The Duchess of Malfi John Webster (intellectual books to read TXT) đ
- Author: John Webster
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Put on your hat first. Antonio
You must pardon me:
I have seen, in colder countries than in France,
Nobles stand bare to thâ prince; and the distinction
Methought showâd reverently.
I have a present for your grace.
DuchessFor me, sir?
BosolaApricocks, madam.
DuchessO, sir, where are they?
I have heard of none to-year39
Aside. Good; her colour rises.
DuchessIndeed, I thank you: they are wondrous fair ones.
What an unskilful fellow is our gardener!
We shall have none this month.
Will not your grace pare them?
DuchessNo: they taste of musk, methinks; indeed they do.
BosolaI know not: yet I wish your grace had parâd âem.
DuchessWhy?
BosolaI forgot to tell you, the knave gardener,
Only to raise his profit by them the sooner,
Did ripen them in horse-dung.
O, you jest.â â
You shall judge: pray, taste one.
Indeed, madam,
I do not love the fruit.
Sir, you are loth
To rob us of our dainties. âTis a delicate fruit;
They say they are restorative.
âTis a pretty art,
This grafting.
âTis so; a bettering of nature.
BosolaTo make a pippin grow upon a crab,
A damson on a blackthorn.â âAside. How greedily she eats them!
A whirlwind strike off these bawd farthingales!
For, but for that and the loose-bodied gown,
I should have discoverâd apparently40
The young springal41 cutting a caper in her belly.
I thank you, Bosola: they were right good ones,
If they do not make me sick.
How now, madam!
DuchessThis green fruit and my stomach are not friends:
How they swell me!
Aside. Nay, you are too much swellâd already.
DuchessO, I am in an extreme cold sweat!
BosolaI am very sorry.
Exit. DuchessLights to my chamber!â âO good Antonio,
I fear I am undone!
Lights there, lights!
Exeunt Duchess and Ladies. AntonioO my most trusty Delio, we are lost!
I fear sheâs fallân in labour; and thereâs left
No time for her remove.
Have you preparâd
Those ladies to attend her; and procurâd
That politic safe conveyance for the midwife
Your duchess plotted?
I have.
DelioMake use, then, of this forcâd occasion.
Give out that Bosola hath poisonâd her
With these apricocks; that will give some colour
For her keeping close.
Fie, fie, the physicians
Will then flock to her.
For that you may pretend
Sheâll use some preparâd antidote of her own,
Lest the physicians should re-poison her.
I am lost in amazement: I know not what to think onât.
Exeunt. Scene IIA hall in the same palace.
Enter Bosala and Old Lady. Bosola So, so, thereâs no question but her techiness42 and most vulturous eating of the apricocks are apparent signs of breeding, now? Old Lady I am in haste, sir. Bosola There was a young waiting-woman had a monstrous desire to see the glasshouseâ â Old Lady Nay, pray, let me go. I will hear no more of the glasshouse. You are still43 abusing women! Bosola Who, I? No; only, by the way now and then, mention your frailties. The orange-tree bears ripe and green fruit and blossoms all together; and some of you give entertainment for pure love, but more for more precious reward. The lusty spring smells well; but drooping autumn tastes well. If we have the same golden showers that rained in the time of Jupiter the thunderer, you have the same Danaes still, to hold up their laps to receive them. Didst thou never study the mathematics? Old Lady Whatâs that, sir? Bosola Why, to know the trick how to make a many lines meet in one centre. Go, go, give your foster-daughters good counsel: tell them, that the devil takes delight to hang at a womanâs girdle, like a false rusty watch, that she cannot discern how the time passes. Exit Old Lady. Enter Antonio, Roderigo, and Grisolan. AntonioShut up the court-gates.
RoderigoWhy, sir? Whatâs the danger?
AntonioShut up the posterns presently, and call
All the officers oâ thâ court.
I shall instantly.
Exit. AntonioWho keeps the key oâ thâ park-gate?
RoderigoForobosco.
AntonioLet him bringât presently.
Re-enter Grisolan with Servants. First Servant O, gentleman oâ thâ court, the foulest treason! Bosola Aside. If that these apricocks should be poisonâd now, Without my knowledge? First Servant There was taken even now a Switzer in the duchessâ bedchamberâ â Second Servant A Switzer! First Servant With a pistolâ â Second Servant There was a cunning traitor! First Servant And all the moulds of his buttons were leaden bullets. Second Servant O wicked cannibal! First Servant âTwas a French plot, upon my life. Second Servant To see what the devil can do! Antonio Are all the officers here? Servants We are. AntonioGentlemen,
We have lost much plate, you know; and but this evening
Jewels, to the value of four thousand ducats,
Are missing in the duchessâ cabinet.
Are the gates shut?
Yes.
AntonioâTis the duchessâ pleasure
Each officer be lockâd into his chamber
Till the sun-rising; and to send the keys
Of all their chests and of their outward doors
Into her bedchamber. She is very sick.
At her pleasure.
AntonioShe entreats you takeât not ill: the innocent
Shall be the more approvâd by it.
How fares it with the duchess?
AntonioSheâs exposâd
Unto the worst of torture, pain, and fear.
Speak to her all happy comfort.
AntonioHow I do play the fool with mine own danger!
You are this night, dear friend, to post to Rome:
My life lies in your service.
Do not doubt me.
AntonioO, âtis far from me: and yet fear presents me
Somewhat that looks like danger.
Believe it,
âTis but the shadow
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