University of Virginia Library

ACT I.

Enter at one dore Don Antonio leading Maria; at another two Gentlemen.
1.
The Prince of Portugal, Don Antonio—

2.
He courts our Infanta close.

1.
And may deserve her.

Enter Don Manuel. Maria lets fall a Jewel from her dress, he takes it up, and offers it to her.
Man.
Your Grace—

Mar.
'Tis none of mine, Don Manuel.
Will your Highness walk?

Ex. Ant. & Mar.
1.
Observe you that?

2.
The Prince seem'd not well pleas'd.

Man.
What doth the Princess mean?
I saw it fall from her.

1.
My eyes are witness,
Noble Don Manuel.

Man.
My Lords, your servant.

2.
How do you like the Spanish Court? Although
My Lord your father were a native, yet
Your birth and education were abroad;
Compell'd by your father's destiny.

Man.
My unhappiness!
I have heard him say, some policies prevail'd
To make him leave this Kingdom, and his fortunes,
To try his fate at sea, till he found means
To plant himself in Portugal, from whence
He was but late reduc'd by the good Prince,
With promise of a pardon; and his honour
Is full securitie for us.

1.
The Prince
Can do becoming things, and knows good acts
Are in themselves rewards; but the report
Was here, that fifteen thousand Ducats
Were offer'd Roderigo our Kings brother,
By your father Lord Piracquo, to assure
His reconcilement here, for trespasses
He did at sea.

2.
But not accepted.
I know not which will be his more vexation,
To know the Prince's act, restore Piracquo,
Or so much money lost.

Enter Prince Carlo, and Celio his Page.
1.
The Prince.

Car.
Don Manuel,
You are become a man of mighty business,
Or I have lost some interest, I had
Since I left Portugal; but I'll not chide.
Where is the King?

2.
In his Bed chamber, Sir,
With Duke Mendoza.

Car.
I'll not intterrupt 'em.
You may redeem your error, and we both
Converse again.

Exit.
Man.
You infinitely honor,
And with it bind the obedience of your creature.

1.
Now he is going to his Mistris.

2.
To Clara
The Duke Mendoza's Daughter.

Man.
Mistris? do you forget, my Lord, the treaty,
And his own personall contract, the kiss warm
On Isabella's lip, and strengthned by the hope
And expectation of another Mariage,
Betwixt Anthonio and Maria his Sister?

1.
We are us'd
To freedom here, with as much innocence
I may, perhaps, hereafter say, the Princess
Maria meant you honor, when she dropt
A Jewel; Sir, it cannot be much blemish
For you to own her service.

Man.
'Twere an insolence
(Beyond her mercy to forgive) in me,
To think she meant it grace, or I apply it
At such a distance of my blood and fortune.
This in a whisper, but convey'd through Court,
Would forfeit me for ever: As y'are honourable,
Preserve me in my humbler thoughts.

1.
Be confident.

2.
And pardon my expression; Sir, your servant.

Exe.
Man.
I have observ'd the Princess scatter beams
Upon me, and talk language with her eyes
Sometime, such as I dare not apprehend
With safety, or Religion; for I find
My heart anothers conquest. But the Prince!
Why should he move my jealousie? I know
His amorous thoughts, already plac'd upon
Fair Isabella, must inhabit there,
And meet their just reward; he cannot be
So carelesless of his honour.

Enter Pedro.
Ped.
Can you direct-me, Sir, to Don Piracquo,
Your noble father? I bring affairs concern him.

Man.
You wait upon the Duke Mendoza, Sir?

Pe.
I was i'th' first number of those attended
His Dutchess, while she liv'd; his Grace doth now
Acknowledge me a waiting movable
Within his family; my name is Pedro,
A poor kinsman of yours, if you be, Sir,
My Lord Piracquo's son, and might have been
His heir, had not you Mother been more fruitfull
At sea, before she died, who left you an infant;
'Twas something to my prejudice, but your Father—

Ma.
Is in the privy Garden, Sir.

