[Enter Margarita,
Altea, and Boy.]
Altea:
Are you at ease
now, is your heart at rest,
Now you have got
a shadow, an umbrella
To keep the scorching
worlds opinion
From your fair
credit.
Margarita:
I am at peace
Altea,
If he continue
but the same he shews,
And be a master
of that ignorance
He outwardly professes,
I am happy,
The pleasure I
shall live in and the freedom
Without the squint-eye
of the law upon me,
Or prating liberty
of tongues, that envy.
Altea:
You are a made
woman.
Margarita:
But if he should
prove now
A crafty and dissembling
kind of Husband,
One read in knavery,
and brought up in the art
Of villany conceal’d.
Altea:
My life, an innocent.
Margarita:
That’s it
I aim at,
That’s it
I hope too, then I am sure I rule him,
For innocents
are like obedient Children
Brought up under
a hard Mother-in-law, a cruel,
Who being not
us’d to break-fasts and collations,
When they have
course bread offer’d ’em, are thankfull,
And take it for
a favour too. Are the rooms
Made ready to
entertain my friends? I long to dance now
And to be wanton;
let me have a song, is the great couch up
The Duke of Medina
sent?
Altea:
’Tis up
and ready.
Margarita:
And day-beds in
all chambers?
Altea:
In all Lady,
Your house is
nothing now but various pleasures,
The Gallants begin
to gaze too.
Margarita:
Let ’em
gaze on,
I was brought
up a Courtier, high and happy,
And company is
my delight, and courtship,
And handsom servants at my will: where’s
my good husband,
Where does he
wait?
Altea:
He knows his distance
Madam,
I warrant ye he
is busie in the celler
Amongst his fellow
servants, or asleep,
Till your command
awake him.
[Enter Leon.]
Margarita:
’Tis well
Altea.
It should be so,
my ward I must preserve him.
Who sent for him,
how dare he come uncall’d for,
His bonnet on
too?
Altea:
Sure he sees you
not.
Margarita:
How scornfully
he looks!
Leon:
Are all the chambers
Deckt and adorn’d
thus for my Ladies pleasure?
New hangings every
hour for entertainment,
And new plate
bought, new Jewels to give lustre?
Servant:
They are, and
yet there must be more and richer,
It is her will.
Leon:
Hum, is it so?
’tis excellent,
It is her will
too, to have feasts and banquets,
Revells and masques.
Servant:
She ever lov’d
’em dearly,
And we shall have
the bravest house kept now Sir,
I must not call
ye master she has warn’d me,
Nor must not put
my hat off to ye.
Leon:
’Tis no
fashion,
What though I
be her husband, I am your fellow,
I may cut first.
Servant:
That’s as
you shall deserve Sir.
Leon:
And when I lye
with her.
Servant:
May be I’le
light ye,
On the same point
you may doe me that service.
[Enter 1 Lady.]
1 Lady:
Madam, the Duke
Medina with some Captains
Will come to dinner,
and have sent rare wine,
And their best
services.
Margarita:
They shall be
welcom,
See all be ready in the noblest fashion,
The house perfum’d,
now I shall take my pleasure,
And not my neighbour
Justice maunder at me.
Go, get your best
cloths on, but till I call ye,
Be sure you be
not seen, dine with the Gentlewomen,
And behave your
self cleanly Sir, ’tis for my credit.
[Enter 2 Lady.]
2 Lady:
Madam, the Lady
Julia.
Leon:
That’s a
bawd,
A three pil’d
bawd, bawd major to the army.
2 Lady:
Has brought her
coach to wait upon your Ladiship,
And to be inform’d
if you will take the air this morning.
Leon:
The neat air of
her nunnery.
Margarita:
Tell her no, i’th’
afternoon I’le call on her.
2 Lady:
I will Madam.
[Exit.
Margarita:
Why are not you
gone to prepare your self,
May be you shall
be sewer to the fire course,
A portly presence,
Altea he looks lean,
’Tis a wash
knave, he will not keep his flesh well.
Altea:
A willing, Madam,
one that needs no spurring.
Leon:
Faith madam, in
my little understanding,
You had better
entertain your honest neighbours,
Your friends about
ye, that may speak well of ye,
And give a worthy
mention of your bounty.
Margarita:
How now, what’s
this?
