEI.[528]
A room in the Palace.
EnterBiliosoandPassarello.
Bil.Fool, how dost thou like my calf in a long stocking?
Pass.An excellent calf, my lord.
Bil.This calf hath been a reveller this twenty year. When Monsieur Gundi lay here ambassador, I could have carried a lady up and down at arm’s end in a platter; and I can tell you, there were those at that time who, to try the strength of a man’s back and his arm, would be coistered.[529]I have measured calves with most of the palace, and they come nothing near me; besides, I think there be not many armours in the arsenal will fit me, especially for the headpiece. I’ll tell thee—12
Pass.What, my lord?
Bil.I can eat stewed broth as it comes seething off the fire; or a custard as it comes reeking out of the oven; and I think there are not many lords can do it. A good pomander,[530]a little decayed in the scent; but six grains of musk, ground with rose-water, and tempered with a little civet, shall fetch her again presently.
Pass.O, ay, as a bawd with aqua-vitæ.20
Bil.And, what, dost thou rail upon the ladies as thou wert wont?
Pass.I were better roast a live cat, and might do it with more safety. I am as secret to [the] thieves as their painting. There’s Maquerelle, oldest bawd and a perpetual beggar—did you never hear of her trick to be known in the city?
Bil.Never.
Pass.Why, she gets all the picture-makers to draw her picture; when they have done, she most courtly finds fault with them one after another, and never fetcheth them: they, in revenge of this, execute her in pictures as they do in Germany, and hang her in their shops: by this means is she better known to the stinkards than if she had been five times carted.35
Bil.’Fore God, an excellent policy.
Pass.Are there any revels to-night, my lord?
Bil.Yes.
Pass.Good my lord, give me leave to break a fellow’s pate that hath abused me.40
Bil.Whose pate?
Pass.Young Ferrardo, my lord.
Bil.Take heed, he’s very valiant; I have known him fight eight quarrels in five days, believe it.
Pass.O, is he so great a quarreller? why, then, he’s an arrant coward.
Bil.How prove you that?
Pass.Why, thus. He that quarrels seeks to fight; and he that seeks to fight seeks to die; and he that seeks to die seeks never to fight more; and he that will quarrel, and seeks means never to answer a man more, I think he’s a coward.52
Bil.Thou canst prove anything.
Pass.Anything but a rich knave; for I can flatter no man.
Bil.Well, be not drunk, good fool: I shall see you anon in the presence.
[Exeunt.
[528]This scene was added ined.2.[529]Reed suggests that this word may be derived from oldFr.coisser(= incommoder) orcoiter(= presser, exciter). Nares explainscoisteredto mean “coiled up into a small compass.”[530]A ball of perfumed paste, worn round the neck or at the girdle.
[528]This scene was added ined.2.
[529]Reed suggests that this word may be derived from oldFr.coisser(= incommoder) orcoiter(= presser, exciter). Nares explainscoisteredto mean “coiled up into a small compass.”
[530]A ball of perfumed paste, worn round the neck or at the girdle.
SCENEII.
Before the Citadel.
Enter, from opposite sides,MalevoleandMaquerelle,singing.
Mal.The Dutchman for a drunkard,—
Maq.The Dane for golden locks,—
Mal.The Irishman for usquebaugh,—
Maq.The Frenchman for the(——).
Mal.O, thou art a blessed creature! had I a modest woman to conceal, I would put her to thy custody; forno reasonable creature would ever suspect her to be in thy company: ah, thou art a melodious Maquerelle,—thou picture of a woman, and substance of a beast!
EnterPassarellowith wine.
Maq.O fool,[531]will ye be ready anon to go with me to the revels? the hall will be so pestered anon.11
Pass.Ay, as the country is with attorneys.
Mal.What hast thou there, fool?
Pass.Wine; I have learned to drink since I went with my lord ambassador: I’ll drink to the health of Madam Maquerelle.
