D'Am. Stay. Asleep? so soundly,
So sweetly upon Death's heads? and in a place
So full of fear and horror? Sure there is
Some other happiness within the freedom
Of the conscience than my knowledge e'er attained to.—Ho, ho, ho!
Charl. Y'are welcome, uncle. Had you sooner come
You had been sooner welcome. I'm the man
You seek. You sha' not need examine me.
D'Am. My nephew and my daughter! O my dear
Lamented blood, what fate has cast you thus
Unhappily upon this accident?
Charl. You know, sir, she's as clear as chastity.
D'Am. As her own chastity. The time, the place
All circumstances argue that unclear.
Cast. Sir, I confess it; and repentantly
Will undergo the selfsame punishment
That justice shall inflict on Charlemont.
Charl. Unjustly she betrays her innocence.
Watch. But, sir, she's taken with you, and she must
To prison with you.
D'Am. There's no remedy.
Yet were it not my son's bed she abused,
My land should fly, but both should be excused.
[Exeunt.
SCENE IV.—An Apartment in Belforest's Mansion.
Enter Belforest and a Servant.
Bel. Is not my wife come in yet?
Ser. No, my lord.
Bel. Methinks she's very affectedly inclined
To young Sebastian's company o' late.
But jealousy is such a torment that
I am afraid to entertain it. Yet
The more I shun by circumstances to meet
Directly with it, the more ground I find
To circumvent my apprehension. First,
I know she has a perpetual appetite,
Which being so oft encountered with a man
Of such a bold luxurious freedom as
Sebastian is, and of so promising
A body, her own blood corrupted will
Betray her to temptation.
Enter Fresco closely.
Fres. Precious! I was sent by his lady to see if her lord were in bed. I should ha' done't slily without discovery, and now I am blurted upon 'em before I was aware. [Exit.
Bel. Know not you the gentlewoman my wife brought home?
Ser. By sight, my lord. Her man was here but now.