Trouble her not, sweet Lodowick depart:
She is thy wife, and thou shalt be mine heir.
LOD. Oh, is't the custom, then I am resolv'd:
But rather let the brightsome heavens be dim,
And nature's beauty choke with stifling clouds,
Than my fair Abigail should frown on me.
There comes the villain, now I'll be reveng❜d.
Enter MATHIAS.

BAR. Be quiet Lodowick, it is enough
That I have made thee sure to Abigail.

LOD. Well, let him go.

[Exit.

BAR. Well, but for me, as you went in at doors
You had been stabb'd, but not a word on't now;
Here must no speeches pass, nor swords be drawn.
MATH. Suffer me, Barabas, but to follow him.
BAR. No; so shall I, if any hurt be done,
Be made an accessory of your deeds;

Revenge it on him when you meet him next.
MATH. For this I'll have his heart.

BAR. Do so; lo here I give thee Abigail.

MATH. What greater gift can poor Mathias have? Shall Lodowick rob me of so fair a love?

My life is not so dear as Abigail?

BAR. My heart misgives me,

love,

that to cross your

He's with your mother, therefore after him.

MATH. What, is he gone unto my mother?
BAR. Nay, if you will, stay till she comes herself.
MATH. I cannot stay; for if my mother come,

[Erit.

She'll die with grief.

ABIG. I cannot take my leave of him for tears: Father, why have you thus incens'd them both?

BAR. What's that to thee?

ABIG. I'll make 'em friends again.

BAR. You'll make 'em friends!
Are there not Jews enough in Malta.
But thou must doat upon a Christian?

ABIG. I will have Don Mathias, he is my love.
BAR. Yes, you shall have him: go, put her in.
ITHA. Aye, I'll put her in.

BAR. Now tell me, Ithamore, how lik'st thou this?

ITHA. Faith, master, I think by this

You purchase both their lives; is it not so?

BAR. True; and it shall be cunningly perform'd. ITHA. Oh, master, that I might have a hand in this.

BAR. Aye, so thou shalt, 'tis thou must do the

deed:

Take this, and bear it to Mathias straight,

And tell him that it comes from Lodowick.

ITHA. 'Tis poison'd, is it not?

BAR. No, no, and yet it might be done that It is a challenge feign'd from Lodowick.

way:

ITHA. Fear not, I'll so set his heart a fire, that he

Shall verily think it comes from him.

BAR. I cannot choose but like thy readiness: Yet be not rash, but do it cunningly.

ITHA. As I behave myself in this, employ me

hereafter.

BAR. Away then.

So, now will I go into Lodowick,

And, like a cunning spirit, feign some lie,

Till I have set them both at enmity.

[Exit.

[Exit.

ACT THE THIRD.

SCENE I.

Enter a COURTEZAN.

COURT. Since this town was besieg'd, my gain

grows cold:

The time has been, that but for one bare night

A hundred ducats have been freely given :
But now against my will I must be chaste;
And yet I know my beauty doth not fail.
From Venice, merchants, and from Padua
Were wont to come rare-witted gentlemen,
Scholars I mean, learned and liberal;

And

now, save Pilia-borza, comes there none, And he is very seldom from my house;

And here he comes.

Enter PILIA-BORZA.

PILIA. Hold thee, wench, there's something for

thee to spend.

COURT. 'Tis silver, I disdain it.

PILIA. Aye, but the Jew has gold, And I will have it, or it shall go hard.

COURT. Tell me, how cam'st thou by this?

PILIA. 'Faith, walking the back lanes, through the gardens, I chanc'd to cast mine eye up to the Jew's counting-house where I saw some bags of money, and in the night I clamber'd up with my hooks, and as I was taking my choice, I heard a rumbling in the house; so I took only this, and run my way but here's the Jew's man.

Enter ITHAMORE.

COURT. Hide the bag.

PILIA. Look not towards him, let's away: Zoon's, what a looking thou keep'st,

Thou'lt betray us anon.

[Exeunt Courtezan and Pilia-borza. ITHA. O the sweetest face that ever I beheld! I

know she is

A courtezan by her attire: now would I give a

hundred

Of the Jew's crowns that I had such a concubine.
Well, I have deliver'd the challenge in such sort,
As meet they will, and fighting die; brave sport.
[Exit.

SCENE II.

Enter MATHIAS.

MATH. This is the place, now Abigail shall see

Whether Mathias holds her dear or no.

Enter LODOWICK, reading.

LOD. 'I did it, and revenge it if thou dar'st.' What, dares the villain to write in such base terms? [They fight.

Enter BARABAS, above.

BAR. Oh, bravely fought, and yet they thrust not

home.

Now Lodowick, now Mathias, so;

So now they have shew'd themselves to be tall fellows.

WITHIN. Part 'em, part 'em.

BAR. Aye, part 'em now they are dead: Farewell,

farewell.

[Exit.

Enter GOVERNOR and MATHIAS'S MOTHER. Gov. What sight is this? my Lodowick slain! These arms of mine shall be thy sepulchre.

MOTHER. Who is this? my son Mathias slain! Gov. Oh! Lodowick! hadst thou perish'd by the Turk,

Wretched Ferneze might have veng'd thy death. MOTHER. Thy son slew mine, and I'll revenge his death.

Gov. Look, Katherine, look, thy son gave mine these wounds.

MOTHER. O leave to grieve me, I am griev'd enough.

Gov. Oh, that my sighs could turn to lively breath;

And these my tears to blood, that he might live.