Mal.Why, thou wast wont to rail upon her.
Pass.Ay; but since I borrowed money of her, I’ll drink to her health now; as gentlemen visit brokers, or as knights send venison to the city, either to take up more money, or to procure longer forbearance.21
Mal.Give me the bowl. I drink a health to Altofront, our deposed duke.
[Drinks.
Pas.I’ll take it [Drinks]:—so. Now I’ll begin a health to Madam Maquerelle.
[Drinks.
Mal.Pooh! I will not pledge her.
Pass.Why, I pledged your lord.
Mal.I care not.
Pass.Not pledge Madam Maquerelle! why, then, will I spew up your lord again with this fool’s finger.30
Mal.Hold; I’ll take it.
[Drinks.
Maq.Now thou hast drunk my health, fool, I am friends with thee.
Pass.Art? art?When Griffon[532]saw the reconcilèd queanOffering about his neck her arms to cast,He threw off sword and heart’s malignant spleen,And lovely her below the loins embrac’d.—Adieu, Madam Maquerelle.
[Exit.
Mal.And how dost thou think o’ this transformation of state now?41
Maq.Verily, very well; for we women always note, the falling of the one is the rising of the other; some must be fat, some must be lean; some must be fools, and some must be lords; some must be knaves, and some must be officers; some must be beggars, some must be knights; some must be cuckolds, and some must be citizens. As for example, I have two court-dogs, the most fawning curs, the one called Watch, the other Catch: now I, like Lady Fortune, sometimes love this dog, sometimes raise that dog, sometimes favour Watch, most commonly fancy Catch. Now, that dog which I favour I feed; and he’s so ravenous, that what I give he never chaws it, gulps it down whole, without any relish of what he has, but with a greedy expectation of what he shall have. The other dognow——56
Mal.No more dog, sweet Maquerelle, no more dog. And what hope hast thou of the Duchess Maria? will she stoop to the duke’s lure? will she come,[533]thinkest?
Maq.Let me see, where’s the sign now? ha’ ye e’er a calendar? where’s the sign, trow you?61
Mal.Sign! why, is there any moment in that?
Maq.O, believe me, a most secret power: look ye, a Chaldean or an Assyrian, I am sure ’twas a most sweet Jew, told me, court any woman in the right sign, you shall not miss. But you must take her in the right vein then; as, when the sign is in Pisces, a fishmonger’s wife is very sociable; in Cancer, a precisian’s wife is very flexible; in Capricorn, a merchant’s wife hardly holds out; in Libra, a lawyer’s wife is very tractable, especially if her husband be at the term; only in Scorpio ’tis very dangerous meddling. Has the duke sent any jewel, any rich stones?73
Mal.Ay, I think those are the best signs to take a lady in.
EnterCaptain.
By your favour, signior, I must discourse with the Lady Maria, Altofront’s duchess; I must enter for the duke.
Capt.She here shall give you interview: I received the guardship of this citadel from the good Altofront, and for his use I’ll keep’t, till I am of no use.80
Mal.Wilt thou? O heavens, that a Christian shouldbe found in a buff-jerkin! Captain Conscience, I love thee, captain. We attend.
[ExitCaptain.
And what hope hast thou of this duchess’ easiness?
Maq.’Twill go hard, she was a cold creature ever; she hated monkeys, fools, jesters, and gentlemen-ushers extremely; she had the vile trick on’t, not only to be truly modestly honourable in her own conscience, but she would avoid the least wanton carriage that might incur suspect; as, God bless me, she had almost brought bed-pressing out of fashion; I could scarce get a fine for the lease of a lady’s favour once in a fortnight.92
Mal.Now, in the name of immodesty, how many maidenheads has thou brought to the block?
Maq.Let me see: heaven forgive us our misdeeds!—Here’s the duchess.
EnterMariawithCaptain.
Mal.God bless thee, lady!
Maria.Out of thy company!
Mal.We have brought thee tender of a husband.
