ACT III.
Scene I. Florence. The Duke's palace.
Flourish. Enter the Duke of Florence, attended; the two Frenchmen with a troop of soldiers.
Duke. So that from point to point now have you heard
The fundamental reasons of this war.
Whose great decision hath much blood lot forth
And more thirsts after.
First Lord. Holy seems the quarrel
Upon your Grace's [part;] [black] and fearful
On the [opposer.]
Duke. Therefore we marvel much our cousin France
Would in so just a business shut his bosom
Against our borrowing prayers.
[Sec. Lord.] Good my lord,
The reasons of our state I cannot yield,
But like a common and an outward man,
That the great figure of a council frames
[By] self-unable [motion]: therefore dare not
Say what I think of it, since I have found
Myself in my incertain grounds to fail
As often as I guess'd.
Duke. Be it his pleasure.
[First Lord.] But I am sure the younger of our [nature],
That surfeit on their ease, will day by day
Come here for physic.
Duke. Welcome shall they be;
And all the honours that can fly from us
Shall on them settle. You know your places well;
When better fall, for your avails they [fell]:
To-morrow [to] the field. [Flourish. [Exeunt].
LINENOTES:
[5] [part] party S. Walker conj.
[black] but black Pope.
[6] [opposer] opposer's Hanmer.
[9] [Sec. Lord] 2 Lord. Rowe. French E. Ff.
[13] [By] From Theobald conj.
[motion] notion Warburton (Theobald conj.).
[17] [First Lord] Fren. G. F1. Fre. G. F2 F3 F4. 2 Lord. Rowe.
[nature] nation Rowe.
[22] [fell] fall Hanmer (Thirlby conj.)
[23] [to] to 'th F1.
[Exeunt.] om. Ff.
Scene II. Rousillon. The Count's Palace.
Enter Countess and Clown.
Count. It hath happened all as I would have had it,
save that he comes not along with her.
Clo. By my troth, I take my young lord to be a very
melancholy man.
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Count. By what observance, I pray you?
Clo. Why, he will look upon his boot and sing; mend
[the ruff] and sing; ask questions and sing; pick his teeth
and sing. I [know] a man that had this trick of melancholy
[sold] a goodly manor for a song.
10
Count. Let me see what he writes, and when he means
to come. [[Opening a letter.]
Clo. I have no mind to Isbel since I was at court: our
old [ling] and our Isbels o' the country are nothing like
your [old ling] and your Isbels o' the court: the [brains] of
my Cupid's knocked out, and I begin to love, as an old
man loves money, with no stomach.
Count. What have we here?
Clo. [E'en] that you have there. [Exit.
[Count. [reads] have sent you a daughter-in-law: she hath
recovered the king, and undone me. I have wedded her, not bedded
her; and sworn to make the 'not' eternal. You shall hear I am
run away: know it before the report come. If there be breadth
enough in the world, I will hold a long distance. My duty to you.
Your unfortunate son,
Bertram.
This is not well, rash and unbridled boy,
To fly the favours of so good a king;
To pluck his indignation on thy head
By the misprising of a maid too virtuous
For the [contempt] of empire.
Re-enter Clown.
Clo. O madam, yonder is heavy news within between
two soldiers and my young lady!
Count. What is the matter?
Clo. Nay, there is some comfort in the news, some
comfort; your son will not be killed so soon as I thought
he would.
Count. Why should he be killed?
Clo. So say I, madam, if he run away, as I hear he does:
the danger is in standing to't; that's the loss of men, though
it be the getting of children. Here they come will tell you
more: for my part, I only [hear] your son was run away. [Exit.
[Enter] Helena and two Gentlemen.
[First Gent.] Save you, good madam.
Hel. Madam, my lord is gone, for ever gone.
[Sec. Gent.] Do not say so.
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Count. Think upon [patience. Pray you,] gentlemen,
[I have] felt so many quirks of joy and grief,
That the first face of neither, on the start,
Can woman me unto't: where is my son, [I pray you]?
Sec. Gent. Madam, he's gone to serve the duke of Florence:
We met him thitherward; [for] thence we came,
And, after some dispatch in hand at court,
Thither we bend again.
Hel. Look on [his] letter, madam; here's my passport.
