The Duchess of Malfi
Page 63
DE F. ’Slid, it concerns the safety of us both,
Our pleasure and continuance.
BEAT. One word now, prithee;
How for the servants?
DE F. I will despatch them,
Some one way, some another in the hurry,
For buckets, hooks, ladders; fear not you,
The deed shall find its time; and I’ve thought since
Upon a safe conveyance for the body too:
How this fire purifies wit! watch you your minute.
BEAT. Fear keeps my soul upon’t, I cannot stray from’t.
Enter Ghost of Alonzo
DE F. Ha! what art thou that tak’st away the light
Betwixt that star and me? I dread thee not:
’Twas but a mist of conscience; all’s clear again.
Exit
BEAT. Who’s that, De Flores? bless me, it slides by!
Exit Ghost
Some ill thing haunts the house; ’t has left behind it
A shivering sweat upon me; I’m afraid now:
This night hath been so tedious! O this strumpet!
Had she a thousand lives, he should not leave her
Till he had destroyed the last. List! O my terrors!
[Clock strikes three]
Three struck by Sebastian’s!
VOICES. [Within] Fire, fire, fire!
BEAT. Already? how rare is that man’s speed!
How heartily he serves me! his face loathes one;
But look upon his care, who would not love him?
The east is not more beauteous than his service.
VOICES. [Within] Fire, fire, fire!
Re-enter De Flores: Servants pass over the stage, ring a bell
DE F. Away, despatch! hooks, buckets, ladders! that’s well said.
The fire-bell rings; the chimney works, my charge;118
The piece119 is ready.
Exit
BEAT. Here’s a man worth loving!
Enter Diaphanta
O you’re a jewel!
DIA. Pardon frailty, madam;
In troth, I was so well, I even forgot myself.
BEAT. You’ve made trim work!
DIA. What?
BEAT. Hie quickly to your chamber;
Your reward follows you.
DIA. I never made
So sweet a bargain.
Exit
Enter Alsemero
ALS. O, my dear Joanna,
Alas! art thou risen too? I was coming,
My absolute treasure!
BEAT. When I missed you,
I could not choose but follow.
ALS. Thou’rt all sweetness:
The fire is not so dangerous.
BEAT. Think you so, sir?
ALS. I prithee, tremble not; believe me, ’tis not.
Enter Vermandero and Jasperino
VER. O bless my house and me!
ALS. My lord your father.
Re-enter De Flores with a gun
VER. Knave, whither goes that piece?
DE F. To scour the chimney.
VER. O, well said, well said!
Exit De Flores
That fellow’s good on all occasions.
BEAT. A wondrous necessary man, my lord.
VER. He hath a ready wit; he’s worth ’em all, sir;
Dog at120 a house of fire; I ha’ seen him singed ere now.—
[Gun fired off within]
Ha, there he goes!
BEAT. [Aside] ’Tis done!
ALS. Come, sweet, to bed now;
Alas! thou wilt get cold.
BEAT. Alas! the fear keeps that out!
My heart will find no quiet till I hear
How Diaphanta, my poor woman, fares;
It is her chamber, sir, her lodging chamber.
VER. How should the fire come there?
BEAT. AS good a soul as every lady countenanced,
But in her chamber negligent and heavy:
She ’scaped a mine121 twice.
VER. Twice?
BEAT. Strangely twice, sir.
VER. Those sleepy sluts are dangerous in a house,
An they be ne’er so good.
Re-enter De Flores
DE F. O poor virginity,
Thou hast paid dearly for’t!
VER. Bless us, what’s that?
DE F. A thing you all knew once, Diaphanta’s burnt.
BEAT. My woman! O my woman!
DE F. Now the flames
Are greedy of her; burnt, burnt, burnt to death, sir!
BEAT. O my presaging soul!
ALS. Not a tear more!
I charge you by the last embrace I gave you
In bed, before this raised us.
BEAT. Now you tie me;
Were it my sister, now she gets no more.
Enter Servant
VER. How now?
SER. All danger’s past; you may now take
Your rests, my lords; the fire is thoroughly quenched:
Ah, poor gentlewoman, how soon was she stifled!
BEAT. De Flores, what is left of her inter,
And we as mourners all will follow her:
I will entreat that honor to my servant
Even of my lord himself.
ALS. Command it, sweetness.
BEAT. Which of you spied the fire first?
DE F. ’Twas I, madam.
BEAT. And took such pains in’t too? a double goodness!
’Twere well he were rewarded.
VER. He shall be.—
De Flores, call upon me.
ALS. And upon me, sir.
Exeunt all except De Flores
DE F. Rewarded? precious! here’s a trick beyond me:
I see in all bouts, both of sport and wit,
Always a woman strives for the last hit.
Exit
SCENE II
Enter Tomaso
TOM. I cannot taste the benefits of life
With the same relish I was wont to do:
Man I grow weary of, and hold his fellowship
A treacherous bloody friendship; and because
I’m ignorant in whom my wrath should settle,
I must think all men villains, and the next
I meet, whoe’er he be, the murderer
Of my most worthy brother. Ha! what’s he?