Leon:
’Tis only
to perswade ye,
Courtiers are
but tickle things to deal withal,
A kind of march-pane
men that will not last Madam,
An egge and pepper
goes farther than their potions,
And in a well
built body, a poor parsnip
Will play his
prize above their strong potabiles.
Margarita:
The fellow’s
mad.
Leon:
He that shall
counsel Ladies,
That have both
liquorish and ambitious eyes,
Is either mad,
or drunk, let him speak Gospel.
Altea:
He breaks out
modestly.
Leon:
Pray ye be not
angry,
My indiscretion
has made bold to tell ye,
What you’l
find true.
Margarita:
Thou darest
not talk.
Leon:
Not much Madam,
You have a tye
upon your servants tongue,
He dares not be
so bold as reason bids him,
’Twere fit
there were a stronger on your temper.
Ne’re look
so stern upon me, I am your Husband,
But what are Husbands?
read the new worlds wonders,
Such Husbands
as this monstrous world produces,
And you will scarce
find such deformities,
They are shadows
to conceal your venial vertues,
Sails to your
mills, that grind with all occasions,
Balls that lye
by you, to wash out your stains,
And bills nail’d
up with horn before your stories,
To rent out last.
Margarita:
Do you hear him
talk?
Leon:
I have done Madam,
An oxe once spoke,
as learned men deliver,
Shortly I shall
be such, then I’le speak wonders,
Till when I tye
my self to my obedience.
[Exit.
Margarita:
First I’le
unty my self, did you mark the Gentleman,
How boldly and
how sawcily he talk’d,
And how unlike
the lump I took him for,
The piece of ignorant
dow, he stood up to me
And mated my commands,
this was your providence,
Your wisdom, to
elect this Gentleman,
Your excellent
forecast in the man, your knowledge,
What think ye
now?
Altea:
I think him an
Äße still,
This boldness
some of your people have blown
Into him, this
wisdom too with strong wine,
’Tis a Tyrant,
and a Philosopher also, and finds
Out reasons.
Margarita:
I’le have
my celler lockt, no school kept there,
Nor no discovery.
I’le turn my drunkards,
Such as are understanding
in their draughts,
And dispute learnedly
the whyes and wherefores,
To grass immediatly,
I’le keep all fools,
Sober or drunk,
still fools, that shall know nothing,
Nothing belongs
to mankind, but obedience,
And such a hand
I’le keep over this Husband.
Altea:
He will fall again,
my life he cryes by this time,
Keep him from
drink, he has a high constitution.
[Enter Leon.]
Leon:
Shall I wear my
new sute Madam?
Margarita:
No your old clothes,
And get you into
the country presently,
And see my hawks
well train’d, you shall have victuals,
Such as are fit
for sawcy palats Sir,
And lodgings with
the hindes, it is too good too.
Altea:
Good Madam be
not so rough, with repentance,
You see now he’s
come round again.
Margarita:
I see not what
I expect to see.
Leon:
You shall see
Madam, if it shall please your Ladyship.
Altea:
He’s humbled,
Forgive good Lady,
Margarita:
Well go get you
handsom,
And let me hear
no more.
Leon:
Have ye yet no
feeling?
I’le pinch
ye to the bones then my proud Lady.
[Exit.
Margarita:
See you preserve
him thus upon my favour,
You know his temper,
tye him to the grindstone,
The next rebellion
I’le be rid of him,
I’le have
no needy Rascals I tye to me,
Dispute my life:
come in and see all handsom.
Altea:
I hope to see
you so too, I have wrought ill else.
[Exeunt.
[Enter Perez.]
Michael Perez:
Shall I never
return to mine own house again?
We are lodg’d
here in the miserablest dog-hole,
A Conjurers circle
gives content above it,
A hawks mew is
a princely palace to it,
We have a bed
no bigger than a basket,
And there we lie
like butter clapt together,
And sweat our
selves to sawce immediately,
The fumes are
infinite inhabite here too;
And to that so
thick, they cut like marmalet,
So various too,
they’l pose a gold-finder,
Never return to
mine own paradise?
Why wife I say, why Estifania.
Estifania [within]:
I am going presently.
Michael Perez:
Make haste good
Jewel,
I am like the
people that live in the sweet Islands:
I dye, I dye,
if I stay but one day more here,
My lungs are rotten
with the damps that rise,
And I cough nothing
now but stinks of all sorts,
The inhabitants
we have are two starv’d rats,
For they are not
able to maintain a cat here,
And those appear
as fearfull as two Devils,
They have eat
a map of the whole world up already,
And if we stay
a night we are gone for company.
