SCENE I.

_Venice.--Hall in_ ROBERTO'S _house_.

_Enter_ ROBERTO, Lord Cardinal, ISABELLA, Lady LENTULUS, ABIGAIL, _and_ THAIS. _Lights._

_Rob._ My grave Lord Cardinal, we congratulate, And zealously do entertain your love, That from your high and divine contemplation You have vouchsafed to consummate a day Due to our nuptials. O may this knot you knit-- This individual Gordian grasp of hands, In sight of God so fairly intermixt-- Never be sever'd, as Heaven smiles at it, By all the darts shot by infernal Jove! Angels of grace, Amen, Amen, say to 't! 10 Fair lady-widow, and my worthy mistress, Do you keep silence for a wager?

_Tha._ Do you ask a woman that question, my lord, when she enforcedly pursues what she's forbidden? I think, if I had been tied to silence, I should have been worthy the cucking-stool ere this time.

_Rob._ You shall not be my orator, lady, that pleads thus for your self.

_Enter a_ Servant.[182]

_Ser._ My lord, the masquers are at hand.

_Rob._ Give them kind entertainment.--Some worthy friends of mine, my lord, unknown to me, too lavish of their loves, bring their own welcome in a solemn masque. 23

_Abi._ I am glad there's noblemen in the masque, with our husbands to overrule them; they had shamed us all[183] else.

_Tha._ Why? for why, I pray?

_Abi._ Why?--marry, they had come in with some city show else; hired a few tinsel coats, at the vizard-makers, which would ha' made them look for all the world like bakers in their linen bases[184] and mealy vizards, new come from boulting. I saw a show once at the marriage of Magnificero's daughter, presented by Time, which Time was an old bald thing, a servant: 'twas the best man; he was a dyer, and came in likeness of the rainbow, in all manner of colours, to show his art; but the rainbow smelt of urine so we were all afraid the property was changed, and look'd for a shower. Then came in after him, one that, it seem'd, feared no colours[185]--a grocer that had trimm'd up himself handsomely: he was justice, and show'd reasons[186] why. And I think this grocer--I mean this justice--had borrowed a weather-beaten balance from some justice of a conduit, both which scales were replenish'd with the choice of his ware. And the more liberally to show his nature, he gave every woman in the room her handful. 46

_Tha._ O great act of justice! Well, and my husband come cleanly off with this, he shall ne'er betray his weakness more, but confess himself a citizen hereafter, and acknowledge their wit, for alas! they come short.

_Enter in the Masque, the_ Count of MASSINO,[187] MENDOZA, CLARIDIANA, _and_ Torch-bearers. _They deliver their shields to their several mistresses--that is to say,_ MENDOZA _to the_ Lady LENTULUS; CLARIDIANA _to_ THAIS;[188] _to_ ISABELLA, MASSINO; _to_ ABIGAIL, ROGERO.

_Isa._ Good my lord, be my expositor.

[_To the_ Cardinal.

_Car._ The sun setting, a man pointing at it: The motto, _Senso tamen ipse calorem_. Fair bride, some servant of yours, that here imitates To have felt the heat of love bred in your brightness, But setting thus from him by marriage; He only here acknowledgeth your power, And must[189] expect beams of a morrow-sun.

_Lady Len._ Lord Bridegroom, will you interpret me?

_Rob._ A sable shield: the word,[190] _Vidua spes_. 60 What--the forlorn hope, in black, despairing? Lady Lentulus, is this the badge of all your suitors?

_Lady Len._ Ay, by my troth, my lord, if they come to me.

_Rob._ I could give it another interpretation. Methinks this lover has learn'd of women to deal by contraries; if so, then here he says, the widow is his only hope.

_Lady Len._ No; good my lord, let the first stand.

_Rob._ Inquire of him, and he'll resolve the doubt.

_Abi._ What's here?--a ship sailing nigh her haven? With good ware belike: 'tis well ballast. 70

_Tha._ O this your device smells of the merchant. What's your ship's name, I pray? _The Forlorn Hope_?

_Abi._ No; _The Merchant Royal_.

_Tha._ And why not _Adventurer_?

_Abi._ You see no likelihood of that: would it not fain be in the haven? The word, _Ut tangerem portum._ Marry, for aught I know; God grant it. What's there?

_Tha._ Mine's an azure shield: marry, what else? I should tell thee more than I understand; but the word is, _Aut pretio, aut precibus_. 80

_Abi._ Ay, ay, some common-council device.

