SCENE VII.

_Enter two +Footmen+, bearing the frame of a great picture. Curtains drawn._

+1st Foot.+ Set 'em down gently; so.

+2d Foot.+ They make me sweat. Pictures, quoth you; 'slight, they have weight enough To be the parties.

+1st Foot.+ My lady, sir, has sent A present to your wife.

+Ware.+ What lady, pray?

+1st Foot.+ Madam Aurelia, sir.

+Ware.+ O!----

+2d Foot.+ Sir, they are A brace of pictures, with which my lady prays She will adorn her chamber.

+Ware.+ Male pictures, pray, Or female?

+1st Foot.+ Why d'you ask?

+Ware.+ Because, methinks, It should be Mars and Venus in a net; Aretine's postures,[261] or a naked nymph Lying asleep, and some lascivious satyr Taking her lineaments. These are pictures which Delight my wife.

+2d Foot.+ These are night-pieces, sir.

+Mis. Hol.+ Lord, how I long to see 'em! I have at home The finest ravish'd Lucrece.

+Mis. Scr.+ So have I The finest fall of Babylon! There is A fat monk spewing churches, save your presence.

+Mis. Hol.+ Pray, will you open 'em?

+1st Foot.+ My lady charged us None should have sight of 'em, sir, but your wife.

+Ware.+ Because you make so dainty, I will see 'em.

[_Draws the curtain; within are discovered +Bright+ and +Newcut+._

+2d Foot.+ 'Tis out of our commission.

+Ware.+ But not of mine. Hell and damnation!

+1st Foot.+ How do you like 'em, sir?

+Mis. Hol.+ Look, they are pictur'd in their clothes!

+Mis. Sea.+ They stir, too.

+2d Foot.+ Sir, they are drawn to life; a master's hand Went to 'em, I assure you.

+Ware.+ Out, varlets, bawds! Panders, avoid my house! O devil! are you My wife's night-pieces? [_They come out._

+Bright.+ Sir, you are rude, uncivil, And would be beaten.

+New.+ We cannot come in private On business to your wife, but you must be Inquisitive. Sir, thank God 'tis in your own house; The place protects you.

+Bright.+ If such an insolence 'Scape unreveng'd, henceforth no ladies shall Have secret servants.

+New.+ Here she comes; we'll ask If she gave you commission to be so bold.

+Ware.+ Why this is far beyond example rare. Now I conceive what is Platonic love: 'Tis to have men, like pictures, brought disguised, To cuckold us with virtue. [_They whisper._