Pe.
Your servant.

Exit.
Ma.
What means this fellow to survay me? ha! Clara!
Enter Mendoza and Clara.
And her Father Duke Mendoza! I
Must wish a time without his presence, to
Confirm, how much I honour her: Loud fame
Speaks him a noble Gentleman, but of late
(By what misfortune 'tis not known) he hath
Some garbs, that shew not a clear spirit in him.
But that his Lady's dead, men would interpret
His starts proceed from jealousie: I'll leave 'em.
And wait some private opportunity.

Exit.
Cla.
I must confess, Prince Carlo, Sir, hath courted me,
But with a noble flame.

Me.
Flame me no flame, unless you mean to turn our family
And name to ashes in the Kings displeasure.
Thou do'st not know the Prince, as I doe, Clara.

Enter Piracquo and Pedro.
Pe.
Sure you have known me, Sir, I have expected
Some time, when you would own me—

Pi.
Your name's Pedro—

Pe.
You thought me of your blood, Sir, when you promis'd
I should be your heir; I did a service for't
Deserves your memory, not contempt, my Lord.

Pi.
Oh, thou didst well, and though as I then stood
Proscrib'd, I wisht it otherwise, I now thank
Thy witty cozenage, and allow thy faith
Religious to thy Prince; be honest still.

Pe.
Honest? you are mistaken, I have been
Honest to none but you, Sir.

Pi.
Be to thy self.

Pe.
I know not what you mean by witty cozenage;
But to my danger, I may say, I did
The feat as you desir'd; you know I did,
And 'tis my wonder, what we both projected
To make your own conditions for your pardon,
And safe return, afcer proscription,
Hath not been worth your use so many years;
Where is the Prince?

Pi.
The Prince? you are witty, Kinsman.

Pe.
Nay if you slight me, Sir, and pay my service
With this neglect, I can undone my self
To make you find repentance—

[offers to go in
Pi.
Come nearer—

Me.
Therefore upon my blessing, if thou hast
Such an ambitious thought, I charge thee leave it.

Cla.
Sir, you may spare these precepts, I have not
Given away my freedom, or by promise
Of more than may become my duty, offer'd
The Prince an expectation; I am
Not ignorant he is design'd a Bridegroom
To the fair Isabella, and it were
Sawcie injustice to distract a blessing
Now hovering o'r two Kingdoms—

Me.
Thou art wise;
Preserve this duty. Ha! is not that Pedro?
I doe not like their whisper—

Cla.
You look pale, Sir.

Pi.
Can this be truth? was it Prince Carlo, then
Without imposture was deliver'd me?
Didst thou not couzen me?

Pe.
If I be mortall, Sir,
It was my Ladies art, for her own safety,
To put this trick upon the Court, which she
Kept me from my Lord, untill upon her death-bed
She made him overseer of the Secret.

Men.
Did he not name a Secret?

Cla.
You are troubled.

Men.
I? thou art deceiv'd.

Pir.
Ha! 'tis thy Lord Mendoza.

Ped.
He may take
Some jealousie, if he observe our whisper.

Pir.
Adde, Pedro, but to this, thy future secresie,
Till I mature some act, my thoughts now fix upon,
And choose thy place within my heart; meet me—

Ped.
Enough, you seal the mystery agen.

Men.
Pedro, come hither; What did you whisper?

Enter a Gentleman.
1.
Duke Roderigo, my Lord, desires
Your conference in the garden.

Pir.
I'll attend him.

Exeunt.
Ped.
He is my Kinsman, Sir, and did salute me—

Men.
I would thou wert his Cosen ten removes
(Pedro) as far as the two Poles are distant.

Cla.
My father need not fear Prince Carlo now;
I find another guest here, 'tis Don Manuel
Holds chief intelligence with my thoughts.