[[reads]] When thou canst get the ring [upon my] finger which never
shall come off, and show me a child begotten of thy body that
I am father to, then call me husband: but in such a 'then' I write a
'never.'
This is a dreadful sentence.
Count. Brought you this letter, gentlemen?
And for the contents' sake are sorry for our pains.
Count. I prithee, lady, have a better cheer;
If thou engrossest all the griefs [are] thine,
Thou robb'st me of a moiety: he was my son;
But I do wash his name out of my blood,
And thou art all my child. Towards Florence is he?
Sec. Gent. Ay, madam.
Count. And to be a soldier?
Sec. Gent. Such is his noble purpose; and, believe 't,
The Duke will lay upon him all the honour
That good convenience claims.
Count. Return you thither?
70
First Gent. Ay, madam, with the swiftest wing of speed.
Hel. [[reads]] Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France.
'Tis [bitter].
Count. Find you that there?
Hel. [Ay], madam.
First Gent. 'Tis but the boldness of his hand, [haply],
which his heart was not consenting to.
Count. Nothing in France, until he have no wife!
There's nothing here that is too good for him
But only she; and she deserves a lord
That twenty such rude boys might tend upon
And call her hourly mistress. Who was with him?
First Gent. [A servant] only, and a gentleman
Which I have [sometime] known.
Count. Parolles, [was it] not?
First Gent. Ay, my good lady, he.
Count. [A] [very] tainted fellow, [and] full of wickedness.
My son corrupts a well-derived nature
With his inducement.
First Gent. [Indeed,] [good lady],
The fellow has a deal of [that too] much,
Which [holds him much to have].
Count. Y' are welcome, gentlemen.
I will entreat you, when you see my son,
To tell him that his sword can never win
The honour that he loses: more I'll entreat you
Written to bear along.
Sec. Gent. We serve you, madam,
In that and all your worthiest affairs.
95
Count. Not so, but as we change our [courtesies].
Will you draw near? [[Exeunt] Countess and [Gentlemen].
Hel. 'Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France.'
Nothing in France, until he has no wife!
Thou shalt have none, Rousillon, none in France;
Then hast thou all again. Poor lord! is 't I
That chase thee from thy country and expose
Those tender limbs of thine to the event
Of the none-sparing war? and is it I
That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou
Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark
Of smoky muskets? O you leaden messengers,
That ride upon the [violent] speed of fire,
Fly with false aim; [move the still-peering] air,
That [sings] with piercing; do not touch my lord.
Whoever shoots at him, I set him there;
Whoever charges on his forward breast,
I am the caitiff that do hold him [to 't;]
And, though I kill him not, I am the cause
His death was so effected: better 'twere
I met the [ravin] lion when he roar'd
With sharp constraint of hunger; better 'twere
That all the miseries which nature owes
Were mine at once. No, come thou home, Rousillon,
Whence honour but of danger wins a scar,
As oft it loses all: I will be gone;
My being here it is that holds thee hence:
Shall I stay here to do't? no, no, although
The air of paradise did fan the house,
And [angels] officed all: I will be gone,
That pitiful rumour may report my flight,
To [consolate] thine ear. Come, night; end, day!
For with the dark, poor thief, I'll steal away. [Exit.
LINENOTES:
[7] [the ruff] his ruff Rowe. the ruffle Whalley conj.
[8] [know] knew Rowe.
[9] [sold] F3 F4. hold F1 F2.
sold ... manor for] holds ... manner for Harness conj. hold ... manor by Collier conj.
[11] [Reads the letter. Theobald.]
[13] [ling] F2 F3 F4. lings F1.
[14] [old ling] youngling S. Walker conj.
[brains] brain Pope.
[18] [E'en] Theobald. In Ff.
[19] [Count. [reads] A letter. Ff.
[30] [contempt] F1 F2 F3. content F4.
[41] [hear] heard Hanmer.
[42] [Scene III.] Pope.
[First Gent.] 1 Gen. Rowe. French E. Ff. [See note (vi)].
[44] [Sec. Gent.] 2 Gen. Rowe. French G. F1 F3 F4. Fren. G. F2. [See note (vi).]
[45] [patience. Pray you,] patience, pray you F1 F2. patience; pray you F3. patience: pray you F4. patience, 'pray you: Hanmer.
[46] [I have] I've Pope.