Maria.I hope I have one already.100
Maq.Nay, by mine honour, madam, as good ha’ ne’er a husband as a banished husband; he’s in another world now. I’ll tell ye, lady, I have heard of a sect that maintained, when the husband was asleep the wife might lawfully entertain another man, for then her husband was as dead; much more when he is banished.
Maria.Unhonest creature!
Maq.Pish, honesty is but an art to seem so:Pray ye, what’s honesty, what’s constancy,But fables feign’d, odd old fools’ chat, devis’d110By jealous fools to wrong our liberty?
Mal.Molly, he that loves thee is a duke, Mendoza; he will maintain thee royally, love thee ardently, defend thee powerfully, marry thee sumptuously, and keep thee, in despite of Rosicleer or Donzel del Phebo.[534]There’s jewels: if thou wilt, so; if not, so.
Maria.Captain, for God’s love,[535]save poor wretchednessFrom tyranny of lustful insolence!Enforce me in the deepest dungeon dwell,Rather than here; here round about is hell.—120O my dear’st Altofront! where’er thou breathe,Let my soul sink into the shades beneath,Before I stain thine honour! ’tis[536]thou has’t,And long as I can die, I will live chaste.
Mal.’Gainst him that can enforce how vain is strife!
Maria.She that can be enforc’d has ne’er a knife:She that through force her limbs with lust enrolls,Wants Cleopatra’s asps and Portia’s coals.God amend you!129
[Exit withCaptain.
Mal.Now, the fear of the devil for ever go with thee!—Maquerelle, I tell thee, I have found an honest woman: faith, I perceive, when all is done, there is ofwomen, as of all other things, some good, most bad; some saints, some sinners: for as nowadays no courtier but has his mistress, no captain but has his cockatrice,[537]no cuckold but has his horns, and no fool but has his feather; even so, no woman but has her weakness and feather too, no sex but has his—I can hunt the letter no farther.—[Aside] O God, how loathsome this toying is to me! that a duke should be forced to fool it! well,stultorum plena sunt omnia:[538]better play the fool lord than be the fool lord.—Now, where’s your sleights, Madam Maquerelle?143
Maq.Why, are ye ignorant that ’tis said a squeamish affected niceness is natural to women, and that the excuse of their yielding is only, forsooth, the difficult obtaining? You must put her to’t: women are flax, and will fire in a moment.
Mal.Why, was the flax put into thy mouth, and yet thou—Thou set fire, thou inflame her!150
Maq.Marry, but I’ll tell ye now, you were too hot.
Mal.The fitter to have inflamed the flax, woman.
Maq.You were too boisterous, spleeny, for, indeed——
Mal.Go, go, thou art a weak pandress: now I see,Sooner earth’s fire heaven itself shall waste,Than all with heat can melt a mind that’s chaste.Go: thou the duke’s lime-twig! I’ll make the duke turnthee out of thine office: what, not get one touch of hope, and had her at such advantage!160
Maq. Now, o’ my conscience, now I think in my discretion, we did not take her in the right sign; the blood was not in the true vein, sure.
[Exit.
EnterBilioso.
Bil.Make way[539]there! the duke returns from the enthronement.—Malevole,—
Mal.Out, rogue!
Bil.Malevole,—
Mal.Hence, ye gross-jawed, peasantly—out, go![540]168
Bil.Nay, sweet Malevole, since my return I hear you are become the thing I always prophesied would be,—an advanced virtue, a worthily-employed faithfulness, a man o’ grace, dear friend. Come; what!Si quoties peccant homines[541]—if as often as courtiers play the knaves, honest men should be angry—why, look ye, we must collogue[542]sometimes, forswear sometimes.
Mal.Be damned sometimes.
Bil.Right:nemo omnibus horis sapit; no man can be honest at all hours: necessity often depraves virtue.
Mal.I will commend thee to the duke.
Bil.Do: let us be friends, man.180
Mal.And knaves, man.