Men.
Well Pedro,
Take heed, my life is in thy lips—

Ped.
I know my duty, Sir, if you suspect,
Command me to be dumb; Sir, you must trust me.

Men.
I know not how to help it, wait upon
My daughter.
Exeunt
I would my Lady had liv'd, or died without
Bequeathing me this Legacy on her death-bed,
A Secret to consume me; this servant, whom
I dare not much displease, is all the witness
Survives, sworn with the rest to secresie,
And though I have small argument to suspect him,
After so long a silence, yet I am
Not safe to be at his devotion:
I could soon purge him with a Fig, but that's
Not honest: Was it ever known, a man
So innocent, should have so many Agues
In's conscience? I am weary of the Court;
I must have some device—
Enter Roderigo and Piracquo.
Duke Roderigo,
And Don Piracquo? they are whispering too;
This jealousie will take my brains apieces.

Exit.
Ro.
I have said, & now expect, my Lord, your answer.

Pi.
I must acknowledge from your Grace, a favour,
That you have been so clear, and free with me;
I might have thought my self secure i'th' dark,
And ignorant of this expectation,
Incurr'd your Graces jealousie.

Ro.
I had allwaies
A firm opinion of your Lordships gratitude.

Pi.
But for the sum, he fifty thousand Ducats,
I must acknowledge, if your Grace had mediated
My pardon then with the good King, your brother,
It had oblig'd my payment; but my cause
Not worth your Graces agitation,
Or breath, was like a vessell struck upon
Some shelf, without all hope t'have sayl'd agen,
Had not the Prince's mercie, when he came
To Portugal, reliev'd it with a galc,
And set my bark afloat.

Ro.
The Prince?
Why? doth your Lordship think I had no part
I'th' work of your repair? the power, and office
I hold at Court, is not asleep, my Lord,
When any act of grace is done by th'King.

Pi.
I dare not do so much injustice to
The Prince's bounty, to divide and ow
But half the benefit to his Grace; I not
Extenuate your prevalence at Court, but
His Highness did compassionate my exile,
And I am return'd by his commands, my Lord,
I am his creature for it, and shall sooner
Lose what he hath preserv'd, my life and peace here,
Than doubt his honour, or dispute his power
In my behalf.

Ro.
Sir, you are not safe yet,
There has past no seal, I take it, for your pardon.
You hang i'th' air, not fixt to th'roof of heaven,
As when you shin'd a star; take heed you prove
No Comet, a prodigious thing snatch'd up
To blaze, and be let fall agen, upon
Their eyes, that so mistook the region
Where you were plac'd.

Pi.
I know, my Lord, your greatness,
And hold it not becoming, to contest
In language wi'ee; but I am confident—

Ro.
Of what?

Pi.
And will wager, if your Grace please,
The to'ther fifty thousand Ducats, Sir,
That I'll not pay you a Marvedie; if I may
On other honourable terms possess
Your favour, I shall meet your just commands,
But if you set such price upon your smiles,
After the Prince's honor to secure me,
I know my self, my fortune, and upon
What strength I must depend.

Ro.
I shall, my Lord,
Send you to sea agen.

Pi.
I made a shift, and may agen, my Lord,
Amongst the Merchants.

Ro.
Pirate—

Pi.
'Tis confest,
I was so, but your Grace may be inform'd
I was not born to th'trade, I had a soul
Above my fortune, and a toy I took
To lose what was beneath my birth and titles,
Or purchase an estate fit to sustain 'em;
The sea was my Exchequer; for I thriv'd,
I thank my watry Destinies, and commanded
Many a tall ship, won with so much horror,
As possibly would have made your Lordship (had you
But in a cloud, or airie scaffold stood
Spectator of our fight) sweat out your soul
Like a thin vapour with the fright, and after
Drop your forsaken body on our deck,
To encrease the number of the dead.

Ro.
But we
May deal with you at land agen.