[48] [I pray you] om. Theobald.
[50] [for] from Rowe.
[53] [his] this Rowe.
[54] [reads.] Capell.
[54, 55] [upon my ... off] from my ... off Hanmer. upon thy ... off mine Johnson conj. (withdrawn).
[59] [First Gent.] 1 G. F1 F2 F3. 1 Gen. F4.
[59, 60] [Ay, madam ... pains] Arranged as in Capell; printed as prose in Ff.
[62] [are] as Rowe.
[71] [reads] Reading. Rowe.
[72] [bitter] F1. better F2 F3 F4.
[73] [Ay] Yes Rowe.
[74] [haply] F1. happily F2 F3 F4.
[81, 82] [A servant ... known] Printed as prose in Ff; as verse first in Pope.
[82] [sometime] F1 F2. sometimes F3. sometimes F4. sometime Pope (ed. 2).
[was it] Ff. was't Pope.
[84-86] [A very ... inducement] Printed as prose by Hanmer.
[84] [very] om. S. Walker conj.
[and] om. Pope.
[86] [Indeed] Why, indeed Capell.
[86-94] [Indeed ... affairs] Printed as prose in Ff; as verse first in Capell.
[87] [that too] Rowe. that, too Ff.
[88] [holds him much to have] soils him much to have Theobald conj. 'hoves him not much to have Hanmer. 'hoves him much to leave Collier (Collier MS.), fouls him much to have Singer conj.
[95] [courtesies] Rowe (ed. 2). courtesies, Ff.
[96] [Exeunt C. and G.] Rowe. [Exit. Ff.
[97] [Scene iv.] Pope.
[107] [violent] volant Collier (Collier MS.).
[108] [move the still peering] F1. move the still-piercing F2 F3 F4 (still piercing F4). pierce the still-moving Hanmer (Warburton). move the still-piecing Steevens (Anon. conj.). rove the still-piecing Tyrwhitt conj. move the still-pierced Nares conj. mow the still-pacing Jackson conj. wound the still-piecing Collier (Collier MS.). move the still 'pearing Grant White conj. (withdrawn), move the still-closing Bailey conj.
[109] [sings] F1. stings F2 F3 F4.
[112] [to't] to it Theobald.
[115] [ravin] Capell. ravine F1 F2 F3. raving F4. rav'ning Rowe (ed. 2).
[124] [angels] angles F1.
[126] [consolate] consolats F2.
[Scene III]. Florence. [Before] the Duke's palace.
Flourish. Enter the Duke of Florence, Bertram, [Parolles], Soldiers, Drum, and Trumpets.
Duke. The general of our horse thou art; and we,
Great in our hope, lay our best love and credence
Upon thy promising fortune.
Ber. [Sir, it is]
A charge too heavy for my strength; [but yet]
We'll strive to bear it for your worthy sake
To [the] extreme edge of hazard.
Duke. Then go [thou] forth;
And fortune play upon thy prosperous helm,
As thy auspicious mistress!
Ber. This very day,
Great Mars, I put myself into thy file:
Make me but like my thoughts, and I shall prove
A lover of thy drum, hater of love. [Exit.
LINENOTES:
[Scene iii.] Scene v. Pope.
[Before ... palace.] Capell. Scene changes to the Duke's court in Florence. Theobald.
[Parolles] om. Capell.
[3] [Sir, it is] [See note (xiii.)]
[4] [but yet] F1. but F2 F3 F4.
[6] [the] th' Ff.
[thou] om. Pope.
[Scene IV.] Rousillon. The Count's palace.
Enter Countess and Steward.
Count. Alas! and would you take the letter of her?
Might you not know she would do as she has done,
By sending me a letter? Read it again.
[Stew. [Reads] I am [Saint] Jaques' pilgrim, thither gone:
Ambitious love hath so in me offended,
That bare-foot plod I the cold ground upon,
With sainted vow my faults to [have] amended.
Write, write, that from the bloody course of war
My dearest master, your dear son, may hie:
[Bless] him at home in [peace, whilst] I from far
His name with zealous fervour sanctify:
[His taken] labours bid him me forgive;
I, his despiteful Juno, sent him forth
From courtly friends with camping foes to live,
Where death and danger [dogs] the heels of worth:
He is too good and fair for death and me;
Whom I myself embrace to set him free.
