Hip. Sir, I'll do your errand Another time, for letting Julia go. [To AMIDEO.
Man. Come, sir.
Gons. I beg your pardon for a moment, I'll but dispatch some business in my ship, And wait you presently:
Man. We'll go before;
I'll make sure Roderick shall never have her;
And 'tis at least some pleasure to destroy
His happiness, who mined first my joy.
[Exeunt all but GONSALVO; who, before he goes, whispers HIPPOLITO.
Gons. Against her will fair Julia to possess,
Is not to enjoy, but ravish happiness:
Yet women pardon force, because they find
The violence of love is still most kind:
Just like the plots of well built comedies,
Which then please most, when most they do surprise:
But yet constraint love's noblest end destroys,
Whose highest joy is in another's joys:
Where passion rules, how weak does reason prove!
I yield my cause, but cannot yield my love. [Exit.
ACT III.
SCENE I.—A great room in DON MANUEL'S house.
HIPPOLITO solus.
My master bid me speak for him to Julia:
Hard fate, that I am made a confident
Against myself!
Yet, though unwillingly I took the office,
I would perform it well: But how can I
Prove lucky to his love, who to my own
Am so unfortunate? he trusts his passion
Like him, that ventures all his stock at once
On an unlucky hand.