her.
Alb. I hope you hold me not, sir, less deserving
Than when you gave me free access to plead
My service to your daughter?-If that don-
Car. Sir, you too much prejudicate my
thoughts;
I must give due respects to men of honour,
Nor is it fit I should impose upon
The freedom of Jacinta's love.
Alb. You are noble.
Car. My lord.
[to LUYS.
Alb. I do not like this don. Luys. Thou'rt of my mind; I do not like him neither;
1
And yet the blackbird's in the bush; see what A present he would give my sister!
[Showing him the pearls.
Alb. Did she refuse it?"
Luys. I never mean she shall; what! wrong
my friend?
[Embracing him.
Yet, I'll take all, and let him hang himself.
If he would send his eyes, I would undertake
To carry 'em to the jeweller, they would off
For pretty toadstones. Have no fear, my mother
Is for you, too; you must fee both your advocates.
Car. Jacinta!
Jac. Sir.
Luys. She takes herself much honour'd. Ped. You oblige.
Luys. Let me alone to carry things.
Be confident to trust me with your honour-
If it would pawn for anything.
[Aside.
Jac. I'm not perfect
How to neglect Alberto yet, and must I
Throw off Fernando, but new entertain'd
By your command? the world will censure
strangely.
Car. The world will praise thy wisdom, and my care;
Or, if some giddy tongues condemn what's good,
Must we be servile to that fear, and lose
That which will make us judges of their folly,
And damn it with a frown of state? they're fools
That dote upon those shadows, idle talk,
The slime of earth-worms, that doth shine to cozen
And yet the blackbird's in the bush-ie, lined, taken.GIFFORD.
[Exeunt ALSIMIRA and FELISARDA.
Ped. I must use thrift in my delight; my eyes Are proud, and must be taught by absence how To value such a mistress. I do miss the cham
bermaid.
Car. It will become me to attend.
earnest
How much I like this wisdom. take this purse;
I will have no account; and find me out
A wealthy maid or widow, but not ugly.
Luys. No! not ill-favour'd, sir, if she be rich;
A little old or crippled?
Car. I will not have thee
[Exeunt ALBERTO and JACINTA. Marry a crooked, deform'd thing, because
She may have children-
Luys. Not unless she have
An infinite wealth to make them straight, sir;
I'll marry a witch, so she have money, sir.
Car. No, on no terms a monster!
Ped. Your pardon.
I'll take it for an honour, if your son
Be pleas'd-but to my coach.
Luys. Oh, my good lord!
So much I am your creature, if you knew
But where to match me, I would be your coach
horse.
[Exeunt PEDRO and LUYS. Car. So, so; Jacinta's stars do smile upon her. "Twill be a match: were but my son as fair In expectation of a bride, I'd write Nil ultra to my cares; he is too airy And volatile, a wife would timely fix him, And make him fit to manage my estate.
Car. Imitate me, and study fame and wealth
To thy posterity. Have I with care
Acquir'd such an estate, that must not last
Two generations?
Luys. The way to make it last,
Is not to think of wiving. For my part
(Sir, with your pardon, if I may speak freely),
I had opinion once I was your son,
But fearing, by your narrow exhibition,1
You lov'd me not, I had a controversy
Within my thoughts, whether I should resolve
To geld myself, or turn a begging friar.
Car. A begging friar!
Luys. 'Tis as I tell you, sir;
This last I fix'd upon, and have been studying
Where I conveniently might raise a sum
To compass a hair shirt, sir, to make trial,
Before I thrust myself point-blank into
The order.
But I can hear of marriage, if it be
Your pleasure: but these wives, sir, are such
tickle
Things, not one hardly staid amongst a thou-
sand;-
Car. Thus wild sons interpret still
A prudent father; but you may discharge
Your jealousies, unless it be your own
Devotion to be chaste, and live a recluse.
Luys. For that I can be ruled; I have not liv'd
After the rate of hating any woman;
1 exhibition-i.e. pension, allowance.
Beside, unless you find one very rich,
A man may cast away himself, and get
A bundle of beggaries, mouths, that day and
night
Are open, like hell-gates, to feed. I would not
Hazard my freedom, and the blessings Heaven
Has lent you, sir, upon a wife with nothing.
