Chapter XXI: Act V: Scene I

_The same. A Room in_ CAMIOLA'_s House_.

_Enter_ CAMIOLA _and_ SYLLI.

_Cam._ You see how tender I am of the quiet
And peace of your affection, and what great ones
I put off in your favour.

_Syl._ You do wisely,
Exceeding wisely; and, when I have said,
I thank you for 't, be happy.

_Cam._ And good reason,
In having such a blessing.

_Syl._ When you have it;
But the bait is not yet ready.

_Enter_ CLARINDA _hastily_.

_Cam._ What news with thee, now?

_Clar._ Off with that gown, 'tis mine; mine by your promise:
Signior Adorni is return'd! now upon entrance!
Off with it, off with it, madam!

_Cam._ Be not so hasty:
When I go to bed, 'tis thine.

_Syl._ You have my grant too;
But, do you hear, lady, though I give way to this,
You must hereafter ask my leave, before
You part with things of moment.

_Cam._ Very good;
When I'm yours I'll be govern'd.

_Syl._ Sweet obedience!

_Enter_ ADORNI.

_Cam._ You are well return'd.

_Ador._ I wish that the success
Of my service had deserved it.

_Cam._ Lives Bertoldo?

_Ador._ Yes, and return'd with safety.

_Cam._ 'Tis not then
In the power of fate to add to, or take from
My perfect happiness; and yet--he should
Have made me his first visit.

_Ador._ So I think too;
But he----

_Syl._ Durst not appear, I being present;
That's his excuse, I warrant you.

_Cam._ Speak, where is he?
With whom? who hath deserved more from him? or
Can be of equal merit? I in this
Do not except the king.

_Ador._ He's at the palace,
With the duchess of Sienna. One coach brought them hither,
Without a third: he's very gracious with her;
You may conceive the rest.

_Cam._ My jealous fears
Make me to apprehend.

_Ador._ Pray you, dismiss
Signior Wisdom, and I'll make relation to you
Of the particulars.

_Cam._ Servant, I would have you
To haste unto the court.

_Syl._ I will outrun
A footman for your pleasure.

_Cam._ There observe
The duchess' train, and entertainment.

_Syl._ Fear not;
I will discover all that is of weight,
To the liveries of her pages and her footmen.
This is fit employment for me. [_Exit._

_Cam._ Gracious with
The duchess! sure you said so?

_Ador._ I will use
All possible brevity to inform you, madam,
Of what was trusted to me, and discharged
With faith and loyal duty.

_Cam._ I believe it;
You ransomed him, and supplied his wants--imagine
That is already spoken; and what vows
Of service he made to me, is apparent;
His joy of me, and wonder too, perspicuous;
Does not your story end so?

_Ador._ Would the end
Had answered the beginning!--In a word,
Ingratitude and perjury at the height
Cannot express him.

_Cam._ Take heed.

_Ador._ Truth is arm'd,
And can defend itself. It must out, madam:
I saw (the presence full) the amorous duchess
Kiss and embrace him; on his part accepted
With equal ardour; and their willing hands
No sooner join'd, but a remove was publish'd,
And put in execution.

_Cam._ The proofs are
Too pregnant. O Bertoldo!

_Ador._ He's not worth
Your sorrow, madam.

_Cam._ Tell me, when you saw this,
Did not you grieve, as I do now to hear it?

_Ador._ His precipice from goodness raising mine,
And serving as a foil to set my faith off,
I had little reason.

_Cam._ In this you confess
The malice of your disposition. As
You were a man, you stood bound to lament it;
And not, in flattery of your false hopes,
To glory in it. When good men pursue
The path mark'd out by virtue, the blest saints
With joy look on it, and seraphic angels
Clap their celestial wings in heavenly plaudits,
To see a scene of grace so well presented,
The fiends, and men made up of envy, mourning.
Whereas now, on the contrary, as far
As their divinity can partake of passion,
With me they weep, beholding a fair temple,
Built in Bertoldo's loyalty, turn'd to ashes
By the flames of his inconstancy, the damn'd
Rejoicing in the object.--'Tis not well
In you, Adorni.

_Ador._ What a temper dwells
In this rare virgin! [_Aside._] Can you pity him,
That hath shown none to you?

_Cam._ I must not be
Cruel by his example. You, perhaps,
Expect now I should seek recovery
Of what I have lost, by tears, and with bent knees
Beg his compassion. No; my towering virtue,
From the assurance of my merit, scorns
To stoop so low. I'll take a nobler course,
And, confident in the justice of my cause,
The king his brother, and new mistress, judges,
Ravish him from her arms. You have the contract,
In which he swore to marry me?

_Ador._ 'Tis here, madam.

_Cam._ He shall be, then, against his will, my husband;
And when I have him, I'll so use him!--Doubt not,
But that, your honesty being unquestion'd,
This writing, with your testimony, clears all.

