Enter THERSAMES, with IOLAS, a Lord of the Council.
IOLAS:
I told him, sir; urg'd 'twas no common knot,
That to the tying of it two powerful princes,
Virtue and Love, were join'd, and that a greater
Than these two was now engaged in't, Religion.
But 'twould not do; the cork of passion
Buoy'd up all reason so, that what was said
Swam but o' th' top of th' ear, ne'er reach'd the heart.
THERSAMES:
Is there no way for kings to show their power
But in their subjects' wrongs? no subject neither,
No quarry for his lust to gorge on, but on what
You fairly had flown at and taken?
Well, were it not the king, or were't indeed
Not you, that have such hopes, and such a crown
To venture, and yet it is but a woman.
THERSAMES:
How? that but again! and thou art more injurious
Than he, and wouldst provoke me sooner!
There are no altars yet address'd unto her,
Nor sacrifice. If I have made her less
Than what she is, it was my love to you;
For in my thoughts and here within I hold her
The noblest piece Nature e'er lent our eyes,
And of the which all women else are but
Weak counterfeits, made up by her journeymen:
But was this fit to tell you?
I know you value but too high all that.
And in a loss we should not make things more;
'Tis misery's happiness that we can make it less
By art, through a forgetfulness upon
Our ills. Yet who can do it here?
When every voice must needs, and every face,
Showing what she was not, show what she was.
THERSAMES:
I'll instantly upon him. [Draws.
Though't be the utmost of my fortune's hope
To have an equal share of ill with you:
Yet I could wish we sold this trifle life
At a far dearer rate than we are like to do,
Since 'tis a king's the merchant.
And there's no art can cancel that high bond.
IOLAS:
He cools again. [To himself.
True, sir, and yet methinks to know a reason:
For passive nature ne'er had glorious end;
And he that states' preventions ever learn'd,
Knows 'tis one motion to strike and to defend.
Serv.:
Some of the lords without, and from the king,
THERSAMES:
What subtle state-trick now?
But one turn here, and I am back, my lord. [Exit.
IOLAS:
This will not do; his resolution's like
A skillful horseman, and reason is the stirrup,
Which, though a sudden shock may make
It loose, yet does it meet it handsomely again.
Stay, it must be some sudden fear of wrong
To her, that may draw on a sudden act
From him, and ruin from the king; for such
A spirit will not, like common ones, be
Raised by every spell; 'tis in love's circle
THERSAMES:
I cannot bear the burthen of my wrongs
IOLAS:
Why! what's the matter, sir?
THERSAMES:
They do pretend the safety of the state:
Now, nothing but my marriage with Cadusia
Can secure the adjoining country to it;
Confinement during life for me if I refuse.
Diana's nunnery for her; and at that nunn'ry, Iolas,
Allegiance in me, like the string of a watch
Wound up too high, and forc'd above the nick,
Ran back, and in a moment was unravell'd all.
IOLAS:
Now, by the love I bear to justice,
That nunn'ry was too severe. When virtuous love's a crime,
What man can hope to 'scape a punishment,
Or who's indeed so wretched to desire it?
IOLAS:
What answer made you, sir?
THERSAMES:
None: they gave me till to-morrow,
And e'er that be, or they or I
Come, friend, let's in; there is no sleeping now;
For time is short, and we have much to do. [Exeunt.
Enter ORSAMES, PHILAN, Courtiers.
ORSAMES:
Judge you, gentlemen, if I be not as unfortunate
As a gamester thinks himself upon the loss
Of the last stake; this is the first she
I ever swore to heartily, and, by those eyes,
I think I had continued unperjur'd a whole month,
And that's fair, you'll say.
ORSAMES:
Had she not run mad betwixt!
ORSAMES:
Yea, yea, mad; ask Philan else.
People that want clear intervals talk not
So wildly. I'll tell you, gallants; 'tis now, since first I
Found myself a little hot and quivering 'bout the heart,
Some ten days since; a tedious ague, sirs:
The gracious glance and little whisper pass'd,
Approaches made from th' hand unto the lip,
I came to visit her, and as, you know, we use
Breathing a sigh or two by the way of prologue,
Told her in love's physic 'twas a rule,
Where the disease had birth, to seek a cure.
I had no sooner nam'd love to her, but she
Began to talk of flames, and flames
Neither devouring nor devour'd, of air
1 Court.:
O the Platonics!
2 Court.:
Those of the new religion in love! your lordship's merry,
Truth, how do you like the humour on't?
ORSAMES:
As thou wouldst like red hair or leanness
In thy mistress, scurvily! 't does worse with handsomeness
Than strong desire could do with impotence:
A mere trick to enhance the price of kisses.