[_They take the women, and dance the first change._

_Men._ Fair widow, how like you this change?

_Lady Len._ I chang'd too lately to like any.

_Men._ O your husband! you wear his memory like a death's-head. For Heaven's love, think of me as of the man Whose dancing days you see are not yet done.

_Lady Len._ Yet you sink a-pace,[191] sir.

_Men._ The fault's in my upholsterer, lady.

_Rog._ Thou shalt as soon find Truth telling a lie, 90 Virtue a bawd, Honesty a courtier, As me turn'd recreant to thy least design. Love makes me speak, and he makes love divine.

_Abi._[192] Would Love could make you so! but 'tis his guise To let us surfeit ere he ope our eyes.

_Tha._[193] You grasp my hand too hard, i'faith, fair sir.

[CLARIDIANA _holds her by the hand_.

_Clar._ Not as you grasp my heart, unwilling wanton. Were but my breast bare and anatomised, Thou shouldst behold there how thou torturest it; And as Apelles limn'd the Queen of Love, 100 In her right hand grasping a heart in flames, So may I thee, fairer, but crueller.

_Tha._[193] Well, sir, your vizor gives you colour for what you say.

_Clar._ Grace me to wear this favour; 'tis a gem That vails to your eyes, though not to the eagle's, And in exchange give me one word of comfort.

_Tha._[193] Ay, marry: I like this wooer well: He'll win's pleasure out o' the stones.

[_The second change,_ ISABELLA _falls in love with_ MASSINO;[194] _when_[195] _they change she speaks_.

_Isa._ Change is no robbery; yet in this change 110 Thou robb'st me of my heart. Sure Cupid's here, Disguisèd like a pretty torch-bearer, And makes his brand a torch, that with more sleight He may entrap weak women. Here the sparks Fly, as in Ætna from his father's anvil. O powerful boy! My heart's on fire, and unto mine eyes The raging flames ascend like to two beacons, Summoning my strongest powers; but all too late; The conqueror already opes the gate. 120 I will not ask his name.

_Abi._ You dare put it into my hands.

_Rog._[196] Zounds,[197] do you think I will not?

_Abi._ Then thus: to-morrow (you'll be secret, servant)--

_Rog._ All that I do, I'll do in secret.

_Abi._ My husband goes to Maurano[198] to renew the farm he has.

_Rog._ Well, what time goes the jakes-farmer?

_Abi._ He shall not be long out, but you shall put in, I warrant you. Have a care that you stand just i' the nick about six o'clock in the evening; my maid shall conduct you up. To save mine honour, you must come up darkling, and to avoid suspicion. 133

_Rog._ Zounds! hoodwink'd! and if you'll open all, sweet lady----

_Abi._ But if you fail to do 't----

_Rog._ The sun shall fail the day first.

_Abi._ Tie this ring fast, you may be sure to know. You'll brag of this, now you have brought me to the bay.

_Rog._ Pox o' this masque! would 'twere done! I might To my apothecary's for some stirring meats! 141

_Tha._ Methinks, sir, you should blush e'en through your vizor. I have scarce patience to dance out the rest.

_Clar._[199] The worse my fate, that ploughs a marble quarry: Pygmalion, yet thy image was more kind, Although thy love[200] not half so true as mine. Dance they that list, I sail against the wind.

_Tha._ Nay, sir, betray not your infirmities, You'll make my husband jealous by and by. We will think of you, and that presently. 150

_Mass._[201] The spheres ne'er danced unto a better tune. Sound music there!

[_The third change ended, ladies fall off._

_Isa._ 'Twas music that he spake.

_Rob._ Gallants, I thank you, and begin a health To your mistresses!

_Three or four._ Fair thanks, Sir Bridegroom.

_Isa._ [_Aside._] He speaks not to this pledge; has he no mistress? Would I might choose one for him! but 't may be He doth adore a brighter star than we.

_Rob._ Sit, ladies, sit; you have had standing long.

[MASSINO[202] _dances a Levalto or a Galliard, and in the midst of it falleth into the Bride's lap, but straight leaps up and danceth it out._

_Men._ Bless the man! sprightly and nobly done!

_Tha._ What, is your ladyship hurt?

_Isa._ O no, an easy fall. 160 [_Aside._] Was I not deep enough, thou god of lust, But I must further wade! I am his now, As sure as Juno's Jove's! Hymen, take flight, And see not me, 'tis not my wedding night.

