Amid. Well, since it must be so, I'll fight:—Unbutton.
[HIPPOLITO unbuttons slowly.
How many buttons has he? I'll be one
Behind him still. [Aside.
[Unbuttons one by one after him. HIPPOLITO makes more haste.
You are so prodigal! if you loved my master,
You would not tear his doublet so:—How's this!
Two swelling breasts! a woman, and my rival!
The stings of jealousy have given me courage,
Which nature never gave me:
Come on, thou vile dissembler of thy sex;
Expect no mercy; either thou or I
Must die upon this spot: Now for Gonsalvo—
Sa—Sa—
Hip. This courage is not counterfeit; ah me! What shall I do? for pity, gentle boy—
Amid. No pity; such a cause as ours Can neither give nor take it: If thou yieldest, I will not spare thee; therefore, fight it out. [Tears open his doublet.
Hip. Death to my hopes! a woman! and so rare
A beauty, that my lord must needs doat on her.
I should myself, if I had been a man:
But, as I am, her eyes shoot death at me.
Amid. Come, have you said your prayers?
Hip. For thy confusion,—
Thou ravenous harpy, with an angel's face,—
Thou art discovered, thou too charming rival;
I'll be revenged upon those fatal eyes.