Pi.
With reverence to your blood as 'tis the Kings, withall my age,
My wounds upon me, and that innocence,
The Prince's word hath new created in me,
I do not fear—

Ro.
Whom?

Pi.
The Devil.

Ro.
I shall conjure down the spirit.

Pi.
Hell hath not art to keep it down.

Ro.
So brave?

Pi.
So just.

Ro.
Thou talking fool, do'st think I have no stings?

Pi.
I know you are a Statesman, Sir, but he
That fears with his own innocence about him,
Deserves not a protection—

[offers to go in.
Ro.
Piracquo,
Stay, I now see thou hast a gallant spirit,
Let me embrace thee, and with this confirm
An honourable friendship; I have not
A thought so base to injure thee.

Pi.
I have—
An easy faith my Lord—

Ro.
Farewell—
Noble Piracquo, I have tri'd and found thee.

Pi.
I wo'not trust you for all this; I know
The Devill's excellent at the hug; your Servant.

Enter Manuell and Clara, at the other dore Maria.
Man.
The Princess.

Mar.
I doe not like his Courtship there.
Don Manuel—

(Manuel leaves Clara, and goes to Maria.
Ro.
So gratious with my Neece? I'll make him curse
Those smiles—

Exit.
Cl.
All is not well within me, and the Princess
Was never so unwelcome; they conferr
With much delight, or else my fears abuse me.
What hath she in the greatness of her birth,
That I should be so passive? Heaven look on
Our hearts, and if my love want a degree
Of noble heat, when they are both compar'd,
Let what I carry be the Funerall pile,
And my own flame consume it. Ha, the Prince
Enter Carlo.
I shall betray my self too soon I fear.

Car.
My sweetest Clara!

Mar.
Either there were no Ladies that could love
In that Court, or you could not want a Mistris.

Man.
They are not born with incapacity
Of loving, where they find a worth t'invite:
The fault was in my undesert, that could
Attract no Ladies grace to own me there,
So inconsiderable a servant Madam.

Ma.
There is some hope, you wil not be thought here
Unworthy of a nobler Character;
I doe not think but Clara hath a better
Opinion of your merit.

Car.
You cannot be so cruell; what could in
My absence interpose, to make your heart
Unkind to those desires at my return?

Cla.
My justice, and the care of both our honours,
I have not lost; nor can Time make me forfeit,
(What Nature, and the Laws of Heaven and Earth
Command me to preserve) my duty Sir.
What is above, would tast ambitious.

Car.
This was not wont.

Cla.
If any of your smiles,
Or favours Sir before, have led my tongue
To unbecoming boldness, you have mercy:
Some things of errour are exalted by
Our bold belief, when Princes make themselves
But merry with their servants, who are apt
To antedate their honour, and expound,
In their own flattery, the text of Princes.

Car.
But is all this in earnest?

Enter Roderigo and Antonio.
Ro.
Is not that
Don Manuell with the Princess? Observe Sir.

An.
They are pleasant.

Ro.
Dare he presume?

An.
Vexation!

Cla.
While I have
The memory of what you are, a Prince,
And dare believe what is as true, as talk'd of,
Your Contract made in Portugall to the Princess
Isabella—

Car.
No Contract Madam; I confesse,
To please my Father, who engag'd me to
The travel, I did seem to court the Princess,
And with some shadows of a promise, might
Advance her expectation; but here
I left my heart, and dare appeal to thine.

An.
Madam—

Mar.
Your Graces pardon but a minute.

An.
Sir—

[To Manuell.
Mar.
Nay then I shall repent I ask'd your pardon.

An.
I ha' done, and will attend your Graces pleasure.

Mar.
I am now at your commands.

Exe.
Ro.
Clara his Mistris?

Car.
Possible! was not that Prince Antonio, Uncle?

Ro.
Yes Sir, and gone displeased,
He hath been affronted by that Gentleman.

