Of the none-sparing war? and is it I That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou Of smoky muskets? O you leaden messengers, Were mine at once: no, come thou home, Rousillon, My being here it is, that holds thee hence; To consolate thine ear. Come, night; end, day! SCENE III. Florence. Before the Duke's Palace. [Exit. Flourish. Enter the Duke of Florence, Bertram, Lords, Officers, Soldiers, and others. Duke. The general of our horse thou art: and we, Great in our hope, lay our best love and credence, Upon thy promising fortune. Ber. Sir, it is A charge too heavy for my strength; but yet * Ravenous. To the extreme edge of hazard. Duke. Then go thou forth; And fortune play upon thy prosperous helm, Ber. This very day, Great Mars, I put myself into thy file: Make me but like my thoughts; and I shall prove A lover of thy drum, hater of love. SCENE IV. [Exeunt. Rousillon. A room in the Countess's Palace. Enter Countess and Steward. Count. Alas! and would you take the letter of her? Might you not know, she would do as she has done, Stew. I am Saint Jaques' pilgrim, thither gone; That bare-foot plod I the cold ground upon, With sainted vow my faults to have amended. I, his despiteful Juno*, sent him forth Count. Ah, what sharp stings are in her mildest Rinaldo, you did never lack advice† so much, Which thus she hath prevented. * Alluding to the story of Hercules. + Discretion or thought. 1 Stew. Pardon me, madam: If I had given you this at over-night, She might have been o'erta'en; and yet she writes, Pursuit would be but vain. Count. What angel shall To make distinction :-Provide this messenger :— SCENE V. Without the walls of Florence. A tucket afar off. Enter an old Widow of Florence, Diana, Violenta, Mariana, and other citizens. Wid. Nay, come; for if they do approach the city, we shall lose all the sight. Dia. They say, the French count has done most honourable service. Wid. It is reported, that he has taken their greatest commander; and that with his own hand he slew the duke's brother. We have lost our labour; they are gone a contrary way: hark! you may know by their trumpets. *Weigh, here means to value or esteem. Mar. Come, let's return again, and suffice ourselves with the report of it. Well, Diana, take heed of this French earl: the honour of a maid is her name; and no legacy is so rich as honesty. Wid. I have told my neighbour, how you have been solicited by a gentleman, his companion. Mar. I know that knave; hang him! one Parolles: a filthy officer he is in those suggestions * for the young earl.-Beware of them, Diana; their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust, are not the things they go under † : many a maid hath been seduced by them; and the misery is, example, that so terrible shows in the wreck of maidenhood, cannot for all that dissuade succession, but that they are limed with the twigs that threaten them. I hope, I need not to advise you further; but I hope your own grace will keep you where you are, though there were no further danger known, but the modesty which is so lost. Dia. You shall not need to fear me. Enter Helena, in the dress of a pilgrim. Wid. I hope so.Look, here comes a pilgrim: I know she will lie at my house: thither they send one another: I'll question her : : God save you, pilgrim! Whither are you bound? Hel. To Saint Jaques le grand. ་ Where do the palmers ‡ lodge, I do beseech you? Wid. At the Saint Francis here, beside the port. Hel. Is this the way? Wid. Ay, marry, is it.-Hark you! [A march afar off. They come this way:-If you will tarry, holy pilgrim, But till the troops come by, I will conduct you where you shall be lodg'd; * Temptations. pass. They are not the things for which their names would make them Pilgrims; so called from a staff or bough of palm they were wont to carry. The rather, for, I think, I know your hostess, Hel. Is it yourself? Wid. If you shall please so, pilgrim. Hel. I thank you, and will stay upon your leisure. Wid. You came, I think, from France? I did so. Hel. Wid. Here you shall see a countryman of yours, That has done worthy service. Hel. His name, I pray you. Dia. The count Rousillon: Know you such a one? Hel. But by the ear, that hears most nobly of him: His face I know not. Whatsoe'er he is, Dia. He's bravely taken here. He stole from France, As 'tis reported, for* the king had married him Against his liking: Think you it is so Hel. Ay, surely, mere the truth+; I know his lady. Dia. There is a gentleman that serves the count, Reports but coarsely of her. Hel. Dia. Monsieur Parolles. What's his name? O, I believe with him, In argument of praise, or to the worth Of the great count himself, she is too mean I have not heard examin'd. Dia. Alas, poor lady! "Tis a hard bondage, to become the wife Of a detesting lord. Wid. A right good creature: wheresoe'er she is, Her heart weighs sadly: this young maid might do her A shrewd turn, if she pleas'd. Hel. How do you mean? May be, the amorous count solicits her * Because. †The exact, the entire truth. |