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one;

Nor wealth nor greatness makes him proud.
Bern. There are

Too few of them; for most of our new courtiers,
Whose fathers were familiar with the prices
Of oil and corn, with when and where to vent
them,

And left their heirs rich from their knowledge that way,

Like gourds shot up in a night, disdain to speak But to cloth of tissue.

Enter CAROLO CHAROMONTE in a night gown, PETRUCHIO following.

Car. Stand, you prating knaves, When such a guest is under my roof! See all The rooms perfumed. This is the man that carries

The sway and swing of the court; and I had ra

ther

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For know, my lord, my confidence dares trust her
Where, and with whom, she pleases.. If he be
Taken the right way with her, I cannot fancy
A better match; and for false play, I know
The tricks, and can discern them. Petronella!
Pet. Yes, my good lord.

Car. I have employment for you.

[Exeunt CAROLO and PETRONELLA. Lyd. What is your will, sir?

San. Madam, you are so large a theme to treat of,

And
every grace about you offers to me
Such copiousness of language, that I stand
Doubtful which first to touch at. If I err,
As in my choice I may, let me entreat you,
Before I do offend, to sign my pardon;
Let this, the emblem of your innocence,
Give me assurance.

Lyd. My hand joined to yours,
Without this superstition, confirms it.
Nor need I fear you will dwell long upon me;
The barrenness of the subject yielding nothing
That rhetoric, with all her tropes and figures,
Can amplify. Yet, since you are resolved
To prove yourself a courtier in my praise,
As I'm a woman (and you men affirm
Our sex loves to be flattered) I'll endure it.
[CAROLO above.

Now, when you please, begin.

San. Such Læda's breasts were,

[Turns from her. Down pillows styled by Jove: And their pure whiteness

Shames the swan's down, or snow. No heat of lust Swells up her azure veins. And yet I feel That this chaste ice, but touched, fans fire in me. Lyd. You need not, noble sir, be thus transported,

Or trouble your invention to express
Your thought of me: The plainest phrase and
language

That you can use, will be too high a strain
For such an humble theme.

San. If the great duke

Made this his end to try my constant temper,
Though I am vanquished, 'tis his fault, not mine;
For I am flesh and blood, and have affections
Like other men. Who can behold the temples,
Or holy altars, but the objects work
Devotion in him? And I may as well
Walk over burning iron with bare feet,
And be unscorched, as look upon this beauty
Without desire, and that desire pursued, too,
Till it be quenched with the enjoying those
Delights, which to atchieve, danger is nothing,
And loyalty but a word.

[Aside.

Lyd. I ne'er was proud; Nor can I find I'm guilty of a thought Deserving this neglect and strangeness from you. Nor am I amorous

San. Suppose his greatness

Loves her himself, why makes he choice of me
To be his agent? It is tyranny

To call one, pinched with hunger, to a feast,
And at that instant cruelly deny him
To taste of what he sees. Allegiance,
Tempted too far, is like the trial of

A good sword on an anvil: as that often

Flies in pieces without service to the owner;

So trust, enforced too far, proves treachery, And is too late repented.

Lyd. Pray you, sir,

Or license me to leave you, or deliver

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With such as are more glorious. Though I never
Did injury, yet I am sensible
When I'm contemned, and scorned.

San. Will you please to hear me?

Lyd. O the difference of natures! Giovanni, A prince in expectation, when he lived here, Stole courtesy from Heaven, and would not, to The meanest servant in my father's house, Have kept such distance.

San. Pray you, do not think me Unworthy of your ear: It was your beauty That turned me statue.-I can speak, fair lady. Lyd. And I can hear. The harshness of your courtship

Cannot corrupt my courtesy.

San. Will you hear me,

If I speak of love?

Lyd. Provided you be modest;

I were uncivil, else.

Car. They are come to parley:

I must observe this nearer.

San. You're a rare one,

[CAROLO descends.

And such (but that my haste commands me

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[Aside.

A parting kiss, fair maid.

I know not what to think on't. Is't his pride,

Or his simplicity?

San. Whither have my thoughts Carried me from myself? In this my dulness, I've lost an opportunity. [He turns to her.

Lyd. 'Tis true,

[She falls off.

I was not bred in court, nor live a star there;
Nor shine in rich embroideries and pearl,

As they, that are the mistresses of great fortunes,
Are every day adorned with.

San. Will you vouchsafe

Your ear, sweet lady?

Lyd. Yet I may be bold,

For my integrity and fame, to rank

VOL. II.

Lyd. That custom grants you.

[Aside.

Car. A homely breakfast does attend your lordship,

Such as the place affords.

San. No; I have feasted

Already here. My thanks, and so I leave you:

I will see you again. Till this unhappy hour
I ne'er was lost; and what to do, or say,
I have not yet determined. [Exit SANAZARRO.

Car. Gone so abruptly?

'Tis very strange!

Lyd. Under your favour, sir,
His coming hither was to little purpose
For any thing I heard from him.

Car. Take heed, Lydia!

I do advise you with a father's love,

And tenderness of your honour; as I would not Have you coarse and harsh in giving entertain

ment,

N

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With best diligence and speed, to find out
The prince, and humbly in my name entreat him
I may exchange some private conference with him,
Before the great duke know of my arrival.
Serv. I haste, my lord.

San. Here I'll attend his coming;

way,

[Exeunt.

Cannot o'erreach a youth, my practice yields me But little profit.

Enter GIOVANNI and the Servant. Giov. You are well returned, sir.