PHILAN:
Surely these silly women, when they feed
Our expectation so high, do but like
Ignorant conjurers, that raise a spirit,
Which handsomely they cannot lay again.
ORSAMES:
True, 'tis like some that nourish up
Young lions, till they grow so great they are afraid of
Themselves: they dare not grant at last,
For fear they should not satisfy.
PHILAN:
Who's for the town? I must take up again.
ORSAMES:
This villainous love's as changeable as the philosopher's stone,
and thy mistress as hard to compass too!
PHILAN:
The Platonic is ever so; they are as tedious,
Before they come to the point, as an old man
Fall'n into the stories of his youth.
2 Court.:
Or a widow into the praises of her first husband.
ORSAMES:
Well, if she hold out but one month longer,
If I do not quite forget I e'er beleagured there,
And remove the siege to another place, may all
The curses beguil'd virgins loose upon
Their perjur'd lovers fall upon me.
PHILAN:
And thou wouldst deserve 'em all.
PHILAN:
For being in the company of those
That took away the prince's mistress from him.
ORSAMES:
Peace, that will be redeem'd.
I put but on this wildness to disguise myself;
There are brave things in hand, hark i' thy ear.
1 Court.:
Some severe plot upon a maidenhead.
These two young lords make love,
As embroiderers work against a masque, night and day;
They think importunity a nearer way than merit,
And take women as schoolboys catch squirrels;
Hunt 'em up and down, till they are weary,
And fall down before 'em.
ORSAMES:
Who loves the prince fails not——
PHILAN:
And I am one: my injuries are great as thine,
And do persuade as strongly.
ORSAMES:
I had command to bring thee;
Fail not, and in thine one disguise.
ORSAMES:
It is the prince's policy and love;
For, if we should miscarry,
Some one taken might betray the rest,
Each man is safe in his own valour.
2 Court.:
And what mercer's wife are you to cheapen now
ORSAMES:
Troth; 'tis not so well; 'tis but a cousin of thine:
Come, Philan, let's along. [Exeunt.
ORBELLA:
What is it thus within whispering remorse,
And calls love tyrant? all powers but his
Their rigour and our fear have made divine.
But every creature holds of him by sense—
The sweetest tenure. Ye're but my husband's brother:
And what of that? do harmless birds or beasts
Ask leave of curious Heraldry at all?
Does not the womb of one fair spring
Bring unto the earth many sweet rivers,
That wantonly do one another chase,
And in one bed kiss, mingle, and embrace?
Man (Nature's heir) is not by her will tied,
To shun all creatures are allied unto him,
For then she should shun all; since death and life
Doubly allies all them that live by breath:
The air that doth impart to all life's brood
Refreshment, is so near to itself, and to us all,
That all in all is individual.
But how am I sure one and the same desire
Warms Ariaspes; for art can keep alive
ARIASPES:
Alone, madam, and overcast with thought!
Uncloud, uncloud; for, if we may believe
The smiles of fortune, love shall no longer pine
In prison thus, nor undelivered travail
With throes of fear and of desire about it.
The prince, like to a valiant beast in nets,
Striving to force a freedom suddenly,
Has made himself at length the surer prey:
The king stands only now betwixt, and is
Just like a single tree, that hinders all the prospect:
'Tis but the cutting down of him, and we——
ORBELLA:
Why, wouldst thou thus embark into strange seas,
And trouble Fate for what we have already?
Thou art to me, what thou now seek'st, a kingdom;
And were thy love as great as thy ambition,
ARIASPES:
Think you you are not, madam?
As well and justly may you doubt the truths
Tortur'd or dying men do leave behind them:
But then my fortune turns my misery,
When my addition shall but make you less;
Shall I endure that head, that wore a crown,
For my sake should wear none? First, let me lose
Th' exchequer of my wealth—your love; nay, may
All that rich treasury you have about you,
Be rifled by the man I hated, and I look on;
Though youth be full of sin, and heaven be just,
So sad a doom I hope they keep not for me;
Remember what a quick apostasy he made,
When all his vows were up to heav'n and you.
How, ere the bridal torches were burnt out,
His flames grew weak and sicklier: think on that.
Think how unsafe you are, if she should now
Not sell her honour at a lower rate
Than your place in his bed.
ORBELLA:
And would not you prove false, too, then?
ARIASPES:
By this—and this—love's breakfast; [Kisses her.
By his feasts, too, yet to come, by all the
Beauty in this face, divinity too great
ORBELLA:
O, do not swear by that;
Cankers may eat that flower upon the stalk
(For sickness and mischance are great devourers),
And when there is not in these cheeks and lips
Left red enough to blush at perjury,
When you shall make it, what shall I do then?