Bil.Right: let us prosper and purchase:[543]our lordships shall live, and our knavery be forgotten.
Mal.He that by any ways gets riches, his means never shames him.
Bil.True.
Mal.For impudency and faithlessness are the main stays to greatness.
Bil.By the Lord, thou art a profound lad.
Mal.By the Lord, thou art a perfect knave: out, ye ancient damnation!191
Bil.Peace, peace! and thou wilt not be a friend to me as I am a knave, be not a knave to me as I am thy friend, and disclose me. Peace! cornets!
EnterPrepassoandFerrardo,twoPageswith lights,CelsoandEquato,Mendozain duke’s robes, andGuerrino.
Men.On, on; leave us, leave us.
[Exeunt all exceptMalevoleandMendoza.
Stay, where is the hermit?
Mal.With Duke Pietro, with Duke Pietro.
Men.Is he dead? is he poisoned?
Mal.Dead, as the duke is.
Men.Good, excellent: he will not blab; secureness lives in secrecy. Come hither, come hither.201
Mal.Thou hast a certain strong villainous scent about thee my nature cannot endure.
Men.Scent, man! What returns Maria, what answer to our suit?
Mal.Cold, frosty; she is obstinate.
Men.Then she’s but dead; ’tis resolute, she dies: Black deed only through black deed[544]safely flies.
Mal.Pooh!per scelera semper sceleribus tutum est iter.[545]
Men.What, art a scholar? art a politician? sure, thou art an arrant knave.211
Mal.Who, I? I ha’ been twice an under-sheriff, man.[546]Well, I will go rail upon some great man, that I may purchase the bastinado, or else go marry some rich Genoan lady, and instantly go travel.
Men.Travel, when thou art married?
Mal.Ay, ’tis your young lord’s fashion to do so, though he was so lazy, being a bachelor, that he would never travel so far as the university: yet when he married her, tales off, and, Catso,[547]for England!220
Men.And why for England?
Mal.Because there is no brothel-houses there.
Men.Nor courtezans?
Mal.Neither; your whore went down with the stews, and your punk came up with your puritan.
Men.Canst thou empoison? canst thou empoison?
Mal.Excellently; no Jew, pothecary, or politician better. Look ye, here’s a box: whom wouldst thou empoison? here’s a box [Giving it], which, opened and the fume ta’en[548]up in conduits[549]thorough which the brain purges itself, doth instantly for twelve hours’ space bind up all show of life in a deep senseless sleep: here’s another [Giving it], which, being opened under the sleeper’s nose, chokes all the pores[550]of life, kills him suddenly.235
Men.I’ll try experiments; ’tis good not to be deceived.—So, so; catso!
[Seems to poisonMalevole,who falls.
Who would fear that may destroy?Death hath no teeth nor[551]tongue;And he that’s great, to him are slaves,240Shame, murder, fame, and wrong.—Celso!
EnterCelso.
Celso.My honour’d lord?
Men.The good Malevole, that plain-tongu’d man,Alas, is dead on sudden, wondrous strangely!He held in our esteem good place. Celso,See him buried, see him buried.
Celso.I shall observe ye.
Men.And, Celso, prithee, let it be thy care to-nightTo have some pretty show, to solemniseOur high instalment; some music, maskery.250We’ll give fair entertain unto Maria,The duchess to the banish’d Altofront:Thou shalt conduct her from the citadelUnto the palace. Think on some maskery.
Celso.Of what shape, sweet lord?
Men.What[552]shape! why, any quick-done fiction;As some brave spirits of the Genoan dukes,To come out of Elysium, forsooth,Led in by Mercury, to gratulateOur happy fortune; some such anything,260Some far-fet[553]trick good for ladies, some stale toyOr other, no matter, so’t be of our devising.Do thou prepare’t; ’tis but for fashion[554]sake;Fear not, it shall be grac’d, man, it shall take.