_Ador._ And buries me in the dark mists of error.

_Cam._ I'll presently to court; pray you, give order
For my caroch[165]. [_Exit_ ADORNI.] My good angel help me,
In these my extremities!

_Re-enter_ SYLLI.

_Syl._ If you e'er will see brave sight,
Lose it not now. Bertoldo and the duchess
Are presently to be married: there's such pomp
And preparation!

_Cam._ If I marry, 'tis
This day, or never.

_Syl._ Why, with all my heart;
Though I break this, I'll keep the next oath I make,
And then it is quit.

_Cam._ Follow me to my cabinet;
You know my confessor, father Paulo?

_Syl._ Yes: shall he
Do the feat for us?

_Cam._ I will give in writing
Directions to him, and attire myself
Like a virgin bride; and something I will do,
That shall deserve men's praise and wonder too.
[_Exeunt._

FOOTNOTE:

[165] _Caroch_,] i. e. _a large coach_. Coaches are said to have been
first brought into England in 1564, by William Booner, a Dutchman,
who became coachman to Queen Elizabeth.--NARES.

SCENE II.

_The same. A State-room in the Palace._

_Loud music. Enter_ ROBERTO, BERTOLDO, AURELIA, FERDINAND, ASTUTIO, GONZAGA, RODERIGO, JACOMO, PIERIO, _a Bishop, and Attendants_.

_Rob._ Had our division been greater, madam,
Your clemency, the wrong being done to you,
In pardon of it, like the rod of concord,
Must make a perfect union.--Once more,
With a brotherly affection, we receive you
Into our favour: let it be your study
Hereafter to deserve this blessing, far
Beyond your merit.

_Bert._ As the princess' grace
To me is without limit, my endeavours,
With all obsequiousness to serve her pleasures,
Shall know no bounds: nor will I, being made
Her husband, e'er forget the duty that
I owe her as a servant.

_Aurel._ I expect not
But fair equality, since I well know,
If that superiority be due,
'Tis not to me. When you are made my consort,
All the prerogatives of my high birth cancell'd,
I'll practise the obedience of a wife,
And freely pay it.

_Gonz._ This done, as it is promised, may well stand for
A precedent to great women.

_Rob._ One word more
Touching the articles.

_Enter_ FULGENTIO, CAMIOLA, SYLLI, _and_ ADORNI.

_Ful._ In you alone
Lie all my hopes; you can or kill or save me;
But pity in you will become you better
(Though I confess injustice 'tis denied me)
Than too much rigour.

_Cam._ I will make your peace
As far as it lies in me; but must first
Labour to right myself.

_Aurel._ Or add or alter
What you think fit; in him I have my all:
Heaven make me thankful for him!

_Rob._ On to the temple.

_Cam._ Stay, royal sir; and, as you are a king,
Erect one[166] here, in doing justice to
An injured maid.

_Aurel._ How's this?

_Bert._ O, I am blasted!

_Rob._ I have given some proof, sweet lady, of my promptness
To do you right; you need not, therefore, doubt me;
And rest assured, that, this great work despatch'd,
You shall have audience, and satisfaction
To all you can demand.

_Cam._ To do me justice
Exacts your present care, and can admit
Of no delay. If, ere my cause be heard,
In favour of your brother you go on, sir,
Your sceptre cannot right me. He's the man,
The guilty man, whom I accuse; and you
Stand bound in duty, as you are supreme,
To be impartial. Since you are a judge,
As a delinquent look on him, and not
As on a brother: Justice painted blind,
Infers her ministers are obliged to hear
The cause, and truth, the judge, determine of it;
And not sway'd or by favour or affection,
By a false gloss, or wrested comment, alter
The true intent and letter of the law.

_Rob._ Nor will I, madam.

_Aurel._ You seem troubled, sir.

_Gonz._ His colour changes too.

_Cam._ The alteration
Grows from his guilt. The goodness of my cause
Begets such confidence in me, that I bring
No hired tongue to plead for me, that with gay
Rhetorical flourishes may palliate
That which, stripp'd naked, will appear deform'd.
I stand here mine own advocate; and my truth,
Deliver'd in the plainest language, will
Make good itself; nor will I, if the king
Give suffrage to it, but admit of you,
My greatest enemy, and this stranger prince,
To sit assistants with him.

_Aurel._ I ne'er wrong'd you.

_Cam._ In your knowledge of the injury, I believe it;
Nor will you, in your justice, when you are
Acquainted with my interest in this man,
Which I lay claim to.

_Rob._ Let us take our seats.
What is your title to him?

_Cam._ By this contract,
Seal'd solemnly before a reverend man,
[_Presents a paper to the king._
I challenge him for my husband.

_Syl._ Ha! was I
Sent for the friar for this?