[Count.] Ah, what sharp stings are in her mildest words!
[Rinaldo], you [did never lack] advice so much,
As letting her pass so: had I spoke with her,
I could have well diverted her intents,
Which thus she hath prevented.
Stew. Pardon [me], madam:
If I had given you this at over-night,
She might have been o'erta'en; and yet she writes,
Pursuit would be but vain.
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Count. What angel shall
Bless this unworthy husband? he [cannot] thrive,
Unless her prayers, [whom] heaven delights to hear
And loves to grant, reprieve him from the wrath
Of greatest justice. [Write, write], Rinaldo,
To this unworthy husband of his wife;
Let every word weigh heavy of her worth
That he does weigh too light: my greatest grief,
Though little [he do] feel it, set down sharply.
Dispatch the most convenient messenger:
When haply he shall hear that she is gone,
He will return; and hope I may that she,
Hearing so much, will speed her foot again.
Led hither by pure love: which of them both
Is dearest to me, [I have] no [skill in sense]
To make distinction: provide this messenger:
My heart is heavy and mine age is weak;
Grief would have tears, [and] sorrow bids me speak.
[Exeunt.
LINENOTES:
[Scene iv..] Scene vi. Pope.
[4] [Stew. [Reads] Collier. Letter Ff. Ste. Capell.
[Saint] S. F1 F2 F3. St. F4.
[7] [have] hane F1.
[10] [Bless] 'Bless Capell conj. MS.
[peace, whilst] F3 F4. peace. Whilst F1 F2.
[12] [His taken] Herculean Rann conj.
[15] [dogs] dog Rowe.
[18] [Count.] Cou. Capell. om. Ff.
[19] [Rinaldo] Rynaldo F1 F3 F4. Rynardo F2.
[did never lack] ne'er lack'd Hanmer.
[22] [me] om. Pope.
[26] [cannot] can't S. Walker conj.
[27] [whom] which Hanmer.
[29] [Write, write] F1 F3 F4. Write and write F2. Write, oh, write Hanmer.
[33] [he do] do he Rowe (ed. 2). does he Hanmer.
[39] [I have] I've Pope.
[skill in sense] skill or sense Collier (Collier MS.).
[42] [and] but Hanmer.
[Scene V.] Florence. [Without the walls.] [A tucket] afar off.
Enter an old Widow of Florence, [Diana], [Violenta], and Mariana, with other Citizens.
Wid. Nay, [come;] for if they do approach the city, we
shall lose all the sight.
[Dia.] They say the French count has done most honourable
service.
5
Wid. It is reported that he has [taken] their [greatest]
commander; and that with his own hand he slew the Duke's
brother. [[Tucket.]] We have lost our labour; they are gone
a contrary way: hark! you may know by their trumpets.
Mar. Come, let's return again, and suffice ourselves
with the report of it. Well, Diana, take heed of this French
earl: the honour of a maid is her name; and no legacy is
so rich as honesty.
Wid. I have told my neighbour how you have been
solicited by a gentleman his companion.
15
Mar. I know that knave; hang him! one Parolles: a
filthy officer he is in those suggestions for the young earl.
Beware of them, Diana; their promises, enticements, oaths,
tokens, and all these engines of lust, are [not] the things they
go under: many a maid hath been seduced by them; and
the misery [is, example], that so terrible shows in the wreck
of maidenhood, cannot for all that dissuade succession, but
that they are limed with the twigs that [threaten] them. I
hope I need not to advise you further; but I hope your own
grace will keep you where you are, though there were no
further danger [known] but [the modesty] which is so lost.
Dia. You shall not need to fear me.
Wid. I hope so.
[Enter] Helena, disguised like a Pilgrim.
Look, here comes a pilgrim: I know she will lie at my
house; thither they send one another: I'll question her.
God save you, pilgrim! whither are you bound?
Hel. To Saint Jaques [le] Grand.
Where do the palmers lodge, I do beseech you?
Wid. At the Saint Francis [here] beside the port.
Hel. Is this the way?
35
Wid. Ay, marry, [is't]. [[A march afar.]] [Hark you!] they come this way.
If you will tarry, [holy] pilgrim,
But till [the] troops come by,
I will conduct you where you shall be lodged;
The rather, for I think I know your hostess
As [ample] as myself.
