SCENE V.
Enter Warehouse, Bannswright.
Ware. Madam Aurelia is her name?
Ban. Her father
Was, sir, an Irish baron, that undid
Himself by housekeeping.
Ware. As for her birth,
I could wish it were meaner: as many knights
And justices of peace as have been of
The family are reckoned into the portion.
She'll still be naming of her ancestors,
Ask jointure by the herald's book, and I,
That have no coat, nor can show azure lions
In fields of argent, shall be scorn'd; she'll think
Her honour wrong'd to match a man that hath
No 'scutcheons but them of his company,
Which once a year do serve to trim a lighter
To Westminster and back again.
Ban. You are mistaken, sir. This lady, as she is
Descended of a great house, so she hath
No dowry but her arms: she can bring only
Some libbards'[249] heads or strange beasts which, you know,
Being but beasts, let them derive themselves
From monsters in the globe, and lineally
Proceed from Hercules' labours, they will never
Advance her to a husband equal to
Herself in birth, that can give beasts too. She
Aims only to match one that can maintain
Her some way to her state. She is possess'd,
What streams of gold you flow in, sir.
Ware. But can she
Affect my age?
Ban. I ask'd her that, and told her
You were about some threescore, sir, and ten;
But were as lusty as one of twenty, or [Aside.
An aged eunuch.
Ware. And what replied she?
Ban. She,
Like a true Lucrece, answer'd it was fit
For them to marry by the church-book, who
Came there to cool themselves; but to a mind
Chaste, and endued with virtue, age did turn
Love into reverence.
Bright. Or sir-reverence. [Aside.
New. Prythee, observe.
Ware. Is she so virtuous, then?
Ban. 'Tis all the fault she has: she will outpray
A preacher at St Antlin's, and divides
The day in exercise. I did commend
A great precisian to her for her woman,
Who tells me that her lady makes her quilt
Her smocks before for kneeling.
Ware. Excellent creature!
Ban. Then, sir, she is so modest.
Ware. Too?
Ban. The least
Obscene word shames her; a lascivious figure
Makes her do penance, and she maintains the law,
Which forbids fornication, doth extend
To kissing too.
Ware. I think the time an age,
Till the solemnity be pass'd.
Ban. I have
Prepar'd her, sir, and have so set you out!
Besides, I told her how you had cast off
Your nephew; and, to leave no doubt that you
Would e'er be reconcil'd, before she went
To church, would settle your estate on her
And on the heirs of her begotten.
Ware. To make all sure,
We'll call upon my lawyer by the way,
And take him with us.
Ban. You must be married, sir,
At the French church: I have bespoke the priest;
One that will join you i' th' right Geneva form,
Without a licence.
Ware. But may a man
Wed in a strange tongue?
Ban. I have brought together
Some in Italian, sir; the language doth
Not change the substance of the match; you know
No licence will be granted; all the offices
Are beforehand brib'd by your nephew.
Ware. Well,
Let's to the lady straight. To cross him, I
Would marry an Arabian, and be at charge
To keep one to interpret, or be married
In China language, or the tongue that's spoke
By the Great Cham. [Exeunt Warehouse and Bannswright.
Bright. Now, Newcut, you perceive
My divination's true; this fellow did
Portend a wedding.
New. Plague o' th' prognostication!
Who'd think that madam were the party?
Bright. O sir,
She'll call this wit, to wed his bags and lie
With some Platonic servant.
New. What if we,
Before we go to Plotwell, went to her,
And strived to dissuade her?
Bright. Let's make haste,
They'll be before us, else. [Exeunt.