_Rob._ This writing is
Authentical.

_Aurel._ But, done in heat of blood,
Charm'd by her flatteries, as, no doubt, he was,
To be dispensed with.

_Fer._ Add this, if you please,
The distance and disparity between
Their births and fortunes.

_Cam._ What can Innocence hope for,
When such as sit her judges are corrupted!
Disparity of birth or fortune, urge you?
Or syren charms? or, at his best, in me
Wants to deserve him? Call some few days back,
And, as he was, consider him, and you
Must grant him my inferior. Imagine
You saw him now in fetters, with his honour,
His liberty lost; with her black wings Despair
Circling his miseries, and this Gonzaga
Trampling on his afflictions; the great sum
Proposed for his redemption; the king
Forbidding payment of it; his near kinsmen,
With his protesting followers and friends,
Falling off from him; by the whole world forsaken;
Dead to all hope, and buried in the grave
Of his calamities; and then weigh duly
What she deserved, whose merits now are doubted,
That, as his better angel, in her bounties
Appear'd unto him, his great ransom paid,
His wants, and with a prodigal hand, supplied;
Whether, then, being my manumised slave,
He owed not himself to me?

_Aurel._ Is this true?

_Rob._ In his silence 'tis acknowledged.

_Gonz._ If you want
A witness to this purpose, I'll depose it.

_Cam._ If I have dwelt too long on my deservings
To this unthankful man, pray you pardon me;
The cause required it. And though now I add
A little, in my painting to the life
His barbarous ingratitude, to deter
Others from imitation, let it meet with
A fair interpretation. This serpent,
Frozen to numbness, was no sooner warm'd
In the bosom of my pity and compassion,
But, in return, he ruin'd his preserver,
The prints the irons had made in his flesh
Still ulcerous; but all that I had done,
My benefits, in sand or water written,
As they had never been, no more remember'd!
And on what ground, but his ambitious hopes
To gain this duchess' favour?

_Aurel._ Yes; the object,
Look on it better, lady, may excuse
The change of his affection.

_Cam._ The object!
In what? forgive me, modesty, if I say
You look upon your form in the false glass
Of flattery and self-love, and that deceives you.
That you were a duchess, as I take it, was not
Character'd on your face; and, that not seen,
For other feature, make all these, that are
Experienced in women, judges of them,
And, if they are not parasites, they must grant,
For beauty without art, though you storm at it,
I may take the right-hand file.

_Gonz._ Well said, i' faith!
I see fair women on no terms will yield
Priority in beauty.

_Cam._ Down, proud heart!
Why do I rise up in defence of that,
Which, in my cherishing of it, hath undone me!
No, madam, I recant,--you are all beauty,
Goodness, and virtue; and poor I not worthy
As a foil to set you off: enjoy your conquest;
But do not tyrannize. Yet, as I am,
In my lowness, from your height you may look on me,
And, in your suffrage to me, make him know
That, though to all men else I did appear
The shame and scorn of women, he stands bound
To hold me as the masterpiece.

_Rob._ By my life,
You have shown yourself of such an abject temper,
So poor and low-condition'd, as I grieve for
Your nearness to me.

_Fer._ I am changed in my
Opinion of you, lady; and profess
The virtues of your mind an ample fortune
For an absolute monarch.

_Gonz._ Since you are resolved
To damn yourself, in your forsaking of
Your noble order for a woman, do it
For this. You may search through the world, and meet not
With such another phoenix.

_Aurel._ On the sudden
I feel all fires of love quench'd in the water
Of my compassion.--Make your peace; you have
My free consent; for here I do disclaim
All interest in you: and, to further your
Desires, fair maid, composed of worth and honour,
The dispensation procured by me,
Freeing Bertoldo from his vow, makes way
To your embraces.

_Bert._ Oh, how have I stray'd,
And wilfully, out of the noble track
Mark'd me by virtue! till now, I was never
Truly a prisoner. To excuse my late
Captivity, I might allege the malice
Of Fortune; you, that conquer'd me, confessing
Courage in my defence was no way wanting.
But now I have surrender'd up my strengths
Into the power of Vice, and on my forehead
Branded, with mine own hand, in capital letters,
DISLOYAL, and INGRATEFUL. Though barr'd from
Human society, and hiss'd into
Some desert ne'er yet haunted with the curses
Of men and women, sitting as a judge
Upon my guilty self, I must confess
It justly falls upon me; and one tear,
Shed in compassion of my sufferings, more
Than I can hope for.

_Cam._ This compunction
For the wrong that you have done me, though you should
Fix here, and your true sorrow move no further,
Will, in respect I loved once, make these eyes
Two springs of sorrow for you.

