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Sir,
'tis a sign you make no stranger of me,
To bring these Renegados
to my Chamber,
At these unseason'd
hours. King.
Why do you
Chase your self so?
you are not wrong'd, nor shall be;
Onely I'le search
your lodging, for some cause
To our self known:
Enter I say.
Pha.
I say no.
[Meg. Above.
Meg.
Let 'em enter Prince,
Let 'em enter, I
am up, and ready; I know their business,
'Tis the poor breaking
of a Ladies honour,
They hunt so hotly
after; let 'em enjoy it.
You have your business
Gentlemen, I lay here.
O my Lord the King,
this is not noble in you
To make publick the
weakness of a Woman.
King.
Come down.
Meg.
I dare my Lord; your whootings and your clamors,
Your private whispers,
and your broad fleerings,
Can no more vex my
soul, than this base carriage;
But I have vengeance
yet in store for some,
Shall in the most
contempt you can have of me,
Be joy and nourishment.
King.
Will you come down?
Meg.
Yes, to laugh at your worst: but I shall wrong you,
If my skill fail
me not.
King.
Sir, I must dearly chide you for this looseness,
You have wrong'd
a worthy Lady, but no more,
Conduct him to my
lodging, and to bed. (deed.
Cle.
Get him another wench, and you bring him to bed in
Di.
'Tis strange a man cannot ride a Stagg
Or two, to breath
himself, without a warrant:
If this geer hold,
that lodgings be search'd thus,
Pray heaven we may
lie with our own wives in safety,
That they be not
by some trick of State mistaken.
Enter
with Megra.
King.
Now Lady of honour, where's your honour now?
No man can fit your
palat, but the Prince.
Thou most ill shrowded
rottenness; thou piece
Made by a Painter
and a Pothecary;
Thou troubled sea
of lust, thou wilderness,
Inhabited by wild
thoughts; thou swoln cloud
Of Infection; thou
ripe Mine of all Diseases;
Thou all Sin, all
Hell, and last, all Devils, tell me,
Had you none to pull
on with your courtesies,
But he that must
be mine, and wrong my Daughter?
By all the gods,
all these, and all the Pages,
And all the Court
shall hoot thee through the Court,
Fling rotten Oranges,
make ribald Rimes,
And fear thy name
with Candles upon walls:
Do you laugh Lady
Venus?
Meg.
Faith Sir, you must pardon me;
I cannot chuse but
laugh to see you merry
If you do this, O
King; nay, if you dare do it;
By all these gods
you swore by, and as many
More of my own; I
will have fellows, and such
Fellows in it, as
shall make noble mirth;
The Princess, your
dear Daughter, shall stand by me
On walls, and sung
in ballads, any thing:
Urge me no more,
I know her, and her haunts,
Her layes, leaps,
and outlayes, and will discover all;
Nay will dishonour
her. I know the boy
She keeps, a handsome
boy, about eighteen:
Know what she does
with him, where, and when
Come Sir, you put
me to a womans madness,
The glory of a fury;
and if I do not
Do it to the height?
King.
What boy is this she raves at?
Meg.
Alas! good minded Prince, you know not these things?
I am loth to reveal
'em. Keep this fault
As you would keep
your health from the hot air
Of the corrupted
people, or by heaven,
I will not fall
alone what I have known,
Shall be as publick
as a print: all tongues
Shall speak it as
they do the language they |
Are
born in, as free and commonly; I'le set it
Like a prodigious
star for all to gaze at, (reign
And so high and
glowing, that other Kingdoms far and For-
Shall read it there,
nay travel with it, till they find
No tongue to make
it more, nor no more people;
And then behold
the fall of your fair Princess.
King.
Has she a boy?
Cle.
So please your Grace I have seen a boy wait
On her, a fair boy.
King.
Go get you to your quarter:
For this time I'le
study to forget you.
Meg.
Do you study to forget me, and I'le study
To forget you.
[Ex. King, Meg. and Guard.
Cle.
Why here's a Male spirit for Hercules, if ever
there
be nine worthies
of women, this wench shall ride astride, and
be their Captain.
Di.
Sure she hath a garrison of Devils in her tongue,
she
uttereth such balls
of wild-fire. She has so netled the King,
that all the Doctors
in the Country will scarce cure him
That boy was a strange
found out antidote to cure her in-
fection: that boy,
that Princess boy: that brave, chast, ver-
tuous Ladies boy:
and a fair boy, a well spoken boy: All
these considered,
can make nothing else----but there I leave
you Gentlemen.
Thra.
Nay we'l go wander with you. [Exeunt
Actus
Tertius. Scena Prima.
Enter
Cle Di. and Thra.
| Cle. |
N
|
AY
doubtless 'tis true.
Di
I, and 'tis the gods |
That rais'd this
Punishment to scourge the King
With his own issue:
Is it not a shame
For us, that should
write noble in the land;
For us, that should
be freemen, to behold
A man, that is the
bravery of his age,
Philaster,
prest down from his Royal right,
By this regardless
King; and only look,
And see the Scepter
ready to be cast
Into the hands of
that lascivious Lady,
That lives in lust
with a smooth boy, now to be
Married to yon strange
Prince, who, but that people
Please to let him
be a Prince, is born a slave,
In that which should
be his most noble part,
His mind?
Thra. That man that would
not stir with you,
To aid Philaster,
let the gods forget,
That such a Creature
walks upon the earth.
Cle.
Philaster is too backward
in't himself;
The Gentry do await
it, and the people
Against their nature
are all bent for him,
And like a field
of standing Corn, that's mov'd
With a stiff gale,
their heads bow all one way.
Di.
The only cause that draws Philaster back
From this attempt,
is the fair Princess love,
Which he admires
and we can now confute.
Thra.
Perhaps he'l not believe it.
Di.
Why Gentlemen, 'tis without question so.
Cle.
I 'tis past speech, she lives dishonestly.
But how shall we,
if he be curious, work
Upon his faith?
Thra.
We all are satisfied within our selves
Di.
Since it is true, and tends to his own good,
I'le make this new
report to be my knowledge,
I'le say I know
it, nay, I'le swear I saw it.
Cle.
It will be best. Thra.
'Twill move him.
Enter
Philaster.
Di.
Here he comes. Good morrow to your honour,
We have spent
some time in seeking you.
Phi.
My worthy friends,
You that can keep
your memories to know
Your
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| © Twilight
Pictures, April
2001. This text
is freely available for educational, non-profit uses only. Please
report any errors or suggestions to
Drew Whitehead. |
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