De Flores passes across the stage
O, the fellow that some call honest De Flores;
But methinks honesty was hard bested
To come here for a lodging; as if a queen
Should make her palace of a pest-house:
I find a contrariety in nature
Betwixt that face and me; the least occasion
Would give me game upon122 him; yet he’s so foul
One would scarce touch him with a sword he loved
And made account of; so most deadly venomous,
He would go near to poison any weapon
That should draw blood on him; one must resolve
Never to use that sword again in fight
In way of honest manhood that strikes him;
Some river must devour it; ’twere not fit
That any man should find it. What, again?
Re-enter De Flores
He walks a’ purpose by, sure, to choke me up,
T’ infect my blood.
DE F. My worthy noble lord!
TOM. Dost offer to come near and breathe upon me?
[Strikes him]
DE F. A blow!
[Draws]
TOM. Yea, are you so prepared?
I’ll rather like a soldier die by the sword,
Than like a politician by thy poison.
[Draws]
DE F. Hold, my lord, as you are honorable!
TOM. All slaves that kill by poison are still cowards.
DE F. [Aside] I cannot strike; I see his brother’s wounds
Fresh bleeding in his eye, as in a crystal.—
I will not question this, I know
you’re noble;
I take my injury with thanks given, sir,
Like a wise lawyer, and as a favor
Will wear it for the worthy hand that gave it.—
[Aside] Why this from him that yesterday appeared
So strangely loving to me?
O, but instinct is of a subtler strain!
Guilt must not walk so near his lodge again;
He came near me now.
Exit
TOM. All league with mankind I renounce for ever,
Till I find this murderer; not so much
As common courtesy but I’ll lock up;
For in the state of ignorance I live in,
A brother may salute his brother’s murderer,
And wish good speed to the villain in a greeting.
Enter Vermandero, Alibius, and Isabella
VER. Noble Piracquo!
TOM. Pray, keep on your way, sir;
I’ve nothing to say to you.
VER. Comforts bless you, sir!
TOM. I’ve forsworn compliment, in troth I have, sir;
As you are merely man, I have not left
A good wish for you, nor for any here.
VER. Unless you be so far in love with grief,
You will not part from’t upon any terms,
We bring that news will make a welcome for us.
TOM. What news can that be?
VER. Throw no scornful smile
Upon the zeal I bring you, ’tis worth more, sir;
Two of the chiefest men I kept about me
I hide not from the law of your just vengeance.
TOM. Ha!
VER. To give your peace more ample satisfaction,
Thank these discoverers.
TOM. If you bring that calm,
Name but the manner I shall ask forgiveness in
For that contemptuous smile I threw upon you,
I’ll perfect it with reverence that belongs
Unto a sacred altar.
[Kneels]
VER. [Raising him] Good sir, rise;
Why, now you overdo as much ’a this hand
As you fell short ’a t’other.—Speak, Alibius.
ALIB. ’Twas my wife’s fortune, as she is most lucky
At a discovery, to find out lately,
Within our hospital of fools and madmen,
Two counterfeits slipped into these disguises,
Their names Franciscus and Antonio.
VER. Both mine, sir, and I ask no favor for ’em.
ALIB. Now that which draws suspicion to their habits,
The time of their disguisings agrees justly
With the day of the murder.
TOM. O blest revelation!
VER. Nay, more, nay, more, sir—I’ll not spare mine own
In way of justice—they both feigned a journey
To Briamata, and so wrought out their leaves;
My love was so abused in it.
TOM. Time’s too precious
To run in waste now; you have brought a peace
The riches of five kingdoms could not purchase:
Be my most happy conduct; I thirst for ’em:
Like subtle lightning will I find about ’em,
And melt their marrow in ’em.
Exeunt
SCENE III
Enter Alsemero and Jasperino
JAS. Your confidence, I’m sure, is now of proof;123
The prospect from the garden has showed
Enough for deep suspicion.
ALS. The black mask
That so continually was worn upon’t
Condemns the face for ugly ere’t be seen,
Her despite to him, and so seeming bottomless.
JAS. Touch it home then; ’tis not a shallow probe
Can search this ulcer soundly; I fear you’ll find it
Full of corruption: ’tis fit I leave you,
She meets you opportunely from that walk;
She took the back door at his parting with her.
Exit
ALS. Did my fate wait for this unhappy stroke
At my first sight of woman? She is here.
Enter Beatrice
BEAT. Alsemero!
ALS. How do you?
BEAT. How do I?
Alas, sir! how do you? you look not well.
ALS. You read me well enough, I am not well.
BEAT. Not well, sir? is’t in my power to better you?
ALS. Yes.
BEAT. Nay, then you’re cured again.
ALS. Pray, resolve me one question, lady.