Celso.All service.
Men.All thanks; our hand shall not be close to thee: farewell.[Aside.] Now is my treachery secure, nor can we fall:Mischief that prospers, men do virtue call.I’ll trust no man: he that by tricks gets wreathsKeeps them with steel; no man securely breathes270Out of deservèd[555]ranks; the crowd will mutter, “fool:”Who cannot bear with spite, he cannot rule.The chiefest secret for a man of stateIs, to live senseless of a strengthless hate.
[Exit.
Mal.[starting up] Death of the damned thief! I’ll make one i’ the mask; thou shalt ha’ some brave spirits of the antique dukes.
Cel.My lord, what strange delusion?
Mal.Most happy, dear Celso, poisoned with an empty box: I’ll give thee all, anon: my lady comes to court; there is a whirl of fate comes tumbling on; the castle’s captain stands for me, the people pray for me, and the great leader of the just stands for me: then courage, Celso;284For no disastrous chance can ever move himThat leaveth nothing but a God above him.
[Exeunt.
[531]“O fool.... Adieu, Madam Maquerelle” (ll.10-39).—This passage was added ined.2.[532]“Griffonis one of the heroes ofOrlando Furioso, from whence one might suspect these lines to be taken. I do not, however, find them there.”—Reed.For “spleen” inl.37 all the editions give “stream.”[533]i.e., yield.—Ed.2. “cowe.”[534]Rosicleer and Donzel del Phebo were heroes in the romance ofThe Mirrour of Knighthood. See note 3,p.30.[535]Ed.2. “sake.”[536]Ed.2. “this.”[537]The termcockatriceseems to have been specially applied to a captain’s mistress, though it is also found as a general name for a courtesan.[538]Cicero,Epist. ad Fam.ix.22.[539]“Make way there.... Peace! cornets!” (ll.164-194).—This passage was added ined.2.[540]These are the words that Bilioso had used to Malevole,ii.2.l.64.[541]Ovid’sTristia,ii.33.[542]Cog, wheedle.—“Sadayer. To handle gently or stroke softly; also to flatter, smooth, cog, orcollogue with.”—Cotgrave.The word also means—confer for an unlawful purpose.[543]Acquire wealth.—Purchasewas a cant term for stolen goods, but it was also used in the general sense of riches.[544]Ed.1. “deedes.”[545]Seneca,Agam.115.[546]Ed.2. continues thus:—“EnterMalevoleandMendoza.Mend.Hast bin with Maria?Mal.As your scriuener to your vsurer I haue delt about taking of this commoditie, but she’s could-frosty. Well, I will go raile,&c.” Perhaps the scene was intended to begin here and the preceding speeches were not properly cancelled.—Ed.1. omits a few speeches and proceeds as inl.226:—“Men.Canst thou empoison?”&c.[547]An obscene expression (Ital.)[548]Ed.2. “taken up.”[549]Some copies ofed.2. “cõmodites.”—The compositor was thinking of the common expressiontake up commodities.[550]Ed.2. “power.”[551]Ed.2. “or.”[552]Oldeds.“Why.”[553]An allusion to the proverbFar fet and dear bought is good for ladies.[554]Ed.2. and some copies ofed.1. “a fashion.”
[531]“O fool.... Adieu, Madam Maquerelle” (ll.10-39).—This passage was added ined.2.
[532]“Griffonis one of the heroes ofOrlando Furioso, from whence one might suspect these lines to be taken. I do not, however, find them there.”—Reed.For “spleen” inl.37 all the editions give “stream.”
[533]i.e., yield.—Ed.2. “cowe.”
[534]Rosicleer and Donzel del Phebo were heroes in the romance ofThe Mirrour of Knighthood. See note 3,p.30.
[535]Ed.2. “sake.”
[536]Ed.2. “this.”
[537]The termcockatriceseems to have been specially applied to a captain’s mistress, though it is also found as a general name for a courtesan.