Car. Thy pension doubles for that word; in
Luys. Then I will not.
And now it comes into my mind, they talk of
A young rich widow, Donna Estefania,
What do you think of her?
Car. Thou hast nam'd one
To my own desires; she lives a widow still,
But has refus'd many brave dons.
Luys. No matter;
I like her, sir, the better.
Car. She gives good entertainment.
Luys. I will have her,
If you but say the word. I wear a charm
To catch a widow; but this purse will hardly
Last till we finish; I must do things with honour.
Car. Thou shalt be furnish'd like my son;
kneel down
And ask my blessing, I do long to give it thee.
Luys. I have your blessing here.
Car. I'll find thee out
Some jewels to present thy mistress too.
Luys. Twill not be much amiss; the gold will go
The farther, sir.
[Exit CARLOS
I know not how this came about,
Unless Don Pedro's coming to my sister
Have made him mad, and wrought this miracle.-
How careful he was I should not marry one de-
formed! I have chose the handsomest things
thus far; an I marry with a witch at these years,
let the devil ride my wild mare to death! And,
now I consider on it, I will not have the widow,
for fear of the worst; yet I'll to her, and make
a business on it, to keep the old man's bags in
motion. This, with some good husbandry, and
no play, may last a fortnight.
'Tis very gold; yes, it will pay some scores.
ACT III-SCENE I.
A Street before RAMYRES' House.
Enter RAMYRES and FERNANDO,
Ram. How! no success? where lies the oppo-
sition?
Don Carlos, equal with myself, profess'd
His free desires, and to dispose his daughter
To meet thee with all loving entertainments.
What can she argue to thy birth or person,
Attended with so plentiful a fortune?
I must believe thy courtship dull and faulty.
When I was at thy years, and spring of blood,
I wound myself like air among the ladies,
Commanding every bosom, and could dwell
Upon their lips like their own breath: their eyes
Doubled their beams on me, and she that was
Of hardest composition, whom no love
Could soften, when I came with charm of lan-
guage,
Her frost would straight dissolve, and from her
eyes
Her heart came weeping forth to woo me take it.
Fer. Yet you, that did with a magnetic chain
Attract so many, could possess but one.
I came not to Don Carlos' house with cold
Or lukewarm thoughts, but arm'd with active
fire,
That would have melted any heart but hers,
Bound up with ribs of treble ice against me;
By which I find there is another fate
That governs love, against whose secret doom
In vain is eloquence or force.
Ram. So obstinate?
1 did resent, as it became my honour.
And now confirm'd against her pride, have
thought
Of something that, with your consent, may tame
Her scorn, or punish it to her repentance.
Ram. Name it.
Fer. She has a kinswoman lives with her,
Felisarda, daughter to Signior Theodoro,
A trade-fall'n merchant, brother to Don Carlos;
This Felisarda,
That now lives on the charity of her uncle,
Half servant, half companion to Jacinta,
And fair, I would pretend to love, observe me,
sir,
And in their presence court her as my mistress.
Methinks I see already how Jacinta
Doth fret and frown.
Ram. I like it well.
Fer. To see her cousin so preferr'd, it is
The nature, sir, of women to be vex'd
When they know any of their servants court
Another; and that love they thought not worth
Their own reward, will sting them to the soul,
When 'tis translated where it meets with love;
And this will either break her stubborn heart
Or humble her.
Ram. But what if this pretence
By such degrees convey away your heart,
That, when Jacinta comes to sense, you cannot
Retrieve your passion from the last? Or say,
Felisarda should believe you, and give up
Her heart to your possession, when you
Are by your first desires invited back,
What cure for Felisarda's wound, if you
Affect her not? Although I like that part
Of your revenge, I would not have my son
Carry the hated brand of cruelty,
Or hear Fernando broke a lady's heart;
But live upon his clear and honest truth,
And if Jacinta have not valued him,
Find his own estimation in some other
By fair and noble courtship. Virtue is
Above the gaudy shine of gold; and if
My son love where his honour cannot suffer,
The want of dower I can forgive.
My fears, that did suspect you would prefer
Wealth in a bride.