_Bert._ In your pity
My cruelty shows more monstrous: yet I am not,
Though most ingrateful, grown to such a height
Of impudence, as, in my wishes only,
To ask your pardon. If, as now I fall
Prostrate before your feet, you will vouchsafe
To act your own revenge, treading upon me
As a viper eating through the bowels of
Your benefits, to whom, with liberty,
I owe my being, 'twill take from the burden
That now is insupportable.

_Cam._ Pray you, rise;
As I wish peace and quiet to my soul,
I do forgive you heartily: yet, excuse me,
Though I deny myself a blessing that,
By the favour of the duchess, seconded
With your submission, is offer'd to me;
Let not the reason I allege for 't grieve you,
You have been false once.--I have done: and if,
When I am married, as this day I will be,
As a perfect sign of your atonement with me,
You wish me joy, I will receive it for
Full satisfaction of all obligations
In which you stand bound to me.

_Bert._ I will do it,
And, what's more, in despite of sorrow, live
To see myself undone, beyond all hope
To be made up again.

_Syl._ My blood begins
To come to my heart again.

_Cam._ Pray you, signior Sylli,
Call in the holy friar: he's prepared
For finishing the work.

_Syl._ I knew I was
The man: heaven make me thankful! [_Exit._

_Rob._ Who is this?

_Ast._ His father was the banker of Palermo,
And this the heir of his great wealth: his wisdom
Was not hereditary.

_Aurel._ For my part,
I cannot guess the issue.

_Re-enter_ SYLLI _with Father_ PAULO.

_Syl._ Do your duty;
And with all speed you can, you may despatch us.

_Paul._ Thus, as a principal ornament to the church,
I seize her.

_All._ How!

_Rob._ So young, and so religious!

_Paul._ She has forsook the world.

_Syl._ I shall run mad.

_Rob._ Hence with the fool! [SYLLI _is thrust off_.] Proceed, sir.

Paul. _Look on this_ MAID OF HONOUR, _now
Truly honour'd in her vow
She pays to heaven. This fair hair
(Favours for great kings to wear)
Must now be shorn; her rich array
Changed into a homely gray:
Instead of dainties, from the spring,
For wine, cold water we will bring;
And with fasting mortify
The feasts of sensuality.
Her jewels, beads; and she must look
Not in a glass, but holy book,
To teach her the ne'er-erring way
To immortality. O may
She, as she purposes to be
A child new-born to piety,
Perséver[167] in it, and good men,
With saints and angels, say, Amen_!

_Cam._ This is the marriage! this the port to which
My vows must steer me! Fill my spreading sails
With the pure wind of your devotions for me,
That I may touch the secure haven, where
Eternal happiness keeps her residence,
Temptations to frailty never entering!
I am dead to the world, and thus dispose
Of what I leave behind me; and, dividing
My state into three parts, I thus bequeath it:
The first to the fair nunnery, to which
I dedicate the last and better part
Of my frail life; a second portion
To pious uses; and the third to thee,
Adorni, for thy true and faithful service.
And, ere I take my last farewell, with hope
To find a grant, my suit to you is, that
You would, for my sake, pardon this young man,
And to his merits love him, and no further.

_Rob._ I thus confirm it.
[_Gives his hand to_ FULGENTIO.

_Cam._ And, as e'er you hope, [_To_ BERTOLDO.
Like me, to be made happy, I conjure you
To reassume your order; and in fighting
Bravely against the enemies of our faith,
Redeem your mortgaged honour.

_Gonz._ I restore this: [_Gives him the white cross._
Once more, brothers in arms.

_Bert._ I'll live and die so.

_Cam._ To you my pious wishes! And, to end
All differences, great sir, I beseech you
To be an arbitrator, and compound
The quarrel long continuing between
The duke and duchess.

_Rob._ I will take it into
My special care.

_Cam._ I am then at rest. Now, father,
Conduct me where you please.
[_Exeunt_ PAULO _and_ CAMIOLA.

_Rob._ She well deserves
Her name, _the Maid of Honour_! May she stand,
To all posterity, a fair example
For noble maids to imitate! Since to live
In wealth and pleasure's common, but to part with
Such poison'd baits is rare; there being nothing
Upon this stage of life to be commended,
Though well begun, till it be fully ended.
[_Flourish. Exeunt._

FOOTNOTES:

[166] _Erect one here_,] i. e. _a temple_.--M. MASON.

[167] _Perséver._] So this word was anciently written and
pronounced.--GIFFORD.

END OF VOL. I.

Transcriber's Notes:

Words surrounded by _ are italicized.

Small capitals are presented as all capitals in this e-text.

Obvious printer's errors have been repaired, other inconsistent spellings have been kept, including inconsistent use of hyphen (e.g. "master-piece" and "masterpiece") or accent (e.g. "blasphémous" and "blasphemous").

End of Project Gutenberg's The Plays of Philip Massinger, by Philip Massinger