[538]Cicero,Epist. ad Fam.ix.22.
[539]“Make way there.... Peace! cornets!” (ll.164-194).—This passage was added ined.2.
[540]These are the words that Bilioso had used to Malevole,ii.2.l.64.
[541]Ovid’sTristia,ii.33.
[542]Cog, wheedle.—“Sadayer. To handle gently or stroke softly; also to flatter, smooth, cog, orcollogue with.”—Cotgrave.The word also means—confer for an unlawful purpose.
[543]Acquire wealth.—Purchasewas a cant term for stolen goods, but it was also used in the general sense of riches.
[544]Ed.1. “deedes.”
[545]Seneca,Agam.115.
[546]Ed.2. continues thus:—
“EnterMalevoleandMendoza.
Mend.Hast bin with Maria?Mal.As your scriuener to your vsurer I haue delt about taking of this commoditie, but she’s could-frosty. Well, I will go raile,&c.” Perhaps the scene was intended to begin here and the preceding speeches were not properly cancelled.—Ed.1. omits a few speeches and proceeds as inl.226:—
“Men.Canst thou empoison?”&c.
[547]An obscene expression (Ital.)
[548]Ed.2. “taken up.”
[549]Some copies ofed.2. “cõmodites.”—The compositor was thinking of the common expressiontake up commodities.
[550]Ed.2. “power.”
[551]Ed.2. “or.”
[552]Oldeds.“Why.”
[553]An allusion to the proverbFar fet and dear bought is good for ladies.
[554]Ed.2. and some copies ofed.1. “a fashion.”
SCENEIII.
The Presence-Chamber.
EnterBiliosoandPrepasso,twoPagesbefore them;Maquerelle,Bianca,andEmilia.
Bil.Make room there, room for the ladies! why, gentlemen, will not ye suffer the ladies to be entered in the great chamber? why, gallants! and you, sir, to drop your torch where the beauties must sit too!
Pre.And there’s a great fellow plays the knave; why dost not strike him?
Bil.Let him play the knave, o’ God’s name; thinkest thou I have no more wit than to strike a great fellow?—The music! more lights! revelling-scaffolds! do you hear? Let there be oaths enow ready at the door, swear out the devil himself. Let’s leave the ladies, and go see if the lords be ready for them.12
[ExeuntBilioso,Prepasso,andPages.
Maq.And, by my troth, beauties, why do you not put you into the fashion? this is a stale cut; you must come in fashion: look ye, you must be all felt, felt and feather, a felt upon your bare hair:[556]look ye, these tiring things are justly out of request now: and, do ye hear? you must wear falling-bands, you must come into the falling fashion: there is such a deal o’ pinning these ruffs, when the fine clean fall is worth all: and again, if ye should chance to take a nap in the afternoon, your falling-band requires no poting-stick[557]to recover his form: believe me, no fashion to the falling,[558]I say.23
Bian.And is not Signior St. Andrew[559]a gallant fellow now.
Maq.By my maidenhead, la, honour and he agree as well together as a satin suit and woollen stockings.
Emilia.But is not Marshal Make-room, my servant in reversion, a proper gentleman?29
Maq.Yes, in reversion, as he had his office; as, in truth, he hath all things in reversion: he has his mistress in reversion, his clothes in reversion, his wit in reversion; and, indeed, is a suitor to me for my dog in reversion: but, in good verity, la, he is as proper a gentleman in reversion as—and, indeed, as fine a man as may be, having a red beard and a pair of warpt[560]legs.
Bian.But, i’faith, I am most monstrously in love with Count Quidlibet-in-quodlibet: is he not a pretty, dapper, unidle[561]gallant?39
Maq.He is even one of the most busy-fingered lords; he will put the beauties to the squeak most hideously.
Re-enterBilioso.
Bil.Room! make a lane there! the duke is entering: stand handsomely for beauty’s sake, take up the ladies there! So, cornets, cornets!