There’s
an old woman that’s now grown to marble,
Dri’d in
this brick hill, and she sits i’th’ chimnie,
Which is but three
tiles rais’d like a house of cards,
The true proportion
of an old smok’d Sibyl,
There is a young
thing too that nature meant
For a maid-servant,
but ’tis now a monster,
She has a husk
about her like a chesnut
With basiness,
and living under the line here,
And these two
make a hollow sound together,
Like frogs or
winds between two doors that murmur:
[Enter Estifania.]
Mercy deliver
me. O are you come wife,
Shall we be free
again?
Estifania:
I am now going,
And you shall
presently to your own house Sir,
The remembrance
of this small vexation
Will be argument
of mirth for ever:
By that time you
have said your orisons,
And broke your
fast, I shall be back and ready,
To usher you to
your old content, your freedom.
Michael Perez:
Break my neck
rather, is there any thing here to eat
But one another,
like a race of Cannibals?
A piece of butter’d
wall you think is excellent,
Let’s have
our house again immediatly,
And pray ye take
heed unto the furniture,
None be imbezil’d.
Estifania:
Not a pin I warrant ye.
Michael Perez:
And let ’em
instantly depart.
Estifania:
They shall both,
There’s
reason in all courtesies, they must both,
For by this time
I know she has acquainted him,
And has provided
too, she sent me word Sir,
And will give
over gratefully unto you.
Michael Perez:
I’le walk
i’th’ Church-yard,
The dead cannot
offend more than these living,
An hour hence
I’le expect ye.
Estifania:
I’le not
fail Sir.
Michael Perez:
And do you hear,
let’s have a handsom dinner,
And see all things
be decent as they have been,
And let me have
a strong bath to restore me,
I stink like a
stal-fish shambles, or an oyl-shop.
Estifania:
You shall have
all, which some interpret nothing,
I’le send
ye people for the trunks afore-hand,
And for the stuff.
Michael Perez:
Let ’em
be known and honest,
And do my service
to your niece.
Estifania:
I shall Sir,
But if I come
not at my hour, come thither,
That they may
give you thanks for your fair courtesy,
And pray ye be
brave for my sake.
Michael Perez:
I observe ye.
[Exeunt.
[Enter Juan
de Castro, Sancho, and Cacafogo.]
Sanchio:
Thou art very
brave.
Cacafogo:
I have reason,
I have mony.
Sanchio:
Is mony reason?
Cacafogo:
Yes and rime too
Captain,
If ye have no
mony y’are an Äße.
Sanchio:
I thank ye.
Cacafogo:
Ye have manners,
ever thank him that has mony.
Sanchio:
Wilt thou lend
me any?
Cacafogo:
Not a farthing
Captain,
Captains are casual
things.
Sanchio:
Why so are all
men, thou shalt have my bond.
Cacafogo:
Nor bonds nor
fetters Captain,
My mony is mine,
I make no doubt on’t.
Juan de Castro:
What dost thou do with it?
Cacafogo:
Put it to pious
uses,
Buy Wine and Wenches,
and undo young Coxcombs
That would undo
me.
Juan de Castro:
Are those Hospitals?
Cacafogo:
I first provide
to fill my Hospitals
With Creatures
of mine own, that I know wretched,
And then I build:
those are more bound to pray for me:
Besides, I keep
th’ inheritance in my Name still.
Juan de Castro:
A provident Charity;
are you for the Wars, Sir?
Cacafogo:
I am not poor
enough to be a Souldier,
Nor have I faith
enough to ward a Bullet;
This is no lining
for a trench, I take it.
Juan de Castro:
Ye have said wisely.
Cacafogo:
Had you but my
money,
You would swear
it Colonel, I had rather drill at home
A hundred thousand
Crowns, and with more honour,
Than exercise
ten thousand Fools with nothing,
A wise Man safely
feeds, Fools cut their fingers.
Sanchio:
A right State
Usurer; why dost thou not marry,
And live a reverend
Justice?
Cacafogo:
Is’t not
nobler to command a reverend Justice, than to be one?