Car.
He dares not be so rude.

Ro.
He dares be insolent, and court your Sister.

Car.
How? my Sister? be less ambitious, Manuel.

Ro.
Your favours have exalted him too much.

Car.
But I can change my brow.

Ro.
It does become you.

Exeunt.
Man.
The Prince did frown upon me, Madam, you
Are wise, as well as fair, can you resolve
The Prince's riddle?

Cla.
Sir, I have no art
To decypher mysteries, but if I erre not,
He nam'd his Sister.

Ma.
Ha!

Cla.
With caution you should be less ambitious.

Ma.
'Tis so, he's jealous of my courtship there,
It can be nothing else, can it, sweet Madam?
I dare make you the judge of all my thoughts,
Unbosom every counsell, and divest
My soul of this thin garment that it wears,
To let your eye examine it; if you find
Within that great diaphanal an atome
Look black, as guilty of the Prince's anger,
Let him doom me to death, or if that be
Not punishment enough, be you more cruel,
And frown upon me too.

Cla.
If I were judge,
Without such narrow, and severe dissection,
Don Manuel, of your heart, I should declare
Boldly your innocence, and rather than
A frown of mine should rob your thought of quiet,
I would deprive mine eyes of what they honour,
By a more cruel absence.

Ma.
But to be
Assured of so much charity I could wish
My self in some degrees a guilty person,
And stand the Prince's anger; but if I
Be cleer'd in your opinion, I dread not
The malice of accusers; yet if you had
Wav'd my integrity, I had an argument
To have convinc'd you, Madam, that Maria,
Though sacred in her person, was to me
No more enflaming than a peece of Alabaster,
Which some great Master's hand had shap'd a Virgin;
For if you dare believe me, you have won
By your virtue here so much dominion,
There is no room to entertain a guest,
Much less a competition. Oh Madam,
I took so strange a charm in at my eyes
When first your presence made 'em happy, that
To say I onely lov'd you, were prophane,
And would detract from that religious honour,
My heart in that first minute promis'd you.

Cla.
I know not in what language, Sir, to dress
My answer, but in that small skill I have,
Sir, of my self, I am not guilty of
Unkind rewards, where I can understand
A fair respect invite 'em; yet if you
But flatter, for it is hard to say, when men
Dissemble not at Court—

Ma.
The curse of Virgins, and
What else can make a Lover miserable
Feed on my heart, that minute I betray
Your faith by any treason of my tongue:
I must not live with your suspicion on me;
Why doe you obscure your face?

Cl.
I doe but hide
Sir an unruly blush that's stoln into
My cheek; I fear a Spy, that hath discovered,
And would tell what complexion my heart has.
Pray leave me.

Ma.
That command
Receiv'd but faint commission from your heart,
From whence those am'rous spies your blushes came;
It had a sound like Virgins, when they teach
A way to be denied. Pardon sweet Madam,
If I presume to interpret my own happiness;
Your eyes are not so kind to obscure themselves
Behind that cloud, they may behold me kiss
He kisses her hand.
Your hands with this devotion, and not
Repent to be a witness. Did you not
Feel a chaft trembling on my lip? with such
A fear doe Pilgrims salute holy Shrines,
And touch the flesh of Martyrs: but this circumstance
Is but the pomp, no essence of affection.
Say, can you love me, Madam? if your tongue
Not us'd to such a dialect, refuse
Articulate consent, a smile will make
No noise, speak that way; I will keep this hand
Both a white pledge, and prisoner, till your eye
Or welcome accent doe redeem it from me;
Or if you still be silent, I'll secure
My fate, and teach your hand without a voyce
To chant a Song to Hymen.
Weeping? I'le kiss those drops away.

Cla.
Away—

Ma.
That eccho was not sweet, yet being thine—

Cla.
I am too much thine.

Ma.
There's no place for fears;
Love is the purest, when 'tis washt in tears.