[_Exit_ ISABELLA.

_Car._ The bride's departed, discontent it[203] seems.

_Rob._ We'll after her. Gallants, unmasque I pray, And taste a homely banquet, we entreat.

[_Exeunt_ ROBERTO, Cardinal, _and lights_.

_Clar._ Candied[204] eringoes, I beseech thee.

_Men._ Come, widow, I'll be bold to put you in. My lord, will you have a sociate? 170

[_Exeunt_ THAIS, Lady LENTULUS, ABIGAIL, _and_ MENDOZA.

_Mass._[205] Good gentlemen, if I have any interest in you, Let me depart unknown; 'tis a disgrace Of an eternal memory.

_Rog._[206] What, the fall, my lord?--as common a thing as can be. The stiffest man in Italy may fall between a woman's legs.

_Clar._ Would I had changed places with you, my lord--would it had been my hap!

_Mass._ What cuckold laid his horns in my way? Signior Claridiana, you were by the lady when I fell: Do you think I hurt her? 181

_Clar._ You could not hurt her, my lord, between the legs.

_Mass._ What was 't I fell withal?

_Rog._ A cross-point, my lord.

_Mass._ Cross-point, indeed. Well, if you love me, let me hence unknown; The silence yours, the disgrace mine own.

[_Exeunt_ CLARIDIANA _and_ ROGERO.[207]

_Enter_ ISABELLA _with a gilt goblet, and meets_ MASSINO.[208]

_Isa._ Sir, if wine were nectar, I'd[209] begin a health To her that were most gracious in your eye: 190 Yet deign, as simply 'tis the gift of Bacchus, To give her pledge that drinks. This god of wine Cannot inflame me more to appetite, Though he be co-supreme[210] with mighty Love, Than thy fair shape.

_Mass._ Zounds! she comes to deride me.

_Isa._ That kiss shall serve To be a pledge, although my lips should starve.-- [_Aside._] No trick to get that vizor from his face?

_Mass._ I will steal hence, and so conceal disgrace.

_Isa._ Sir, have you left naught behind? 200

_Mass._ Yes, Lady,[211] but the fates will not permit (As gems once lost are seldom or never found) I should convey it with me. Sweet, good-night! [_Aside._] She bends to me: there's my fall again.

[_Exit._

_Isa._ He's gone! That lightning that a while doth strike Our eyes with amaz'd brightness, and on a sudden Leaves us in prison'd darkness! Lust, thou art high; My similes[212] may well come from the sky. Anna, Anna!

_Enter_ ANNA.

_Anna._ Madam, did you call? 209

_Isa._ Follow yond stranger; prithee learn his name. We may hereafter thank him. [_Exit_ ANNA.] How I dote! Is he not a god That can command what other men would win With the hard'st advantage? I must have him, Or, shadow-like, follow his fleeting steps. Were I as Daphne, and he followed chase, (Though I rejected young Apollo's love, And like a dream beguile his wand'ring steps;) Should he pursue me through the neighbouring grove, Each cowslip-stalk should trip a willing fall, 220 Till he were mine, who till then am his thrall. Nor will I blush, since worthy is my chance:[213] 'Tis said that Venus with a satyr slept; And how much short came she of my fair aim! Then, Queen of Love, a precedent I'll be, To teach fair women learn to love of me. Speak, music: what's his name?

_Enter_ ANNA.

_Anna._ Madam, it was the worthy Count Massino.

_Isa._ Blest be thy tongue! The worthy count indeed, The worthiest of the worthies. Trusty Anna, 230 Hast thou pack'd up those monies, plate, and jewels I gave direction for?

_Anna._ Yes, madam; I have truss'd up them, that many a proper man has been truss'd up for.

_Isa._ I thank thee. Take the wings of night, Beloved secretary, and post with them to Pavia;[214] There furnish up some stately palace Worthy to entertain the king of love: Prepare it for my coming and my love's. Ere Phoebus' steeds once more unharness'd be, 240 Or ere he sport with his belovèd Thetis, The silver-footed goddess of the sea, We will set forward. Fly like the northern wind, Or swifter, Anna,--fleet like to my mind.

_Anna._ I am just of your mind, madam. I am gone.

[_Exit_ ANNA.