And for a Wife,
what need I marry, Captain,
When every courteous
Fool that owes me money,
Owes me his Wife
too, to appease my fury?
Juan de Castro:
Wilt thou go to
dinner with us?
Cacafogo:
I will go, and
view the Pearl of Spain, the Orient
Fair One, the
rich One too, and I will be respected,
I bear my Patent
here, I will talk to her,
And when your
Captain’s Ships shall stand aloof,
And pick your
Noses, I will pick the purse
Of her affection.
Juan de Castro:
The Duke dines
there to day too, the Duke of Medina.
Cacafogo:
Let the King dine
there,
He owes me money,
and so far’s my Creature,
And certainly
I may make bold with mine own, Captain?
Sanchio:
Thou wilt eat
monstrously.
Cacafogo:
Like a true born
Spaniard,
Eat as I were
in England where the Beef grows,
And I will drink
abundantly, and then
Talk ye as wantonly
as Ovid did,
To stir the Intellectuals of the Ladies;
I learnt it of
my Father’s amorous Scrivener.
Juan de Castro:
If we should play
now, you must supply me.
Cacafogo:
You must pawn
a Horse troop,
And then have
at ye Colonel.
Sanchio:
Come, let’s
go:
This Rascal will
make rare sport; how the Ladies
Will laugh at
him?
Juan de Castro:
If I light on
him I’ll make his Purse sweat too.
Cacafogo:
Will ye lead,
Gentlemen?
[Exeunt.
[Enter Perez,
an old Woman, and Maid.]
Michael Perez:
Nay, pray ye come
out, and let me understand ye,
And tune your
pipe a little higher, Lady;
I’ll hold
ye fast: rub, how came my Trunks open?
And my Goods gone,
what Pick-lock Spirit?
Old Woman:
Ha, what would
ye have?
Michael Perez:
My Goods again,
how came my Trunks all open?
Old Woman:
Are your Trunks
open?
Michael Perez:
Yes, and Cloaths
gone,
And Chains, and
Jewels: how she smells like hung Beef,
The Palsey, and
Picklocks, fye, how she belches,
The Spirit of
Garlick.
Old Woman:
Where’s
your Gentlewoman?
The young fair
Woman?
Michael Perez:
What’s that
to my question?
She is my wife,
and gone about my business.
Maid:
Is she your Wife,
Sir?
Michael Perez:
Yes Sir, is that
wonder?
Is the name of
Wife unknown here?
Old Woman:
Is she truly,
truly your Wife?
Michael Perez:
I think so, for
I married her;
It was no Vision
sure!
Maid:
She has the Keys,
Sir.
Michael Perez:
I know she has,
but who has all my goods, Spirit?
Old Woman:
If you be married
to that Gentlewoman,
You are a wretched
man, she has twenty Husbands.
Maid:
She tells you
true.
Old Woman:
And she has cozen’d
all, Sir.
Michael Perez:
The Devil she has! I had a fair house with
her,
That stands hard by, and furnisht royally.
Old Woman:
You are cozen’d
too, ’tis none of hers, good Gentleman.
Maid:
The Lady Margarita,
she was her Servant,
And kept the house,
but going from her, Sir,
For some lewd
tricks she plaid.
Michael Perez:
Plague o’
the Devil,
Am I i’th’
full Meridian of my Wisedom
Cheated by a stale
Quean! what kind of Lady
Is that that owes
the House?
Old Woman:
A young sweet
Lady.
Michael Perez:
Of a low stature?
Old Woman:
She is indeed
but little, but she is wondrous fair.
Michael Perez:
I feel I am cozen’d;
Now I am sensible
I am undone,
This is the very
Woman sure, that Cousin
She told me would
entreat but for four days,
To make the house
hers; I am entreated sweetly.
Maid:
When she went
out this morning, that I saw, Sir,
She had two Women
at the door attending,
And there she
gave ’em things, and loaded ’em,
But what they
were I heard your Trunks to open,
If they be yours?
Michael Perez:
They were mine
while they were laden,
But now they have
cast their Calves, they are not worth
Owning: was
she her Mistress say you?
Old Woman:
Her own Mistress,
her very Mistress, Sir, and all you saw
About and in that
house was hers.
Michael Perez:
No Plate, no Jewels,
nor no Hangings?
Maid:
Not a farthing,
she is poor, Sir, a poor shifting thing.
Michael Perez:
No money?