ARIASPES:
Our souls by that time, madam,
Will by long custom so acquainted be,
They will not need that duller trouch-man Flesh,
But freely, and without those poorer helps,
Converse and mingle; meantime we will teach
Our loves to speak, not thus to live by signs,
And action is his native language, madam.
This box but open'd to the sense will do it.
ORBELLA:
I undertake, I know not what.
ARIASPES:
Thine own safety, dearest.
Let it be this night, if thou dost
Love thyself or me. [Whisper and kiss.
ORBELLA:
That's very sudden.
ARIASPES:
Not, if we be so, and we must now be wise,
For when their sun sets, ours begins to rise. [Exeunt.
ZIRIFF:
Then all my fears are true, and she is false;
False as a falling star or glowworm's fire.
This devil Beauty is compounded strangely:
It is a subtle point, and hard to know,
Whether 't has in't more active tempting,
Or [is] more passive tempted; so soon it forces,
Good Gods! she seiz'd my heart, as if from you
She'd had commission to have us'd me so;
And all mankind besides. And see, if the
Just ocean makes more haste to pay
To needy rivers, what is borrow'd first,
Than she to give, where she ne'er took.
Methinks I feel anger, revenge's harbinger,
Chalking up all within, and thrusting out
Of doors the tame and softer passions.
To love is noble frailty, but poor sin,
When we fall once to love, [to be] unloved again.
Enter KING, ARIASPES, IOLAS.
ARIASPES:
'Twere fit your justice did consider, sir,
What way it took. If you should apprehend
The prince for treason, which he never did,
And which (unacted) is unborn—at least 'twill be believ'd so:
Lookers-on and the loud-talking crowd
Will think it all but water-colours laid
On for a time; and which, wiped off, each common eye
Would see strange ends through stranger ways.
KING:
Think'st thou I will compound with treason then?
And make one fear another's advocate?
IOLAS:
Virtue forbid, sir, but if you'd permit
Them to approach the room (yet who'd advise
Teason should come so near?) there would be then
No place left for excuse.
KING:
How strong are they?
The enterprise; they are but few in number,
And those few, too, having nothing but
Their resolutions considerable about them:
A troop indeed design'd to suffer what
KING:
Who are they are thus weary of their lives?
IOLAS:
Their names I cannot give you.
For those he sent for, he did still receive
At a back door, and so dismiss'd them to.
But I do think Ziriff is one.
KING:
Take heed! I shall suspect thy hate to others,
Not thy love to me, begot this service;
This treason, thou thyself dost say
Has but an hour's age, and I can give accompt
Of him beyond that time. Brother, in the little tower,
Where now Aglaura's prisoner,
You shall find him; bring him along.
He yet doth stand untainted in my thoughts,
He shall not stir out of my eyes' command,
Till this great cloud be over.
IOLAS:
Sir, 'twas the prince, who first——
KING:
I know all that! urge it no more!
And 'tis with pain we do suspect,
Thou'rt sure he will have some,
And that they will come to-night?
IOLAS:
As sure as night will come itself.
KING:
Get all your guards in readiness; we will ourself
Disperse them afterwards; and both be sure
To wear your thoughts within: I'll act the rest. [Exeunt.
Enter PHILAN, ORSAMES, Courtiers.
2 Court.:
Well, if there be not some great storm towards,
Ne'er trust me; Whisper (Court-thunder) is in
Every corner, and there has been to-day
About the town a murmuring
And buzzing, such as men use to make
When they do fear to vent their fears.
1 Court.:
True, and all the statesmen hang down their heads,
Like full-ear'd corn; two of them,
Where I supp'd, ask'd what time of night it was,
And when 'twas told them, started, as if
They had been to run a race.
2 Court.:
The king, too, (if you mark him), doth feign mirth
And jollity; but, through them both,
Flashes of discontent and anger make escapes.
ORSAMES:
Gentlemen! 'tis pity heav'n
Design'd you not to make the almanacs.
You guess so shrewdly by the ill aspects,
Or near conjunctions of the great ones,
At what's to come still, that without all doubt
The country had been govern'd wholly by you,
And plough'd and reap'd accordingly. For me,
I understand this mystery as little
As the new love; and as I take it, too,
Tis much about the time that everything
But owls and lovers take their rest;
Good-night, Philan. Away. [Exit.
1 Court.:
'Tis early yet; let's go on the queen's side,
And fool a little; I love to warm myself,
Before I go to bed; it does beget
Handsome and sprightly thoughts, and makes
Our dreams half-solid pleasures.
2 Court.:
Agreed. [Exeunt.