The Duchess of Malfi John Webster (intellectual books to read TXT) š
- Author: John Webster
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Come, Iāll bear thee hence,
And execute thy last will; thatās deliver
Thy body to the reverend dispose
Of some good women: that the cruel tyrant
Shall not deny me. Then Iāll post to Milan,
Where somewhat I will speedily enact
Worth my dejection. Exit with the body. Act V Scene I
Milan. A public place.
Enter Antonio and Delio. AntonioWhat think you of my hope of reconcilement
To the Arragonian brethren?
I misdoubt it;
For though they have sent their letters of safe-conduct
For your repair to Milan, they appear
But nets to entrap you. The Marquis of Pescara,
Under whom you hold certain land in cheat,107
Much āgainst his noble nature hath been movād
To seize those lands; and some of his dependants
Are at this instant making it their suit
To be invested in your revenues.
I cannot think they mean well to your life
That do deprive you of your means of life,
Your living.
You are still an heretic108
To any safety I can shape myself.
Here comes the marquis: I will make myself
Petitioner for some part of your land,
To know whither it is flying.
I pray, do.
Withdraws. Enter Pescara. DelioSir, I have a suit to you.
PescaraTo me?
DelioAn easy one:
There is the Citadel of Saint Bennet,
With some demesnes, of late in the possession
Of Antonio Bolognaā āplease you bestow them on me.
You are my friend; but this is such a suit,
Nor fit for me to give, nor you to take.
No, sir?
PescaraI will give you ample reason forāt
Soon in private:ā āhereās the cardinalās mistress.
My lord, I am grown your poor petitioner,
And should be an ill beggar, had I not
A great manās letter here, the cardinalās,
To court you in my favour.Gives a letter.
He entreats for you
The Citadel of Saint Bennet, that belongād
To the banishād Bologna.
Yes.
PescaraI could not have thought of a friend I could rather
Pleasure with it: ātis yours.
Sir, I thank you;
And he shall know how doubly I am engagād
Both in your gift, and speediness of giving
Which makes your grant the greater.
How they fortify
Themselves with my ruin!
Sir, I am
Little bound to you.
Why?
DelioBecause you deniād this suit to me, and gaveāt
To such a creature.
Do you know what it was?
It was Antonioās land; not forfeited
By course of law, but ravishād from his throat
By the cardinalās entreaty. It were not fit
I should bestow so main a piece of wrong
Upon my friend; ātis a gratification
Only due to a strumpet, for it is injustice.
Shall I sprinkle the pure blood of innocents
To make those followers I call my friends
Look ruddier upon me? I am glad
This land, taāen from the owner by such wrong,
Returns again unto so foul an use
As salary for his lust. Learn, good Delio,
To ask noble things of me, and you shall find
Iāll be a noble giver.
You instruct me well.
AntonioWhy, hereās a man now would fright impudence
From sauciest beggars.
Prince Ferdinandās come to Milan,
Sick, as they give out, of an apoplexy;
But some say ātis a frenzy: I am going
To visit him.
āTis a noble old fellow.
DelioWhat course do you mean to take, Antonio?
AntonioThis night I mean to venture all my fortune,
Which is no more than a poor lingāring life,
To the cardinalās worst of malice. I have got
Private access to his chamber; and intend
To visit him about the mid of night,
As once his brother did our noble duchess.
It may be that the sudden apprehension
Of dangerā āfor Iāll go in mine own shapeā ā
When he shall see it fraight109 with love and duty,
May draw the poison out of him, and work
A friendly reconcilement. If it fail,
Yet it shall rid me of this infamous calling;
For better fall once than be ever falling.
Iāll second you in all danger; and howeāer,
My life keeps rank with yours.
You are still my lovād and best friend.
Exeunt. Scene IIA gallery in the residence of the Cardinal and Ferdinand.
Enter Pescara and Doctor. PescaraNow, doctor, may I visit your patient?
DoctorIfāt please your lordship; but heās instantly
To take the air here in the gallery
By my direction.
Pray thee, whatās his disease?
DoctorA very pestilent disease, my lord,
They call lycanthropia.
Whatās that?
I need a dictionary toāt.
Iāll tell you.
In those that are possessād withāt there oāerflows
Such melancholy humour they imagine
Themselves to be transformed into wolves;
Steal forth to churchyards in the dead of night,
And dig dead bodies up: as two nights since
One met the duke ābout midnight in a lane
Behind Saint Markās church, with the leg of a man
Upon his shoulder; and he howlād fearfully;
Said he was a wolf, only the difference
Was, a wolfās skin was hairy on the outside,
His on the inside; bade them take their swords,
Rip up his flesh, and try. Straight I was sent for,
And, having ministerād to him, found his grace
Very well recoverād.
I am glad onāt.
DoctorYet not without some fear
Of a relapse. If he grow to his fit again,
Iāll go a nearer way to work with him
Than ever Paracelsus dreamād of; if
Theyāll give me leave, Iāll buffet his madness out of him.
Stand aside; he comes.
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