SIR NICHOLAS
Fair lady, let pass mourning for the absent.’Tis like sorrowing for the dead:either idolatry or hypocrisy, I cannot tell which.I could preach patience to ye, but your own wit is as much as my learning.Your husband’s absence you must bear, yea, and bear him also–in mind, I mean.There be but three things that save us of condemn us:that is, thoughts, works, and deeds.And you may have comfort in all:your own good thoughts, a good comfort; your friend’s good words, a better comfort; and your husband’s good deeds at his return, the best comfort.Thus much for instruction.Command my service day and night, to ride and run to do ye good.
ODILLIA
So, Master Vicar, I am glad ye have done.
SIR NICHOLAS
For this time and place I have, because Ihave somewhat to say to my sexton.Here is a thing in writing, sexton, that is sent to be published throught all the French King’s dominions.Read it, let me hear it, and then thou shalt know my mind.
LOD’WICK
[Reads.] To all Christians, and expecially to the king’s liege people:Lord Epernoun and the rest of the French nobility send greeting.Whereas the trice noble and renowned Prince Lod’wick, Duke of Bullen, was by the King’s majesty, at his departure to go on his devoted pilgrimage to the blessed sepulchre appointed join governor, regent and protector of the realm of France, together with that pernicious archtraitor Mercury, Duke of Anjou during the king’s absence; and that the said noble Duke of Bullen was by the treacherous, unjust, and unlawful forces of the said Mercury, expulsed out of his dukedom, lands, territories, and revenues, and disposessed of his place if not of his life; for as much as the said notorious malefactor Mercury hath sithence proved himself an open enemy unto his native country and king; we have thought good to publish and proclaim that whosoever can bring true notice of the safety and life of the said Duke Lod’wick shall have twenty thousand crowns; and he that doth present him alive shall have fifty thousand crowns.To the end that the said most honourable virtuous duke may be may be fully repossessed and restored to all his lands, liberties, and places of authority in this realm of France.Dated the last of May &c.Subscribed by Epernoun and other.
SIR NICHOLAS
By my holy orders, thou art as well worthy to be a vicar as myself, thou readst so well.I prithee, soon at evensong, read this to the parishioners.I cannot be there, for I have promised to bowl a match with good fellows this afternoon at Guynes for a wager, wet and dry, viz., two gallons of Gascoigne wine and two French crowns.I can stay no longer; I fear they stay for me.
BUNCH
By this light, I never saw him make such haste into the pulpit.
LOD’WICK
Hear me one word, good master, ere ye go,
And grant me one petition which is short.
Al these French crowns dare I assure mine own,
And will present him to old Epernoun.
My suit is, that you’ll take this honest Bunch
To be your sexton whilst I am away.
SIR NICHOLAS
I am content.Give Bunch the churchdoor key, upon condition wilt say even-song to the parish this afternoon, and read that publication to them.Then go thy way tomorrow if thou wilt.Lord, how time passes; in my conscience I burn daylight.’Tis one o’clock at least.Fare ye well, fare ye well.I come, i’faith, lads, I come.Though I come late, I hope to lie as near the mistress as any of ye all. [Exit.
BUNCH
Well, I see I shall have your office, and I trust you’ll bestow your spade and your pickax upon me, that I may grind them sharp to dispatch a grave quickly.And I pray you as ye travel up into high France, send the plague and that pox, as as many diseases as you can down into this country to kill the people, that I may get money for their graves-making.
LOD’WICK
Here, take my key, and toll to evening prayer,
I’ll do my master’s bidding ere I go.
BUNCH
Sancti amen. God give me joy and luck in mine office.Now boys, beware that ye wipe not your noses on your sleeves, for and ye do, off goes your arm with the church-door key.And dogs, keep out of the chancel; ye shall smell of the whip else.And honest prentices, if ye please me, I’l not ring the four a clock bell till it be past five.An occupation and an office; now I see I shall thrive.[Exit.
ODILLIA
And will you go and leave me here alone,
My only friend, now Ferdinand is gone?
LOD’WICK
Ask of your thoughts if they can counsel keep,
Which if upon your honour you assure,
You shall partake a secret very strange.
ODILLIA
My faith and honour be engag’d for it.
LOD’WICK
Exterior shows express not always truth,
Nor do imaginations ever fail.
My sexton’s case doth cloud nobility,
And, if opinion do not reason wrong,
Rich noble blood flows through your pure clear veins;
Which conceit draws these secrets from my soul.
That fortune’s scorn, that sorrow-tossed duke,
Lod’wick of Bullen, tells his tale to you,
That can conceive, conceal, and consel me.
Say, lady, for I know you are no less,
Have I not cause when proclamation tells
That Lod’wick shall receive redress of wrongs,
To claim the due that thereunto belongs?
ODILLIA
Great cause, my lord, and I to be content,
In this poor coat to rest me patient,
Until my husband come or send for me.