_Isa._ So to the house of death the mourner goes, That is bereft of what his soul desired, As I to bed--I to my nuptial bed, The heaven on earth: so to thought-slaughters went The pale Andromeda, bedew'd with tears. 250 When every minute she expected gripes Of a fell monster, and in vain bewail'd The act of her creation. Sullen Night, That look'st with sunk eyes on my nuptial bed, With ne'er a star that smiles upon the end, Mend thy slack pace, and lend the malcontent, The hoping lover, and the wishing bride, Beams that too long thou shadowest: or, if not, In spite of thy fix'd front, when my loath'd mate Shall struggle in due pleasure for his right, 260 I'll think 't my love, and die in that delight!

[_Exit._

[182] Not marked in old eds.

[183] Omitted in ed. 1631.

[184] Seemingly, here, a sort of apron.--The word is used in a variety of senses: see Nares' _Glossary_.

[185] Properly a military expression, meaning--fear no enemy.

[186] Used with a quibble: (1) reason, (2) raisin.

[187] Old eds. "Count of Arsena;" and so below "_to_ Isabella, Gvido Count of Arsena."--It was Guido who prepared the masque (see p. 149), and he ought certainly to be one of the masquers; but if we suppose that he is the masquer with whom Isabella falls in love, we are involved at once in wild confusion. Throughout this scene the prefixes are constantly wrong. The masquer who is now called Guido is frequently transformed into Rogero: see p. 157, "The second change, ISABELLA fals in loue with Rogero" and what follows. Later in the scene Isabella sends her waiting-woman Anna to discover the unknown masquer's name; and Anna returns with the announcement, "Madam, it was the worthy Count Massino." In the third scene she sends her page to summon the stranger to her presence. When the page returns with him, the stage-direction is "_Enter_ Count ARSENA and a Page." She flies with her paramour, and the first man to proffer his advice to Roberto is this same Guido, Count of Arsena, who--according to the old copies--is flying with the Countess to Pavia! In iii. 11 the stage-direction is "_Enter_ Count GUIDO, ISABELLA," &c., and presently Isabella addresses her paramour as Rogero. Isabella pretends that she is sick and Guido goes to fetch a doctor: when he returns the stage direction is "_Enter_ ROGERO, ANNA, _and_ Doctor." So the changes are rung through several scenes. In iv. 3 Isabella speaks of-- "False Count Guido, treacherous Gniaca, Counties of Gazia and of rich Massino."

Gniaca is the Count of Gazia [Gaeta?], and it follows that Guido would be the name of the Count of Massino [Messina?]. But Guido is the Count of Arsena; and it will be intolerable to have another Guido. Throughout I shall give the name Massino to the paramour who elopes with the Countess, and shall prefix "_Mass._" to his speeches. Count Arsena will have to be excluded from the masque. It is no fault of mine; the author (or authors) and the old printer must bear the blame.

[188] Old eds. "CLARIDIANA, _to_ ABIGAL; _to_ ISABELLA, GVIDO _Count of Arsena_; _to_ THAIS, ROGERO."

[189] Ed. 1631 "I must."

[190] _i.e._, motto.

[191] Shakespeare has a more elaborate quibble:--"And then comes repentance, and with his bad legs falls into the _cinque-pace_ faster and faster till he _sink_ into his _grave_."--_Much Ado_, ii. 1. Cinque-pace was the name of a lively dance.

[192] Old eds. "_Thais_."

[193] Old eds. "_Abig._"

[194] Old eds. "_Rogero_."

[195] Old eds. "_when the changers speak_."

[196] To this speech and Rogero's five following speeches the prefix "_Men._" is given in the old copies.

[197] Omitted in ed. 1631.

[198] Ed. 1631 "Mucaue."

[199] Old eds. "_Robert_" and "_Rob_."

[200] Ed. 1631 "love's."

[201] Old eds. "_Gui_."

[202] Old eds. "_Rogero_."

[203] Omitted in ed. 1631.

[204] Old eds. "Candidi Ernigos" and "Erignos."

[205] To Massino's speeches old eds. give the prefix "_Rog._"

[206] Old eds. give the prefix "_Men._" here and at l. 184.

[207] Old eds. "_Mend._"

[208] Old eds. "ROGERO."

[209] Old eds. "Ile."

[210] So ed. 1613.--Ed. 1631 "to supreme."

[211] Omitted in ed. 1631.

[212] Old eds. "smiles."

[213] Quy. "choice"?

[214] Old eds. "Sweuia."