Old Woman:
Abominable poor,
as poor as we are,
Money as rare
to her unless she steal it,
But for one civil
Gown her Lady gave her,
She may go bare,
good Gentlewoman.
Michael Perez:
I am mad now,
I think I am as
poor as she, I am wide else,
One civil
Sute I have left too, and that’s all,
And if she steal
that she must fley me for it;
Where does she
use?
Old Woman:
You may find truth
as soon,
Alas, a thousand conceal’d corners, Sir,
she lurks in.
And here she gets
a fleece, and there another,
And lives in mists
and smoaks where none can find her.
Michael Perez:
Is she a Whore
too?
Old Woman:
Little better,
Gentleman, I dare not say she is so Sir, because
She is yours,
Sir, these five years she has firkt
A pretty Living,
Until she came
to serve; I fear he will knock my
Brains out for
lying.
Michael Perez:
She has serv’d
me faithfully,
A Whore and Thief?
two excellent moral learnings
In one she-Saint,
I hope to see her legend.
Have I been fear’d
for my discoveries,
And courted by
all Women to conceal ’em?
Have I so long
studied the art of this Sex,
And read the warnings
to young Gentlemen?
Have I profest
to tame the Pride of Ladies,
And make ’em
bear all tests, and am I trickt now?
Caught in mine
own nooze? here’s a royal left yet,
There’s
for your lodging and your meat for this Week.
A silk Worm lives
at a more plentiful ordinary,
And sleeps in
a sweeter Box: farewel great Grandmother,
If I do find you
were an accessary,
’Tis but
the cutting off too smoaky minutes,
I’ll hang
ye presently.
Old Woman:
And I deserve
it, I tell but truth.
Michael Perez:
Not I, I am an
Ass, Mother.
[Exeunt.
[Enter the Duke of Medina,
Juan de Castro, Alonzo, Sanchio,
Cacafogo. Attendants.]
Duke of Medina:
A goodly house.
Juan de Castro:
And richly furnisht
too, Sir.
Alonzo:
Hung wantonly,
I like that preparation,
It stirs the blood
unto a hopeful Banquet,
And intimates
the Mistress free and jovial,
I love a house
where pleasure prepares welcome.
Duke of Medina:
Now Cacafogo,
how like you this mansion?
’Twere a
brave Pawn.
Cacafogo:
I shall be master
of it,
’Twas built
for my bulk, the rooms are wide and spacious,
Airy and full of ease, and that I love well,
I’ll tell
you when I taste the Wine, my Lord,
And take the height
of her Table with my Stomach,
How my affections
stand to the young Lady.
[Enter Margarita,
Altea, Ladies, and Servants.]
Margarita:
All welcome to
your Grace, and to these Souldiers,
You honour my
poor house with your fair presence,
Those few slight
pleasures that inhabit here, Sir,
I do beseech your
Grace command, they are yours,
Your servant but
preserves ’em to delight ye.
Duke of Medina:
I thank ye Lady,
I am bold to visit ye,
Once more to bless
mine eyes with your sweet Beauty,
’T has been
a long night since you left the Court,
For till I saw
you now, no day broke to me.
Margarita:
Bring in the Dukes
meat.
Sanchio:
She is most excellent.
Juan de Castro:
Most admirable
fair as e’r I look’d upon,
I had rather command
her than my Regiment.
Cacafogo:
I’ll have
a fling, ’tis but a thousand Duckets,
Which I can cozen
up again in ten days,
And some few Jewels
to justifie my Knavery,
Say, I should
marry her, she’ll get more money
Than all my Usury,
put my Knavery to it,
She appears the
most infallible way of Purchase,
I you’d
wish her a size or two stronger for the encounter,
For I am like
a Lion where I lay hold,
But these Lambs
will endure a plaguy load,
And never bleat
neither, that Sir, time has taught us,
I am so vertuous
now, I cannot speak to her,
The arrant’st
shamefac’d Ass, I broil away too.
[Enter Leon.]
Margarita:
Why, where’s
this dinner?
Leon:
’Tis not
ready, Madam,
Nor shall not
be until I know the Guests too,
Nor are they fairly
welcome till I bid ’em.
Juan de Castro:
Is not this my
Alferes? he looks another thing;
Are miracles afoot
again?
Margarita:
Why, Sirrah, why Sirrah, you?