40
Hel. [Is it] yourself?
Wid. If you shall please so, pilgrim.
Hel. I thank you, and will stay upon your leisure.
Wid. You came, I think, from France?
Hel. [I did] so.
Wid. Here you shall see a countryman of yours
That has done worthy service.
45
Hel. His name, I pray you.
Dia. The Count Rousillon: know you such a one?
Hel. But by the ear, that hears most nobly of him:
His face I know not.
Dia. [Whatsome'er he is],
He's bravely taken here. He stole from France,
As 'tis reported, for the king had married him
Against his liking: think you it is so?
Hel. Ay, surely, [mere the] truth: I know his lady.
Dia. There is a gentleman that serves the count
Reports but [coarsely] of her.
Hel. What's his name?
Dia. Monsieur Parolles.
55
Hel. O, I believe with him,
In argument of praise, or to the worth
Of the great count himself, she is too mean
To have her name repeated: all her deserving
Is a reserved honesty, and that
I have not heard examined.
60
Dia. [Alas], poor lady!
'Tis a hard bondage to become the wife
Of a detesting lord.
Wid. [I write good creature], wheresoe'er she is,
Her heart weighs sadly: this young maid might do her
A shrewd turn, if she pleased.
65
Hel. How do you mean?
May be the amorous count solicits her
In the unlawful purpose.
Wid. He does indeed;
And [brokes] with all that can in such a suit
Corrupt the tender honour of a maid:
But she is arm'd for him, and keeps her guard
In honestest defence.
Mar. The gods forbid else!
Wid. So, now they come:
Drum and Colours.
[Enter] [Bertram], Parolles, and the whole army.
That is Antonio, the Duke's eldest son;
That, Escalus.
Hel. Which is the Frenchman?
Dia. He;
That with the plume: 'tis a most gallant fellow.
I would he loved his wife: if he were honester
He were much goodlier: [is't not a] handsome gentleman?
Hel. I like him well.
Dia. 'Tis pity [he is] not honest: yond's that same knave
That leads him to these [places]: were I his lady,
[I would] poison that vile rascal.
Hel. Which is he?
Dia. [That] jack-an-apes with scarfs: why is he melancholy?
Hel. Perchance he's hurt i' the battle.
Par. Lose our drum! [well].
85
Mat. He's shrewdly vexed at something: look, he has spied us.
Wid. Marry, hang you!
Mar. And your courtesy, for a ring-carrier!
[[Exeunt] Bertram, [Parolles], and army.
Wid. The troop is past. Come, pilgrim, I will [bring you]
Where you shall host: of enjoin'd penitents
There's four or five, to great Saint Jaques bound,
Already at my house.
Hel. I humbly thank you:
Please it this matron and this gentle maid
To eat with us to-night, the charge and thanking
Shall be for me; and, to requite you further,
I will bestow some precepts [of] this virgin
Worthy the note.
Both. We'll take your offer kindly. [Exeunt.
LINENOTES:
[Scene v.] Scene vii. Pope.
[Without the walls.] Capell. A public place in Florence. Theobald.
[A tucket...] Transferred to line 7 by Dyce.
[Diana] her daughter. Ff.
[Violenta] om. Capell.
[1-14] [As seventeen lines], ending come ... city ... sight... done ... service ... reported ... commander ... slew ... labour ... hark ... trumpets ... again ... of it ... earl ... name ... rich ... honesty ... neighbour ... gentleman ... companion in Ff. First as prose by Pope.
[3] [Dia.] Violenta. Edd. conj.
[5] [taken] ta'en Rowe.
[greatest] great'st Ff.
[7] [Tucket.] Capell.
[18] [not] but Hanmer. om. Warburton.
[20] [is, example] Rowe (ed. 2). is example Ff.
[22] [threaten] Pope, threatens Ff.
[25] [known] found Hanmer (Warburton).
[the modesty] of the modesty Long MS.
[27] [Enter...] Rowe. Enter Hellen. Ff.
[31] [le] F3 F4. la F1 F2.
[33] [here] om. Theobald.
[34-37] [Arranged as] in Ff; as prose in Pope; as three lines, ending Hark you!... pilgrim ... by in Capell.
[35] [is't] is it Capell.
