I meant the fair Jolenta.”
There is no possible reason why he should not have conveyed this intelligence to her himself, and Leonora must have been ingenious indeed to divine it, except that the plot would not allow it. Presently another match is found for Jolenta in Ercole, which Romelio favors for reasons again known only to himself, though he is a noble quite as much as Contarino. Ercole is the pattern of a chivalrous gentleman. Though he at once falls in love with Jolenta, according to Marlowe’s rule that “he never loved that loved not at first sight,” and though Romelio and the mother both urge the immediate signing of the contract, he refuses.
“Lady, I will do
A manly office for you; I will leave you
To th’ freedom of your own soul; may it move
Whither Heaven and you please!
* * * * *
I’ll leave you, excellent lady, and withal
Leave a heart with you so entirely yours
That I protest, had I the least of hope