Re-enterPrepasso,joins toBilioso;then enter twoPageswith lights,Ferrardo,Mendoza;at the other door, twoPageswith lights, and the Captain leading inMaria;MendozameetsMariaand closeth with her; the rest fall back.
Men.Madam, with gentle ear receive my suit;A kingdom’s safety should o’er-peise[562]slight rites;Marriage is merely nature’s policy:Then, since unless our royal beds be join’d,Danger and civil tumults fright the state,Be wise as you are fair, give way to fate.50
Maria.What wouldst thou, thou affliction to our house?Thou ever-devil, ’twas thou that banished’stMy truly noble lord!
Men.I!
Maria.Ay, by thy plots, by thy black stratagems:Twelve moons have suffer’d change since I beheldThe lovèd presence of my dearest lord.O thou far worse than death! he parts but soulFrom a weak body; but thou soul from soulDissever’st, that which God’s own hand did knit;60Thou scant of honour, full of devilish wit!
Men.We’ll check your too-intemperate lavishness:I can, and will.
Maria.What canst?
Men.Go to; in banishment thy husband dies.
Maria.He ever is at home that’s ever wise.
Men.You’st[563]ne’er meet more: reason should love control.
Maria.Not meet!She that dear loves, her love’s still in her soul.
Men.You are but a woman, lady, you must yield.70
Maria.O, save me, thou innated bashfulness,Thou only ornament of woman’s modesty!
Men.Modesty! death, I’ll torment thee.
Maria.Do, urge all torments, all afflictions try;I’ll die my lord’s as long as I can die.
Men.Thou obstinate, thou shalt die.—Captain, that lady’s lifeIs forfeited to justice: we have examin’d her,And we do find she hath empoisonèdThe reverend hermit; therefore we commandSeverest custody.—Nay, if you’ll do’s no good,80You’st do’s no harm: a tyrant’s peace is blood.
Maria.O, thou art merciful; O gracious devil,Rather by much let me condemnèd beFor seeming murder than be damn’d for thee!I’ll mourn no more; come, girt my brows with flowers:Revel and dance, soul, now thy wish thou hast;Die like a bride, poor heart, thou shalt die chaste.
EnterAureliain mourning habit.
Life[564]is a frost of cold felicity,—
Aur.And death the thaw of all our vanity:Was’t not an honest priest that wrote so?90
Men.Who let her in?
Bil.Forbear!
Pre.Forbear!
Aur.Alas, calamity is everywhere:Sad misery, despite your double doors,Will enter even in court.
Bil.Peace!
Aur.I ha’ done.[565]
Bil.One word,—take heed!
Aur.I ha’ done.
EnterMercurywith loud music.
Mer.Cyllenian Mercury, the god of ghosts,From gloomy shades that spread the lower coasts,[566]Calls four high-famèd Genoan[567]dukes to come,100And make this presence their Elysium,To pass away this high triumphal nightWith song and dances, court’s more soft delight.
Aur.Are you god of ghosts? I have a suit pending in hell betwixt me and my conscience; I would fain have thee help me to an advocate.
Bil.Mercury shall be your lawyer, lady.
Aur.Nay, faith, Mercury has too good a face to be a right lawyer.
Pre.Peace, forbear! Mercury presents the mask.110
Cornets: the song to the cornets, which playing, the mask enters;Malevole, Pietro, Ferneze,andCelso,in white robes, with dukes’ crowns upon laurel-wreaths, pistolets and short swords under their robes.
Men.Celso, Celso, court[568]Maria for our love.—Lady, be gracious, yet grace.
Maria.With me, sir?
[MalevoletakesMariato dance.
Mal.Yes, more lovèd than my breath;With you I’ll dance.
Maria.Why, then, you dance with death.But, come, sir, I was ne’er more apt for[569]mirth.Death gives eternity a glorious breath:O, to die honour’d, who would fear to die?
Mal.They die in fear who live in villainy.