[A march afar.] Ff. Tucket. Capell.
[36] [holy] om. Capell.
[37] [the] the the F2.
[40] [ample] amply Capell conj.
[40, 41] [Is it ... pilgrim] As one line in Capell.
[43] [I did] True, I did Hanmer.
[48] [Whatsome'er he is] What somere he is F1 F3 F4. What somere his is F2. Whatsoe'er he is Rowe.
[52] [mere the] the meer Hanmer. meerlye Warburton.
[54] [coarsely] Johnson. coursely Ff.
[60] [Alas] Ah Pope.
[63] [I write good creature,] F1. I right good creature, F2 F3 F4. Ah! right good creature! Rowe. Ah! right; good creature! Theobald. Ay, right:—Good creature! Capell. A right good creature: Steevens (Malone conj.). I weet, good creature, Steevens conj. I write, good creature, Grant White.
[68] [brokes] brooks Rowe (ed. 2).
[71] [Scene VIII.] Pope.
[72] [Enter Bertram...] Enter Count Rossillion... Ff (after defence, line 71).
[77] [is't not a] but is it not A Hanmer.
[79] [he is] he's Hanmer.
[80] [places] paces Theobald. pranks Heath conj. passes Lettsom conj.
[81] [I would] I'd Pope.
[82-84] [That ... well] S. Walker reads as three lines, ending melancholy ... drum ... Well.
[84] [well] om. Hanmer.
[87] [Parolles bows to them. Capell.]
[88] [Exeunt....] Exit. Ff.
[89] [bring you] Rowe (ed. 2). bring you, (you in next line) F1. bring You, F2 F3 F4.
[96] [of] F1. on F2 F3 F4.
[Scene VI.] [Camp before Florence.]
[Enter] Bertram and the two French Lords.
[Sec. Lord.] Nay, good my lord, put him to't; let him
have his way.
[First Lord.] If your lordship find him not a hilding,
hold me no more in your respect.
5
Sec. Lord. On my life, my lord, a bubble.
Ber. Do you think I am so far deceived in him?
Sec. Lord. Believe it, my lord, in mine own direct
knowledge, without any malice, but to speak of him as my
kinsman, he's a most notable coward, an infinite and endless
liar, an hourly promise-breaker, the owner of no one
good quality worthy your lordship's entertainment.
First Lord. It were fit you knew him; lest, reposing
too far in his virtue, which he hath not, he might at some
great and trusty business in a main danger fail you.
15
Ber. I would I knew in what particular action to try him.
First Lord. None better than to let him fetch off his
drum, which you hear him so confidently undertake to do.
[Sec. Lord.] I, with a troop of Florentines, will suddenly
surprise him; such I will have, whom I am sure he knows
not from the enemy: we will bind and hoodwink him so,
that he shall suppose no other but that he is carried into
the [leaguer] of the [adversaries], when we bring him to our
own tents. Be but your lordship present at his examination:
if he do not, for the promise of his life and in the
highest compulsion of base fear, offer to betray you and
deliver all the intelligence in his power against you, and
that with the divine forfeit of his soul upon oath, never
trust my judgement in any thing.
First Lord. [O,] for the love of laughter, let him [fetch]
his drum; he says he has a stratagem for't: when your
lordship sees the bottom of [his] success in't, and to what
metal this counterfeit lump of [ore] will be melted, if you
give him not [John] Drum's entertainment, your [inclining]
cannot be removed. Here he comes.
35
Sec. Lord. [[Aside to Ber.]] O, for the love of laughter,
hinder not the [honour] of his design: let him fetch off his
drum in any hand.
Ber. How now, monsieur! this drum sticks sorely in
your disposition.
40
First Lord. A pox on't, let it go; 'tis but a drum.
Par. 'But a drum'! is't 'but a drum'? A drum so lost!
There was excellent command,—to charge [in] with our
horse upon our own wings, and to rend our own soldiers!
First Lord. That was not to be blamed in the [command]
of the service: it was a disaster of war that Cæsar
himself could not have prevented, if he had been there to
command.
Ber. Well, we cannot greatly condemn our success:
some dishonour we had in the loss of that drum; but it is
not to be recovered.
Par. It might have been recovered.
Ber. It might; but it is not now.