BEAT. If I can.
ALS. None can so sure: are you honest?
BEAT. Ha, ha, ha! that’s a broad question, my lord.
ALS. But that’s not a modest answer, my lady:
Do you laugh? my doubts are strong upon me.
BEAT. ’Tis innocence that smiles, and no rough brow
Can take away the dimple in her cheek:
Say I should strain a tear to fill the vault,
Which would you give the better faith to?
ALS. ’Twere but hypocrisy of a sadder color,
But the same stuff; neither your smiles nor tears
Shall move or flatter me from my belief:
You are a whore!
BEAT. What a horrid sound it hath!
It blasts a beauty to deformity;
Upon what face soever that breath falls,
It strikes it ugly: O, you have ruined
What you can ne’er repair again!
ALS. I’ll all
Demolish, and seek out truth within you,
If there be any left; let your sweet tongue
Prevent your heart’s rifling;124 there I’ll ransack
And tear out my suspicion.
BEAT. You may, sir;
It is an easy passage; yet, if you please,
Show me the ground whereon you lost your love;
My spotless virtue may but tread on that
Before I perish.
ALS. Unanswerable;
A ground you cannot stand on; you fall down
Beneath all grace and goodness when you set
Your ticklish125 heel on it: there was a visor
Over that cunning face, and that became you;
Now impudence in triumph rides upon’t;
How comes this tender reconcilement else
’Twixt you and your despite, your rancorous loathing,
De Flores? he that your eye was sore at sight of,
He’s now become your arm’s supporter, your
Lip’s saint!
BEAT. Is there the cause?
ALS. Worse, your lust’s devil,
Your adultery!
BEAT. Would any but yourself say that,
’Twould turn him to a villain!
ALS. It was witnessed
By the counsel of your bosom, Diaphanta.
BEAT. Is your witness dead then?
ALS. ’Tis to be feared
It was the wages of her knowledge; poor soul,
She lived not long after the discovery.
BEAT. Then hear a story of not much less horror
Than this your false suspicion is beguiled with;
To your bed’s scandal I stand up innocence,
Which even the guilt of one black other deed
Will stand for proof of; your love has made me
A cruel murderess.
ALS. Ha!
BEAT. A bloody one;
I have kissed poison for it, stroked a serpent:
The thing of hate, worthy in my esteem
Of no better employment, and him most worthy
To be so employed, I caused to murder
That innocent Piracquo, having no
Better means than that worst to assure
Yourself to me.
ALS. O, the place itself e’er since
Has crying been for vengeance! the temple,
Where blood and beauty first unlawfully
Fired
their devotion and quenched the right one;126
’Twas in my fears at first, ’twill have it now:
O, thou art all deformed!
BEAT. Forget not, sir,
It for your sake was done: shall greater dangers
Make the less welcome?
ALS. O, thou should’st have gone
A thousand leagues about to have avoided
This dangerous bridge of blood! here we are lost.
BEAT. Remember, I am true unto your bed.
ALS. The bed itself’s a charnel, the sheets shrouds
For murdered carcasses. It must ask pause
What I must do in this; meantime you shall
Be my prisoner only: enter my closet;
Exit Beatrice into closet
I’ll be your keeper yet. O, in what part
Of this sad story shall I first begin? Ha!
This same fellow has put me in.127—
Enter De Flores
De Flores!
DE F. Noble Alsemero!
ALS. I can tell you
News, sir; my wife has her commended to you.
DE F. That’s news indeed, my lord; I think she would
Commend me to the gallows if she could,
She ever loved me so well; I thank her.
ALS. What’s this blood upon your band, De Flores?
DE F. Blood! no, sure ’twas washed since.
ALS. Since when, man?
DE F. Since t’other day I got a knock
In a sword-and-dagger school; I think ’tis out.
ALS. Yes, ’tis almost out, but ’tis perceived though.
I had forgot my message; this it is,
What price goes murder?
DE F. How, sir?
ALS. I ask you, sir;
My wife’s behindhand with you, she tells me,
For a brave bloody blow you gave for her sake
Upon Piracquo.
DE F. Upon? ’twas quite through him sure:
Has she confessed it?
ALS. As sure as death to both of you;
And much more than that.
DE F. It could not be much more;
’Twas but one thing, and that—she is a whore.
ALS. It could not choose but follow: O cunning devils!
How should blind men know you from fair-faced saints?
BEAT. [Within] He lies! the villain does belie me!
DE F. Let me go to her, sir.
ALS. Nay, you shall to her.—
Peace, crying crocodile, your sounds are heard;
Take your prey to you;—get you in to her, sir:
Exit De Flores into closet
I’ll be your pander now; rehearse again
Your scene of lust, that you may be perfect128
When you shall come to act it to the black audience,
Where howls and gnashings shall be music to you:
Clip129 your adulteress freely, ’tis the pilot
Will guide you to the mare mortuum,130
Where you shall sink to fathoms bottomless.