LOD’WICK
Oh, had these tidings come ere he had gone,
Then he nor I had travelled alone;
For, lady, I affirm it constantly,
I love the gentleman religiously,
Which in my bettered fortunes he shall find,
And then to you I purpose to be kind.
Then what you are, speak freely your fair mind.
ODILLIA
Emmanuel, Duke of Brabant, call’d me child,
Till him for love my Ferdinand beguil’d.
LOD’WICK
I said and knew ye were no vulgar dame,
For sparks of honour will burst into flame.
Hapless Odillia, but most fortunate,
Compar’d with my poor wife’s and daughter’d state.
ODILLIA
Where be those ladies?Let me them attend.
LOD’WICK
Oh, knew I where, all grief were at an end.
I hear that London is their mansion place.
ODILLIA
But shall they not be sent for by your grace?
LOD’WICK
Not yet, Odillia, first I’ll visit France,
Where if good stars my state do readvance,
And grant me power to free my native soil,
I may with comfort then call home my joy.
Till then, their sight will but revive annoy.
ODILLIA
What can you prize so highly as their sight?
LOD’WICK
Women discerne not men’s affairs aright.
I prize mine honour, and my country’s good,
More than wife, children, or my proper blood.[A bell tolls within.
Hark, the bell tolls; the sexton I must play
By promise once, tomorrow I’ll away.
Let me receive some token unto Ferdinand,
And this forget not, for a final end,
To come to us if we for you do send. [Exeunt.
Scene 16
ENTER EPERNOUN, BROUGHT in in his chair.
EPERNOUN
So, from this place I shall beold the fight
Betwixt these armies.Now go, one of you,
And with our leaders presently ive charge;
The other stay with me.Oh, might the fight
Of Epernoun be like the noontide sun
With the reflection of his feeble eye,
To me
lt like wax the courage of our foes,
And make the Frenchmen stiff as adamant.
Then could my heart excuse mine idle hands
That they bear not a part in this conflict.
But now defiance from each party flies.
Sound trumpet first.Then enter FERDINAND pursuing DON UGO, cutting him soundly.
A valliant gentleman what ere thou art,
And by mine honour, very nobly fought.
I have not seen inall my life before,
So young, a tender, and effeminate face
Father such rough and manly fortitude.
How like a weighty hammer did his sword
Fall on the Spaniard’s shrinking burgonet!
That had he not betook him to his heels,
This hour had been his latest hour of life.
Alarum.Enter FERDINAND again, pursuing DON UGO.
What, still in chase?He will not give him o’er
Till he hath slain, or made him yield, I see.
A right begotten cockrell of the game.
Whence may he come?As I remember me,
I never saw him in our camp till now.
I prithee, go range through out battle ranks,
And when you overtake him, gently crave
He will vouchsafe to come and speak with me.
My heart’s enamour’d on his valourous deeds.
Spaniard, some more of such a haughty breed
Would make the stoutest of your hearts to bleed!
Enter FERDINAND.
And here he comes.Fair bud of chivalry,
Welcome to Epernoun.Give me your hand.
I thank you even with all my very heart,
For this good service you have done to-day.
Are you of France, I pray you?Or what place
Is honour’d by your noble parentage?
FERDINAND
I am, my lord, the Duke of Brabant’s subject,
A younger brother whose inheritance
Is little more than what his sword shall purchase;
And for that cause, admonish’d of these wars
Between the haughty Spaniard and this realm,
The noble Bourbon gave me entertain.
EPERNOUN
Are you his soldier?Trust me for his sake,
I love you better then I did before,
And for some confirmation of my love,
Take this in earnest of a greater good.
FERDINAND
I humbly thank your lordship, and will rest
A faithful servitor to France and you.
EPERNOUN
Nay, stay awhile, refresh your weary limbs.
A little intermission will do well
Amidst these sweating garboils.[Aside.] Holy rood,
There runs a thought into my labouring mind,
Which from my heart sends gladness to mine eyes.
Methinks the more I view this gentleman,
The more he doth resemble Bullen’s duke,
The virtuous Lod’wick, both for face and limb,
When he and I were fellow mates-in-arms
Against the Turk.Such deeds of hardiment
Did Lod’wick show as he hath done this day.
Even such a gesture had he when he talk’d
As mild and affable in time of peace
As he was stern and boist’rous in the wars.
All these appatent in this towardly youth.
Earl Lod’wick’s want doth wet my cheeks with ruth.
A shout within.Enter a Soldier.
What means this cheerful shout?
SOLDIER
My lord,
The battle of the Spaniards is dispers’d.
Besides, I bring to you this happy news:
The worthy Duke of Bullen, long desir’d,
And much bewailed for his injury,
Lives, and return’d about an hour since.
At his first coming, arm’d in complete steel,
Challeng’d the Duke Medina at his tent,
And there in single combat, like himself,
And like a father of his country’s,
Hath slain that proud disturber of our peace,
For which, the soldiers, as you heard, my lord,
Did fill the air with their applausive shouts,
Thronging about him in such clustering heaps
To see his face and do him reverence,
As scarce he hath free passage to this place.