Men.Yes, believe him, lady, and be rul’d by him.
Pietro.Madam, with me.
[PietrotakesAureliato dance.
Aur.Wouldst, then, be miserable?120
Pietro.I need not wish.
Aur.O, yet forbear my hand! away! fly! fly!O, seek not her that only seeks to die!
Pietro.Poor lovèd soul!
Aur.What, wouldst court misery?
Pietro.Yes.
Aur.She’ll come too soon:—O my grievèd heart!
Pietro.Lady, ha’ done, ha’ done:Come,[570]let us dance; be once from sorrow free.
Aur.Art a sad man?
Pietro.Yes, sweet.
Aur.Then we’ll agree.128
[FernezetakesMaquerelleandCelso Bianca:then the cornets sound the measure, one change, and rest.
Fer.[toBianca.] Believe it, lady; shall I swear? let me enjoy you in private, and I’ll marry you, by my soul.
Bian.I had rather you would swear by your body: I think that would prove the more regarded oath with you.
Fer.I’ll swear by them both, to please you.
Bian.O, damn them not both to please me, for God’s sake!136
Fer.Faith, sweet creature, let me enjoy you to-night, and I’ll marry you to-morrow fortnight, by my troth, la.
Maq.On his troth, la! believe him not; that kind of cony-catching is as stale as Sir Oliver Anchovy’s perfumed[571]jerkin: promise of matrimony by a young gallant, to bring a virgin lady into a fool’s paradise; make her agreat woman, and then cast her off;—’tis as common and[572]natural to a courtier, as jealousy to a citizen, gluttony to a puritan, wisdom to an alderman, pride to a tailor, or an empty hand-basket[573]to one of these sixpenny damnations: of his troth, la! believe him not; traps to catch pole-cats.
Mal.[toMaria]. Keep your face constant, let no sudden passionSpeak in your eyes.
Maria.O my Altofront!150
Pietro.[toAurelia.] A tyrant’s jealousiesAre very nimble: you receive it all?
Aur.My heart, though not my knees, doth humbly fallLow as the earth, to thee.
Mal.[574]Peace! next change; no words.
Maria.Speech to such, ay, O, what will affords!
[Cornets sound the measure over again; which danced, they unmask.
Men.Malevole!
[They environMendoza,bending their pistols on him.
Mal.No.
Men.Altofront! Duke Pietro![575]Ferneze! ha!
All.Duke Altofront! Duke Altofront!
[Cornets, a flourish.—They seize uponMendoza.
Men.Are we surpris’d? what strange delusions mock160Our senses? do I dream? or have I dreamtThis two days’ space? where am I?
Mal.Where an arch-villain is.
Men.O, lend me breath till[576]I am fit to die!For peace with heaven, for your own souls’ sake,Vouchsafe me life!
Pietro.Ignoble villain! whom neither heaven nor hell,Goodness of God or man, could once make good!
Mal.Base, treacherous wretch! what grace canst thou expect,That hast grown impudent in gracelessness?170
Men.O, life!
Mal.Slave, take thy life.Wert thou defencèd, th[o]rough blood and wounds,The sternest horror of a civil fight,Would I achieve thee; but prostrate at my feet,I scorn to hurt thee: ’tis the heart of slavesThat deigns to triumph over peasants’ graves;For such thou art, since birth doth ne’er enrollA man ’mong monarchs, but a glorious soul.O,[577]I have seen strange accidents of state!180The flatterer, like the ivy, clip the oak,And waste it to the heart; lust so confirm’d,That the black act of sin itself not sham’dTo be term’d courtship.O, they that are as great as be their sins,Let them remember that th’ inconstant peopleLove many princes[578]merely for their facesAnd outward shows; and they do covet moreTo have a sight of these than of their virtues.Yet thus much let the great ones still conceive,[579]190When they observe not heaven’s impos’d conditions,They are no kings,[580]but forfeit their commissions.