Par. It is to be recovered: but that the merit of service
is seldom attributed to the true and exact performer,
I would have that drum or another, or ['hic jacet.']
Ber. Why, if you have a stomach, to't, monsieur: if you
think your [mystery] in stratagem can bring this instrument
of honour again into his native quarter, be magnanimous in
the enterprise and go on; I will grace the attempt for a
worthy exploit: if you speed well in it, the Duke shall both
speak of it, and extend to you what further becomes his
greatness, even to the utmost syllable of your worthiness.
Par. By the hand of a soldier, I will undertake it.
Ber. But you must not now slumber in it.
65
Par. I'll about it this evening: and I will presently
pen down my dilemmas, encourage myself in my certainty,
put myself into my mortal preparation; and by midnight
look to hear further from me.
Ber. May I be bold to acquaint his Grace you are gone
about it?
Par. I know not what the success will be, my lord;
but the attempt I vow.
Ber. I know [thou'rt] [valiant;] and, to the possibility of
[thy] soldiership, will subscribe for thee. Farewell.
75
Par. I love not many words. [[Exit.]
Sec. Lord. No more than a fish loves water. Is not
this a strange fellow, my lord, that so confidently seems to
undertake this business, which he knows is not to be done;
damns himself to [do] and dares better be damned than to
First Lord. You do not know him, my lord, as we do:
certain it is, that he will steal himself into a man's favour
and for a week escape a great deal of [discoveries]; but when
you find him out, you have him ever after.
85
Ber. Why, do you think he will make no deed at all of
this that so seriously he does address himself unto?
Sec. Lord. None in the world; but return with an invention
and clap upon you two or three [probable] lies: but
we have almost embossed him; you shall see his fall to-night;
for indeed he is not for your lordship's respect.
First Lord. We'll make you some sport with the fox
ere we [case] him. He was first smoked by the old lord
Lafeu: when his disguise and he [is parted, tell me] what a
sprat you shall find him; which you shall see this very night.
Sec. Lord. [I must go look] my twigs: he shall be caught.
Ber. Your brother he shall go along with me.
[Sec. Lord.] As't please your lordship: I'll leave you. [Exit.
Ber. Now will I lead you to the house, and show you
The lass I spoke of.
[First Lord.] But you say she's honest.
100
Ber. That's all the fault: I spoke with her but once
And found her wondrous cold; but I sent to her,
By this same coxcomb that we have i' the wind,
Tokens and letters which she did re-send;
And this is all [I have] done. She's a fair creature:
Will you go see her?
105
First Lord. With all my heart, my lord. [Exeunt.
LINENOTES:
[Scene VI.] Scene IX. Pope.
[Camp before Florence.] Capell.
[Enter...] Rowe. Enter Count Rossillion and the Frenchmen, as at first. Ff.
[1] [Sec. Lord.] Cap. E. Ff, and] generally throughout the scene, 1. Ld. Rowe. Fr. Env. Collier. [See note (vi)].
[3] [First Lord.] Cap. G. Ff, and throughout the scene. 2. Ld. Rowe. Fr. Gent. Collier. See note (vi).
[18] [Sec. Lord.] C. E. F1. G. E. F2. Cap. E. F3 F4. Omitted by Capell, who continues the following speech to 1. L.
[22] [leaguer] F4. leager F1 F2 F3.
[adversaries] adversary or adversary's Grant White conj.
[29, 30] [O ... drum] Omit and lines 35, 36, 37. Capell conj.
[29] [fetch] fetch off Dyce (Collier MS.).
[31] [his] Rowe. this Ff.
[32] [ore] oar Theobald, ours Ff. ores Collier MS.
[33] [John] Tom Hanmer (Theobald conj.).
[inclining] inelining F1.
[35] [Scene x.] Pope.
[Enter P.] Dyce (after line 37).
[35-37] [Marked as 'Aside'] by Capell.
[36] [honour] F3 F4. honor F1 F2. humour Theobald.
[42] [in] F1 F2 F3. him F4.
[44, 45] [command] conduct Collier conj.
[55] ['hic jacet.'] hic jacet— Theobald.
[57] [mystery] mastery Collier conj.
[73, 74] [As three lines], ending valiant ... souldiership ... Farewell in Ff.
[73] [thou'rt] Capell. th' art Ff.
[74] [thy] om. Warburton.
