2 Gen. Such is his noble purpose: and believe't, The duke will lay upon him all the honour That good convenience claims. Count. Return you thither? 1 Gen. Ay, madam, with the swiftest wing of speed. Hel. [Reads.] Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France. 'Tis bitter. Count. Find you that there? 1 Gen. Tis but the boldness of his hand, haply which His heart was not consenting to. Count, Nothing in France, until he have no wife! There's nothing here that is too good for him, But only she; and she deserves a lord, That twenty such rude boys might tend upon, And call her hourly, mistress. Who was with him? 1 Gen. A servant only, and a gentleman Which I have some time known. Count. Parolles, was't not? 1 Gen. Ay, my good lady, he.. Count. A very tainted fellow, and full of wicked ness, My son corrupts a well-derived nature 1 Gen. Indeed, good lady, The fellow has a deal of that too much, Count. You are welcome, gentlemen. 2 Gen. We serve you, madam, In that and all your worthiest affairs. Count. Not so but as we change our courtesies". Will you draw near? [Exeunt Countess and Gentlemen. Hel. Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France. Nothing in France, until he has no wife! Thou shalt have none, Rousillon, none in France, Then hast thou all again. Poor lord! is't I In reply to the gentlemen's declaration, that they are her servants, the countess answers no otherwise than as she returns the same offices of civility That chase thee from thy country, and expose Of the none-sparing war? And is it I That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou Of smoky muskets? O you leaden messengers, Fly with false aim; move the still-piercing air, I met the ravin lion when he roar'd With sharp constraint of hunger; better 'twere Were mine at once: no, come thou home, Rousillon, Whence honour but of danger wins a scar, As oft it loses all; I will be gone: My being here it is, that holds thee hence: [Exit. SCENE III-Florence.-Before the Duke's Palace. Flourish.-Enter the Duke of FLORENCE, BERTRAM, LORDS, OFFICERS, SOLDIERS, and others. Duke. The general of our horse thou art; and we, Great in our hope, lay our best love and credence, Upon thy promising fortune. Ber. Sir, it is A charge too heavy for my strength; but yet To the extreme edge of hazard. Dake. Then go thou forth; And fortune play upon thy prosperous helm, Ber. This very day, Great Mars, I put myself into thy file: Make me but like my thoughts; and I shall prove A lover of thy drum, hater of love. Ravenous. [Exeunt. SCENE IV.-Rousillon.-A Room in the Countess's Palace. Enter COUNTESS and STEWARD. Count. Alas! And would you take the letter of her? Might you not know, she would do as she has done, By sending me a letter? Read it again. Stew. I am Saint Jaques' pilgrim, thither gone; From courtly friends, with camping foes to live, Count. Ah, what sharp stings are in her mildest words: Rinaldo, you did never lack advice + so much, Stew. Pardon me, madam: If I had given you this at over-night, She might have been o'erta'en; and yet she writes, Pursuit would be in vain. Count. What angel shall Bless this unworthy husband? He cannot thrive, Let every word weigh heavy of her worth, Alluding to the story of Hercules. + Discretion or thought. t Weigh, here means to value or esteem. VOL. II. K k He will return; and hope I may, that she, To make distinction:-Provide this messenger:- SCENE V-Without the Wall of Florence. A Tucket afar off-Enter an old WIDOW of FLORENCE, DIANA, VIOLENTA, MARIANA, and other Citizens. Wid. Nay, come; for if they do approach the city, we shall lose all the sight. Dia. They say, the French count has done most honourable service. Wid. It is reported that he has taken their greatest commander; and that with his own hand he slew the duke's brother. We have lost our labour; they are gone a contrary way-Hark! You may know by their trumpets. Mar. Come, let's return again, and suffice ourselves with the report of it. Well, Diana, take heed of this French earl: the honour of a maid is her name; and no legacy is so rich as honesty. Wid. I have told my neighbour, how you have been solicited by a gentleman, his companion. Mar. I know that knave; hang him! One Parolles; a filthy oflicer he is in those suggestions for the young earl. Beware of them, Diana; their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust, are not the things they go undert: many a maid hath been seduced by them; and the misery is, example, that so terrible shews in the wreck of maidenhood, cannot for all that dissuade succession, but that they are limed with the twigs that threaten them. I hope, I. need not to advise you further; but, I hope, your own grace will keep you where you are, though there were no further danger known, but the modesty which is so lost. Dia. You shall not need to fear me. Enter HELENA, in the Dress of a Pilgrim. Wid. I hope so.-Look, here comes a pilgrim: I Temptations. +They are not the things for which their names would make them pass. know she will lie at my house: thither they send one another: I'll question her. God save you, pilgrim! Whither are you bound? Hel. To Saint Jaques le grand. Where do the palmers lodge, I do beseech you? Wid. At the Saint Francis here, beside the port. Hel. Is this the way? Wid. Ay, marry, is it.-Hark you! A march afar off. They come this way:-If you will tarry, holy pil grim, But till the troops come by, I will conduct you where you shall be lodged; Hel. Is it yourself? Wid. If you shall please so pilgrim. Hel. I thank you, and will stay upon your leisure. Wid. You came, I think, from France ? Hel. I did so. Wid. Here you shall see a countryman of yours, That has done worthy service. Hel. His name, I pray you. Dia. The count Rousillon :-Know you such a one? Hel. But by the ear, that hears most nobly of His face I know not. Dia. Whatsoe'er he is, [him : He's bravely taken here. He stole from France, As 'tis reported, for + the king had married him Against his liking :-Think you it is so ? Hel. Ay, surely, mere the truth; I know his lady. Dia. There is a gentleman, that serves the count, Reports but coarsely of her. Hel. What's his name? Dia. Monsieur Parolles. Hel. O, I believe with him, In argument of praise, or to the worth Of the great count himself, she is too mean To have her name repeated; all her deserving Is a reserved honesty, and that I have not heard examined. Dia. Alas, poor lady! 'Tis a hard bondage, to become the wife Of a detesting lord. Pilgrims; so called from a staff or bough of palm they were wont to carry. + Because. The exact, the entire truth. |