University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

The Park of the Marquis. Enter Filippia and Salvatore.
Salvator.
By Cupid's beard, I love you hugely, lady!

Filippia.
By that same oath, I doubt it strangely, signore!

Sal.
Try me by all love's ordeals; if I fail
In any point of doctrine, faith, or duty,
Protest me arrant.

Fil.
Fairly challenged, sir.
I have a test.

Sal.
O! name it, name a thousand!

Fil.
You are acquainted with my cousin's fate,
With her betrothal to one Marsio?

Sal.
Gods! I know nothing else!

Fil.
Fie! restive lover!

Sal.
Between Juranio and you, my knowledge,
My precious knowledge—scraped by hard degrees—
Bids fair to be ingulfed in that one fact.

Fil.
Be patient. Would you win?

Sal.
On any terms.
I might stand Marsio's name some ten times more;
Costanza's some two-score.—But do be brief;
My reason totters when you mention them.

Fil.
We'll drop their titles. If you foil this marriage,
My hand is yours; ay, and the largest piece
Of a most grateful heart.

(Enter, behind, Marsio and Pietro Rogo, observing them.)
Sal.
But should I fail?

Fil.
Were mankind merged in one, and you that one,
I vow I would not—

Sal.
Hist! swear not; 't is wicked.
What if you broke your oath? 'T were perjury;
A deadly sin. I swear by saving rules,
That take the peril from a broken vow:
Let me do all the swearing.

Fil.
I am firm.
I err in asking this; but, having erred,
I'll have my wish to lull my conscience with.

Sal.
I merely sought to guard against mischance.
[Kneels.]
Here, on my knee, I swear—

(Marsio and Rogo advance.)
Marsio.
Hem!

Sal.
Zounds! who 's this?

[Starting up.]
Mar.
He is used to kneeling. This pair, Pietro,
And your old eyes, have cozened you.

Rogo.
No, no;
Yon doting couple, and the pair I saw,
Are no more like than geese and swans. This park
Must breed such creatures.

Fil.
Marsio himself!

Sal.
You fellow, there!—Sirrah!—you thieving clown,
I'll have you whipped for poaching!

Mar.
Sir!

Sal.
You trespass:
You are intruding upon private grounds.

Mar.
They should be private, if you often use them.

Sal.
How, dog?

Mar.
Sir!

Sal.
Quite at your command, sir.—Draw!
Here is a pretty piece of level sod;
This lady is my second; there stands yours.
Draw, draw! [Draws.]


Fil.
Do not forget yourself!

[Apart to Salvatore.]
Sal.
Not I.
This were a speedy way to settle all.
[Apart to Filippia.]
I wait you, sir. [To Marsio.]


Mar.
I do not wish to kill you.
Put up your sword. I would advise you, friend,
To find as safe a scabbard for your tongue.

Rogo.
'Sblood! do you bear that Court-fly's impudence?
Hark you, sir; signore Marsio is my friend,
My next of kin; might I supply his place?

[Draws.]
Sal.
Most charmingly. One of the family
Is something toward. [To Filippia.]


Fil.
Have you no respect,
No feeling for a woman?

Mar.
Shame upon you!
I'll cut the first man down who makes a pass.
Put up, good Pietro. This cause is mine:
He is no friend who takes it off my hands.
Make no excuse. [To Salvatore.]


Sal.
O! never fear for me.

Mar.
I pardon you, unasked. The gentleman
Has the infirmity of wrath. Alas!
Heaven made him so, for mortals to forgive.

Sal.
We'll settle, one day.

Fil.
Come, come, signore Firebrand;
I wish a valiant escort home.

Sal.
Dear lady,
Forgive my rudeness.

Fil.
No; I praise your zeal.
This bold beginning is a happy presage.

[Exit with Salvatore.]
Mar.
Ha! ha! ha! ha!—You would gull Marsio, ha?
[Laughing.]
Know you that man? 'T is signore Salvatore,
The foremost swordsman in all Italy.
Your life would last two passes, and no more,
Before his blade. When I crave suicide,
I'll take my quarrel up again. Go, Rogo.

Rogo.
'Sdeath! no: here I'll abide him.

Mar.
Mad as a March wind!
Is there no other way to tame wild bulls
Than butting at them with a pair of horns?
Meet him with his own weapons! Where 's revenge—
Where 's honor, satisfaction, and all that—
When you are wriggling half-way up a rapier,
Your heart pinned to your back? I have a way
To make his bilbo harmless as a rush;
I have an airy weapon that can stab,
Without a wound; yet make our satin signore
Grovel for life. I'm master of that blade,
And he is not: I'll use it, Pietro.

Rogo.
Keep to your own dark pathway, leave me mine—
Nay, sir; I will not go!

Mar.
Pish! headstrong man!
I am walking towards the Castle, I shall meet him,—
With the most lowly reverence of my cap,—
If you persist, I'll lead him round this place.
I say you shall not fight! 't would ruin me.
Now, dear friend Pietro.—

Rogo.
O! well, to please you.
The sun must rise to-morrow.

Mar.
Are you sure
These two were not the pair seen yester eve?

Rogo.
I swear it, by Saint Peter! She alone,
Lady Costanza—'sblood! I know her well—
Was the divinity; the worshipper
I never saw before. Within an hour
You shall know all about him.

Mar.
At my house
Meet me, anon. I'll bring her secret to you.
Lady Costanza has an open heart,
And I will tax it.

Rogo.
Do not trip yourself.
You have a dangerous ignorance of rank,
And the refinements of its ticklish honor.
I fear some blunder.

Mar.
'T is the quickest way;
I cannot sleep until the fact stand clear.
[Exit Rogo.]
As for our heady signore of the blade,
Let him look well to his economy;
To whom he credits, what he owes, what holds—
To what he eats, what drinks, what physic takes—
To how he sleeps, and how he goes abroad;
Let him beware dark nights, and crooked lanes—
Smooth billet-doux, and angry challenges;
For, by the wrath to come, a sudden death
Might lurk in any of them! Let him watch:
He opened credit with a punctual firm;
We must break quits ere long! Here lies my path.

[Exit.]