[76] [Scene xi.] Pope.
[79] [do] do't F4.
[79, 80] [to do 't] do 't Rann.
[83] [discoveries] discovery S. Walker conj.
[88] [probable] improbable S. Walker conj.
[92] [case] uncase Hanmer. uncape Anon. conj.
[93] [is parted] are parted Hanmer.
tell me] you'll tell me Rann conj.
[95] [I ... caught] Continued to the former speaker by Capell.
go look] go and look Rowe. go lime Long MS. go lack Jackson conj. go loop Anon. conj.
[97] [Sec. Lord.] 2 Lord. Theobald. Cap. G. Ff.
Sec. Lord. As't ... you] Fr. Cent. As't ... lordship. Fr. En. I'll leave you. Collier.
[99, 105] [First Lord.] Cap. E. Ff.
[104] [I have] I've Pope.
[Scene VII.] Florence. The Widow's house.
Enter Helena and Widow.
Hel. If you misdoubt me that I am not she,
I know not how I shall assure you further,
But I shall lose the grounds I work upon.
Wid. Though my estate be fallen, I was well born,
Nothing acquainted with these [businesses];
And would not put my reputation now
In any staining act.
Hel. Nor would I wish you.
First, give me trust, the [count he] [is] my husband,
And what to your sworn counsel I have spoken
Is so from word to word; and then you cannot,
By the good aid that I of you shall borrow,
Err in bestowing it.
Wid. I should believe you;
For you have show'd me that which well approves
[You're] great in fortune.
Hel. Take this purse of gold,
And let me buy your friendly help thus far,
Which I will over-pay and pay again
When I have found it. The count [he] wooes your daughter,
Lays down his wanton siege before her beauty,
[Resolved] to carry her: let her [in fine] consent,
As we'll direct her [how 'tis] best to bear it.
Now [his important] blood will nought deny
That she'll demand: a ring the [county wears],
That downward hath succeeded in his house
From son to son, some four or five descents
Since the first father wore it: this ring he holds
In most rich choice; yet in his idle fire,
To buy his will, it would not seem too dear,
Howe'er repented after.
Wid. [Now] I see
The bottom of your purpose.
30
Hel. You see it lawful, then: it is no more,
But that your daughter, ere she seems as won,
Desires this ring; appoints him an encounter;
In fine, delivers me to fill the time,
Herself most chastely absent: [after this],
To marry her, I'll add three thousand crowns
To what is [past] already.
Wid. I have yielded:
Instruct my daughter how she shall persever,
That time and place with this deceit so lawful
May prove coherent. Every night he comes
With [musics] of all sorts and songs composed
To her unworthiness: it nothing [steads] us
To chide him from our [eaves;] for he persists
As if his life lay on't.
Hel. Why then to-night
Let us assay our plot; which, if it speed,
Is wicked meaning in a lawful deed,
[And lawful] meaning in a [lawful act],
Where both not sin, and yet a sinful fact:
But let's about it. [Exeunt.
LINENOTES:
[Scene vii.] Scene xii. Pope.
[5] [businesses] basenesses Anon. conj.
[8, 17] [count he] county Edd. conj.
[8] [is] his F2
[14] [You're] Y'are Ff. You are Capell.
[17] [he] om. Pope.
[19] [Resolved] Collier (Egerton MS.). Resolve F1. Resolves F2 F3 F4.
[in fine] om. Rowe (ed. 2).
[20] [how 'tis] how, 'tis Warburton.
[21] [his important] F1 F2. this important F3 F4. this importurate Rowe (ed. i). his importunate Rowe (ed. 2).
[22] [county wears] countie weares F1. county weares F2 F3. count wears F4. count does wear Rowe. [See note (xiv)].
[28, 29] [Now ... purpose] As in Capell. As one line in Ff. Now do I see ... purpose (as one line) Hanmer.
[34] [after this] F2 F3 F4. after F1. afterwards Collier conj.
[36] [past] pact Anon. conj.
[40] [musics] Musickes F1 F2. Musicks F3. Musick F4.
[41] [steads] F4. steeds F1 F2 F3.
[42] [eaves] Hanmer. eeves Ff.
[46] [And lawful] Unlawful Hanmer.
[lawful act] wicked act Warburton. lawless act Anon. conj.