Fer. Nothing that I could say
In my own cause could make her tongue or looks To perfect my commands, and, throwing off
Promise an expectation to thrive
By any after service; this disdain
That trifle thou hast prais'd, prefer Jacinta
To the best seat within thy heart, and marry her,
Or live a stranger to me, and divested
Of all those rights which nature and thy birth
Have flatter'd thee with hope to find. Expect
Fer. You now
Read excellent charity, and, like a father,
It is the harmony I would hear; I chide
Discover'd thy destruction, foolish boy!
Was this your policy to be reveng'd
Upon Jacinta, whom my providence
Elected to preserve our name and family,
To dote upon a beggar! Thou hast flung
A fire into my brain; either resolve
not,
Alive, the stipend of a groom to feed thee,
Nor, dead, the naked charity of a shroud
To hide thee from the worms.
Fer. Oh, sir, call back
That murdering sentence; it were sin to let
This passion dwell upon you, nor would Heaven,
Whose [equal] eyes survey our frailty, suffer
So wild a rage possess you.
Ram. 'Tis within
His glorious end? and shall his elder brother,
Engag'd by nearest tie to advance his name,
Lie beating in the common track of gulls,
And sacrifice his birth and expectations
To a cozening face and poverty? Instead
Of adding monuments, that to the world
Should be his living chronicle, to bury
His own and all the antique honours he
Ne'er sweat for, but were cast into his blood,
Within a dunghill ?-Thou hast forfeited
Thy birthright, which Francisco shall inherit;
Nor shall the loss of my estate be all
Thy punishment. Hear, and believe with horror;
If thou renounce not her that hath bewitch'd
Thy heart, Felisarda, and, by such a choice
I shall affect, redeem this scandal nobly,
Fernando, from this minute, I pronounce
Heir to his father's curse. Be wise, or perish!
[Exit.
Fer. Why does not all the stock of thunder fall?
Enter FRANCISCO.
Or the fierce winds, from their close caves let loose,
Now shake me into atoms?
Fran. Fie, noble brother, what can so deject Your masculine thoughts? is this done like Fernando,
Whose resolute soul so late was arm'd to fight
With all the miseries of man, and triumph
With patience of a martyr? I observ'd
My father late come from you.
Fer. Yes, Francisco,
He hath left his curse upon me.
Fran. How?
Fer. His curse: dost comprehend what that word carries,
Shot from a father's angry breath? Unless
I tear poor Felisarda from my heart,
He hath pronounc'd me heir to all his curses.-
Does this fright thee, Francisco? thou hast cause
To dance in soul for this, 'tis only I
Must lose and mourn. Thou shalt have all; I am
Degraded from my birth, while he affects
Thy forward youth, and only calls thee son-
Son of his active spirit, and applauds
Thy progress with Jacinta, in whose smiles
Thou may'st see all thy wishes waiting for thee;
Whilst poor Fernando, for her sake, must stand
An excommunicate from every blessing,
A thing that dare not give myself a name,
But flung into the world's necessities,
Until in time, with wonder of my wants,
I turn a ragged statue, on whose forehead
Each clown may carve his motto.
Fran. Will it call
His blessing back, if you can quit your love
To Felisarda? she is now a stranger
To her uncle's house. I met one of his servants
Who told me, on some jealous apprehension,
Don Carlos had discharg'd and banish'd her.
Fer. He could not be so barbarous !
Fran. You know
Her father's poverty.
Fer. And her wealth of virtue.
Fran. It is worth your counsel
To examine what you may preserve, if wisely You could persuade your heart to love some
other
And, in contempt of honour and your faith, Sacred to Heaven and love, disclaim your mistress,
I may be happy yet; what say [you]? I know
Jacinta's wise, and when she understands
How much it will advance her charity-
Fran. Our case is not the same with yours, good brother;
We have been long acquainted, to contract
Affections. If I understand, your loves
Are young, and had no time for growth.
Fer. Do not wound me.
'Tis false, by love itself! Thou hast deserv'd
I should forget thee now. Dost thou consider
Love (that doth make all harmony in our soul,
And seated in that noblest place of life,
The heart) with things that are the slaves of time,
And that, like common seeds thrown into earth,
It must have leisure to corrupt, and after
Much expectation, rise to name and vigour?
