SCENE IV.--_An Apartment in_ D'AMVILLE'S _Mansion.

_Enter_ D'AMVILLE _and_ CASTABELLA.

_D'Am._ Daughter, you do not well to urge me. I Ha' done no more than justice. Charlemont Shall die and rot in prison, and 'tis just.

_Cast._ O father, mercy is an attribute As high as justice, an essential part Of his unbounded goodness, whose divine Impression, form, and image man should bear! And, methinks, man should love to imitate His mercy, since the only countenance Of justice were destruction, if the sweet And loving favour of his mercy did Not mediate between it and our weakness.

_D'Am._ Forbear. You will displease me. He shall rot.

_Cast._ Dear sir, since by your greatness you Are nearer heaven in place, be nearer it In goodness. Rich men should transcend the poor As clouds the earth, raised by the comfort of The sun to water dry and barren grounds. If neither the impression in your soul Of goodness, nor the duty of your place As goodness' substitute can move you, then Let nature, which in savages, in beasts, Can stir to pity, tell you that he is Your kinsman.--

_D'Am._ You expose your honesty To strange construction. Why should you so urge Release for Charlemont? Come, you profess More nearness to him than your modesty Can answer. You have tempted my suspicion. I tell thee he shall starve, and die, and rot.

_Enter_ CHARLEMONT _and_ SEBASTIAN.

_Charl._ Uncle, I thank you.

_D'Am._ Much good do it you.--Who did release him?

_Sebas._ I. [_Exit_ CASTABELLA.

_D'Am._ You are a villain.

_Sebas._ Y'are my father. [_Exit_ SEBASTIAN.

_D'Am._ I must temporize.--[_Aside._ Nephew, had not his open freedom made My disposition known, I would ha' borne The course and inclination of my love According to the motion of the sun, Invisibly enjoyed and understood.

_Charl._ That shows your good works are directed to No other end than goodness. I was rash, I must confess. But--

_D'Am._ I will excuse you. To lose a father and, as you may think, Be disinherited, it must be granted Are motives to impatience. But for death, Who can avoid it? And for his estate, In the uncertainty of both your lives 'Twas done discreetly to confer't upon A known successor being the next in blood. And one, dear nephew, whom in time to come You shall have cause to thank. I will not be Your dispossessor but your guardian. I will supply your father's vacant place To guide your green improvidence of youth, And make you ripe for your inheritance.

_Charl._ Sir, I embrace your generous promises.

_Enter_ ROUSARD _looking sickly, and_ CASTABELLA.

_Rous._ Embracing! I behold the object that Mine eye affects. Dear cousin Charlemont!

_D'Am._ My elder son! He meets you happily. For with the hand of our whole family We interchange the indenture[163] of our loves.

_Charl._ And I accept it. Yet not so joyfully Because y'are sick.

_D'Am._ Sir, his affection's sound Though he be sick in body.

_Rous._ Sick indeed. A general weakness did surprise my health The very day I married Castabella, As if my sickness were a punishment That did arrest me for some injury I then committed. Credit me, my love, I pity thy ill fortune to be matched With such a weak, unpleasing bedfellow.

_Cast._ Believe me, sir, it never troubles me. I am as much respectless to enjoy Such pleasure, as ignorant what it is.

_Charl._ Thy sex's wonder. Unhappy Charlemont!

_D'Am._ Come, let's to supper. There we will confirm The eternal bond of our concluded love. [_Exeunt._

ACT THE FOURTH.