EPERNOUN
Oh, that I had or legs or wings to fly,
That I might quickly satisfy mine eye
With sight of him whose company’s more worth
Than heaps of countless and unvalued treasure!
But where’s the other leader of that route,
Surnam’d Don Ugo?Is he ‘scap’d the field?
SOLDIER
This gentleman before, Medina died,
Gave him his passport to his longest home.
But, my good lord, I almost had forgot
The latter part of my behoveful message:
There is a stranger duke, of whence, my haste
Suffer’d me not to be instructed,
That likewise came with aid unto our camp,
And is well known unto my Lord of Bullen.
EPERNOUN
Now if I were enclos’d within my grave,
I would as willingly forsake the world
As woeful prisoners many years detain’d
In dark obscurity, could be content
to change the dungeron for a public walk.
But first let us embrace out loving friend.
SOLDIER
Your honour may sit still.He’s coming hither.
Enter LOD’WICK, EMMANUEL Duke of Brabant, with soldiers.
EPERNOUN
Right worthy duke, whose victories ever shone
Through clouds of envy, and disater change,
Make rich my bosom with embalming thee,
And wherein ought my restrains my falt’ring tongue,
Let vows for words distinguish my content.
Welcome, oh welcome, to ungoveren’d France,
Whose working garment of afflicting war
Is now cast off, and she hath girt herself
In peaceful robes of holiday attire.
And you, my lord of Brabant, as I think?
EMMANUEL
Your friend, Lord Epernoun, in what he may.
EPERNOUN
Welcome in sooth.Your presence with the rest
Hath made me happy, and my country blest.
LOD’WICK
These greetings, reverend earl, exceed desert.
Had it been Lod’wick’s fortune to have done
Ten times more service then this day’s exploit,
It might not be sufficient to redeem
The lack of his endeavors all this while.
But heaven and you, I hope, will pardon me,
Considering I was forc’d from hence to fly.
EPERNOUN
Ay, and most wrongfully enforc’d, my lord.
But he that was the author of that ill,
The traitorous Duke of Anjou, by just heavens,
Now at your mercy stands.One fetch him forth,
And Lod’wick, repossessed in the place,
If that authority his highness gave;
Judge and condemn according as you please.
LOD’WICK
No, let him still be prisoner where he is.
Your wisdom hath discover’d his abuse,
And our dread sovereign shal determine it.
Were it my wrongs were greater than they are,
I will not be a facrot for myself.
Now, what is he, my lord, of all this train
By whom our other enemy was slain,
Don Ugo de Cordova?Fain would I
Know that brave gentleman, and for the same
Add somewhat more unto his honour’d name.
EPERNOUN
T
herein, my lord, I shall acount myself
Much pleasur’d by your grace.And this is he,
My lord of Brabant’s subject, as he said.
EMMANUEL
[Aside.] My subject?Trait’rous villian, how he lies!
But I will be reveng’d upon his crimes.
LOD’WICK
What may I call your name,young gentleman?
FERDINAND
My name is Ferdinand.
LOD’WICK
[Aside.] I know it well,
And little thinks he ’tis the sexton’s hands
Draws forth a sword to give him knighthood here;
But I am glad it is my fortune’s chance
To be of power to shew him any grace,
Whom I admir’d when first I saw his face.
Kneel down, young Ferdinand, and now again,
Rise up Sir Ferdinando, Lod’wick’s knight.
EMMANUEL
And rise withal base Berdinand, falst wretch,
Viler than puddle dirt, thou spring of hate,
Never begot but of some dunghill churl;
Durst thou avow thou wast my subject?
Durst that impious tongue pronounce my name,
Whom thou hast most ingratefully incens’d?
Villian, more abject than thought can decipher!
But I am glad that we are met at last.
Here in this presence I do challenge thee
Of most notorius felony and theft.
Let me have justice on this fugitive
You peers of France, or else you injure me.
LOD’WICK
What moves the noble Brabant to this rage?
EPERNOUN
Oh, wherefore stain you virtue and renown
With such foul terms of ignomy and shame?
EMMANUEL
Virtue, my lords?You gild a rotten stick.
You spread fair honour’s garments on the ground,
And dignify a loathsome swine with pearl.
This shadow of a seeming gentleman,
This gloss of piety, deceives your sight.
He’s nothing so, nor so, but one, my lords,
Whom I have foster’d in my court of alms;
And to requite my careful indulgence,
Hath Judas-like betray’d his master’s life,
And stol’n mine only daughter to allay
the sensual fire of his enkindl’d lust;
For which, let me have justice and the law.
LOD’WICK
You shall have justice, though I cannot think
So fair a shape hath had so foul a forge.
EPERNOUN
Alack the day misfortune should so son
Disturb our friendship, was so well begun.
Come hither, Ferdinand, and tell me truth,
If thou be guilty as the duke informs?
Complete Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker Page 31