San. Leave us. When that your grace shall

know the motives

[Exit servant.

That forced me to invite you to this trouble,
You will excuse my manners.
Giov. Sir, there needs not
This circumstance between us.

And see you keep yourself, as much as may be, My noble friend. Concealed from all men else.

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Into a desperate straight, and cannot steer
A middle course; and, of the two extremes
Which I must make election of, I know not
Which is more full of horror. Never servant
Stood more engaged to a magnificent master,
Than I to Cozimo. And all those honours
And glories, by his grace conferred upon me,
Or by my prosperous services deserved,
If now I should deceive his trust, and make
A shipwreck of my loyalty, are ruined.
And, on the other side, if I discover
Lydia's divine perfections, all my hopes
In her are sunk, never to be buoyed up:
For 'tis impossible, but as soon as seen,
She must with adoration be sued to.
A hermit at his beads, but looking on her,
Or the cold cynic, whom Corinthian Lais,
Not moved with her lust's blandishments, called
a stone,

At this object would take fire. Nor is the duke
Such an Hippolitus, but that this Phædra,
But seen, must force him to forsake the groves
And Dian's huntmanship, proud to serve under
Venus' soft ensigns. No, there is no way
For me to hope fruition of my ends,
But to conceal her beauties-and how that
May be effected, is as hard a task

As with a veil to cover the sun's beams,

Or comfortable light. Three years the prince
Lived in her company, and Contarino,
The secretary, hath possessed the duke
What a rare piece she is.-But he's my creature,
And may with ease be frighted to deny
What he hath said. And, if my long experience,
With some strong reasons I have thought upon,

You are ever

San. You shall have further cause To assure you of my faith and zeal to serve you. And, when I have committed to your trust (Presuming still on your retentive silence) A secret of no less importance than My honour, nay, my head, it will confirm What value you hold with me.

Giov. Pray you believe, sir,

What you deliver to me, shall be locked up
In a strong cabinet, of which you yourself
Shall keep the key. For here I pawn my honour,
(Which is the best security I can give yet)
It shall not be discovered.

Sun. This assurance

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Should this (as Heaven avert it) ever happen;
It must disturb your peace. For whereas now,
Being, as you are, received for the heir apparent,
You are no sooner seen, but wondered at;
The signiors making it a business to
Enquire how you have slept; and as you walk
The streets of Florence, the glad multitude,
In throngs, press but to see you, and with joy
The father, pointing with his finger, tells
His son, this is the prince, the hopeful prince,
That must hereafter rule, and you obey him.
Great ladies beg your picture, and make love
To that, despairing to enjoy the substance;
And, but the last night, when 'twas only ru-
moured

That you were come to court (as if you had
By sea past hither from another world)
What general shouts and acclamations followed!
The bells rang loud, the bonfires blazed, and such
As loved not wine, carousing to your health,
Were drunk, and blushed not at it: And is this
A happiness to part with?

Giov. I allow these

As flourishes of fortune, with which princes
Are often soothed, but never yet esteemed them
For real blessings.

San. Yet all these were paid

To what you may be, not to what you are; For if the great duke but shew to his servants A son of his own, you shall, like one obscure, Pass unregarded.

Giov. I confess, command

Is not to be contemned; and if my fate
Appoint me to it, as I may, I'll bear it

With willing shoulders. But, my lord, as yet,

You've told me of a danger coming towards me, But have not named it.

San. That is soon delivered.

Great Cozimo, your uncle, as I more
Than guess (for 'tis no frivolous circumstance

That does persuade my judgment to believe it)
Purposes to be married.

Giov. Married, sir!

With whom, and on what terms? pray you, in

struct me.

San. With the fair Lydia.
Giov. Lydia!

San. The daughter

Of signior Charomonte.
Giov. Pardon me,

Though I appear incredulous; for, on
My knowledge, he ne'er saw her.
San. That is granted:

But Contarino hath so sung her praises,
And given her out for such a master-piece,
That he's transported with it, sir. And love
Steals sometimes through the ear, into the heart,
As well as by the eye. The duke no sooner
Heard her described, but I was sent in post
To see her, and return my judgment of her.
Giov. And what's your censure?
San. 'Tis a pretty creature.
Giov. She's very fair.

San. Yes, yes, I have seen worse faces.
Giov. Her limbs are neatly formed.
San. She hath a waist
Indeed, sized to love's wish.

Giov. A delicate hand, too.
San. Then for a leg and foot-
Giov. And there I leave you,
For I presumed no farther.

San. As she is, sir,

I know she wants no gracious part that may
Allure the duke; and if he only see her,
She is his own. He will not be denied,
And then you're lost. Yet, if you'll second me,
(As you have reason, for it most concerns you)
I can prevent all yet.

Gioa. I would you could,

A noble way.

San. I will cry down her beauties,
Especially the beauties of her mind,
As much as Contarino hath advanced them;
And this, I hope, will breed forgetfulness,
And kill affection in him. But you must
Join with me in my report, if you be questioned,

Giov. I never told a lie yet, and I hold it
In some degree blasphemous, to dispraise
What's worthy admiration. Yet, for once,
I will dispraise a little, and not vary
From your relation.

San. Be constant in it.

Enter ALPHONSO.

Alph. My lord, the duke hath seen your man and wonders

Enter CoziмO, CONTARINO, and attendants. You come not to him. See, if his desire To have conference with you, hath not brought Him hither in his own person.

Coz. They are comely coursers, And promise swiftness.

Con. They are, of my knowledge, Of the best race in Naples.

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