Leon:
I hear you, saucy
Woman,
And as you are
my Wife, command your absence,
And know your
duty, ’tis the Crown of modesty.
Duke of Medina:
Your Wife?
Leon:
Yes good my Lord,
I am her Husband,
And pray take
notice that I claim that honour,
And will maintain
it.
Cacafogo:
It thou beest
her Husband,
I am determin’d
thou shalt be my Cuckold,
I’ll be
thy faithful friend.
Leon:
Peace, dirt and
dunghil,
I will not lose
my anger on a Rascal,
Provoke me more,
I’ll beat thy blown body
Till thou rebound’st
again like a Tennis-Ball.
Alonzo:
This is miraculous.
Sanchio:
Is this the Fellow
That had the patience
to become a Fool,
A flurted Fool,
and on a sudden break,
As if he would
shew a wonder to the World,
Both in Bravery,
and Fortune too?
I much admire
the man, I am astonisht.
Margarita:
I’ll be
divorced immediately.
Leon:
You shall not,
You shall not
have so much will to be wicked.
I am more tender
of your honour, Lady,
And of your Age,
you took me for a shadow;
You took me to
gloss over your discredit,
To be your Fool,
you had thought you had found a Coxcomb;
I am innocent
of any foul dishonour I mean to ye.
Only I will be
known to be your Lord now,
And be a fair
one too, or I will fall for’t.
Margarita:
I do command ye
from me, thou poor fellow,
Thou cozen’d
Fool.
Leon:
Thou cozen’d
Fool? ’tis not so,
I will not be
commanded: I am above ye:
You may divorce
me from your favour, Lady,
But from your
state you never shall, I’ll hold that,
And then maintain
your wantonness, I’ll wink at it.
Margarita:
Am I braved thus
in mine own house?
Leon:
’Tis mine,
Madam,
You are deceiv’d, I am Lord of it, I rule
it and all that’s in’t;
You have nothing
to do here, Madam;
But as a Servant
to sweep clean the Lodgings,
And at my farther
will to do me service,
And so I’ll
keep it.
Margarita:
As you love me,
give way.
Leon:
It shall be better,
I will give none,
Madam,
I stand upon the
ground of mine own Honour,
And will maintain
it, you shall know me now
To be an understanding
feeling man,
And sensible of
what a Woman aims at,
A young proud
Woman that has Will to sail with,
An itching Woman,
that her blood provokes too,
I cast my Cloud
off, and appear my self,
The master of
this little piece of mischief,
And I will put
a Spell about your feet, Lady,
They shall not
wander but where I give way now.
Duke of Medina:
Is this the Fellow
that the People pointed at,
For the meer sign
of man, the walking Image?
He speaks wondrous
highly.
Leon:
As a Husband ought,
Sir,
In his own house,
and it becomes me well too,
I think your Grace
would grieve if you were put to it
To have a Wife
or Servant of your own,
(For Wives are
reckon’d in the rank of Servants,)
Under your own
roof to command ye.
Juan de Castro:
Brave, a strange
Conversion, thou shalt lead
In chief now.
Duke of Medina:
Is there no difference
betwixt her and you, Sir?
Leon:
Not now, Lord,
my Fortune makes me even,
And as I am an
honest man, I am nobler.
Margarita:
Get me my Coach.
Leon:
Let me see who
dares get it
Till I command,
I’ll make him draw your Coach too,
And eat your Coach,
(which will be hard diet)
That executes
your Will; or take your Coach, Lady,
I give you liberty,
and take your People
Which I turn off,
and take your Will abroad with ye,
Take all these
freely, but take me no more,
And so farewel.
Duke of Medina:
Nay, Sir, you
shall not carry it
So bravely off,
you shall not wrong a Lady
In a high huffing
strain, and think to bear it,
We stand not by
as Bawds to your brave fury,
To see a Lady
weep.
Leon:
They are tears
of anger, I beseech ye note ’em, not worth pity,
Wrung from her
rage, because her Will prevails not,
She would swound
now if she could not cry,
Else they were
excellent, and I should grieve too,
But falling thus,
they show nor sweet nor orient.
Put up my Lord,
this is oppression,
And calls the
Sword of Justice to relieve me,
The law to lend
her hand, the King to right me,
All which shall
understand how you provoke me,
In mine own house
to brave me, is this princely?