Love is not like the child that grows, and gets
By slow degrees perfection; but created,
Like the first man, at full strength the first
minute,
It makes a noble choice, and gains from time
To be call'd only constant, not increas'd.
Preserve thy own affections, and think mine
Noble as they, I shall suspect thy love
To me else: pr'ythee leave me.
Fran. I'll obey,
And study how to serve you.
[Exit. FERNANDO walks aside.
Enter FELISARDA.
Thee scurvily; I will provide thee a lodging. Fer. I shall not use your bounty, sir, for that. Ped. Thou art a handsome donna; here's a pistolet ;
Meet me i' the evening, wilt?
Fel. Where, and for what?
Ped. The where, at thy own choice; the what, thy honour.
Fel. You are not noble.
Ped. Don Pedro will embrace thy buxom body. Fer. [coming forward.] You must unhand this virgin.
Fel. For goodness, sir,
Add not your anger to my sufferings.
Unhappy Felisarda!
Ped. Is she a friend of yours, signior?
Fer. She is not for your sinful knowledge,
Don.
Ped. Beso las manos; a Dios, senora !-Diablo ! My blood is high and hot; unless I marry timely, I must seek out a female julap.
[Exit.
Fel. Don Carlos' fear of you was my first error; But I accept my banishment, and shall Humble myself to my poor father's fortune.
1 'I kiss hands; adieu, lady!-The devil!'
Alb. Unless my cause succeed,
He has been fee'd too much--[Aside.]—Your brother, lady,
Preserves a noble friendship. If I were sure
You would be mine, Jacinta, I could tarry
Till your father die.
Jac. But how can you procure
Don Pedro to have patience so long,
Whom my father pleads for, and prefers?
Alb. There, there's the mischief; I must
poison him:
One fig1 sends him to Erebus; 'tis in
Your power and wit to spin out time; I may
Invent a means for his conveyance.-Ha!
Enter DON CARLOS, ESTEFANIA, and LUYS.
Jac. The Lady Estefania!
Car. Welcome again;
This is an honour to us. Where's Jacinta?
Salute this noble lady.-Ha, Luigi,
Hast thou prevail'd already?
Luys. I am i' the way, you see;
She has not been observ'd, they say, to walk
So freely with some men that boast more favour.
Enter DON PEDRO.
Ped. What makes the Lady Estefania here? [Aside.
I like not their converse: this day is ominous. [Exit.
Car. Was't not the Count Don Pedro that retir'd?
What object here displeas'd him?
Alb. Ha, ha! didst see the Don?
Car. Preserve your mirth-I must be satisfied.
[Exit. LUYS and ALB. walk aside.
1 One fig-i.e. the poisoned fig of Portugal, or rather of Spain-GIFFORD.
Luys. Faith, nothing yet,
And have but little hope; I think she's honest. Alb. Does she love thee?
Luys. At her own peril; we are not come to articles;
There is no wit in wiving.
But that I owe thee money, thou shouldst never Marry my sister either.
Alb. Not Jacinta?
Luys. No,
Nor any other simpering piece of honesty,
If I might counsel thee.
Is't fit a freeborn gentleman should be chain'd
Tenant for life to one? Hang marriage shackles !
Jac. Don Pedro was to blame; and trust me,
madam,
He shall find nothing here t' advance his triumph. Estef. You are virtuous, Jacinta; I presum'd, When I should land my sufferings on your knowledge,
You would excuse my unexpected visit.
Jac. My brother has been just in the relation How he pursues my love; but I shall be Happy to serve your justice, and must tell The noble Estefania my heart,
By all that love can teach to bind a faith,
Is placed where it shall never injure what
Your mutual vows contracted. I smile not
With mine own eyes upon him; 'tis my father's
Severe command to love him; but this story,
Clear'd to my father, would secure us both.
Estef. If any faith or service in me can
Deserve this goodness, cheerfully employ it.
Jac. I will be confident to use your virtue.
Estef. I will refuse no office.
Re-enter DON CARLOS.
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