Then to my Guard,
and if I spare your Grace,
And do not make
this place your Monument,
Too rich a Tomb
for such a rude behaviour,
I have a Cause
will kill a thousand of ye, mercy forsake me.
Juan de Castro:
Hold, fair Sir,
I beseech ye,
The Gentleman
but pleads his own right nobly.
Leon:
He that dares
strike against the husbands freedom,
The Husbands Curse
stick to him, a tam’d Cuckold,
His Wife be fair
and young, but most dishonest,
Most impudent,
and have no feeling of it,
No conscience
to reclaim her from a Monster,
Let her lye by
him like a flattering ruine,
And at one instant
kill both Name and Honour,
Let him be lost,
no eye to weep his end,
Nor find no earth
that’s base enough to bury him.
Now Sir, fall
on, I am ready to oppose ye.
Duke of Medina:
I have better
thought, I pray Sir use your Wife well.
Leon:
Mine own humanity
will teach me that, Sir,
And now you are
all welcome, all, and we’ll to dinner,
This is my Wedding-day.
Duke of Medina:
I’ll cross
your joy yet.
Juan de Castro:
I made seen a
miracle, hold thine own, Souldier,
Sure they dare
fight in fire that conquer Women.
Sanchio:
H’as beaten all my loose thoughts out
of me,
As if he had thresht ’em out o’th’
husk.
[Enter Perez.]
Michael Perez:
’Save ye,
which is the Lady of the house?
Leon:
That’s she,
Sir, that pretty Lady,
If you would speak
with her.
Juan de Castro:
Don Michael,
Leon, another darer come.
Michael Perez:
Pray do not know
me, I am full of business,
When I have more
time I’ll be merry with ye.
It is the Woman:
good Madam, tell me truly,
Had you a Maid
call’d Estifania?
Margarita:
Yes truly, had
I.
Michael Perez:
Was she a Maid
do you think?
Margarita:
I dare not swear
for her,
For she had but
a scant Fame.
Michael Perez:
Was she your Kinswoman?
Margarita:
Not that I ever
knew, now I look better
I think you married
her, ’give you joy, Sir,
You may reclaim
her, ’twas a wild young Girl.
Michael Perez:
Give me a halter:
is not this house mine, Madam?
Was not she owner
of it, pray speak truly?
Margarita:
No, certainly,
I am sure my money paid for it,
And I ne’r
remember yet I gave it you, Sir.
Michael Perez:
The Hangings and
the Plate too?
Margarita:
All are mine,
Sir,
And every thing
you see about the building,
She only kept
my house when I was absent,
And so ill kept
it, I was weary of her.
Sanchio:
What a Devil ails
he?
Juan de Castro:
He’s possest
I’ll assure you.
Michael Perez:
Where is your
Maid?
Margarita:
Do not you know
that have her?
She is yours now,
why should I look after her?
Since that first
hour I came I never saw her.
Michael Perez:
I saw her later,
would the Devil had had her,
It is all true
I find, a wild-fire take her.
Juan de Castro:
Is thy Wife with
Child, Don Michael? thy excellent wife.
Art thou a Man
yet?
Alonzo:
When shall we
come and visit thee?
Sanchio:
And eat some rare
fruit? thou hast admirable Orchards,
You are so jealous now, pox o’ your jealousie,
How scurvily you
look!
Michael Perez:
Prithee leave
fooling,
I am in no humour
now to fool and prattle,
Did she ne’r
play the wag with you?
Margarita:
Yes many times,
so often that I was asham’d to keep her,
But I forgave
her, Sir, in hope she would mend still,
And had not you
o’th’ instant married her,
I had put her
off.
Michael Perez:
I thank ye, I
am blest still,
Which way so e’r
I turn I am a made man,
Miserably gull’d
beyond recovery.
Juan de Castro:
You’ll stay
and dine?
Michael Perez:
Certain I cannot,
Captain,
Hark in thine
ear, I am the arrantst Puppy,
The miserablest
Ass, but I must leave ye,
I am in haste,
in haste, bless you, good Madam,
And you prove
as good as my Wife.
[Exit.
Leon:
Will you come near, Sir, will
your Grace but honour me,
And taste our dinner? you are nobly welcome,
All anger’s past I hope, and I shall serve
ye.
Juan de Castro:
Thou art the stock of men, and
I admire thee.
[Ex.