And not have cut him off: Some one hath set you on; Confess the truth, and say by whose advice Thou cam'st here to complain. Isab. And is this all? Then, oh, you blessed ministers above, Keep me in patience; and, with ripen'd time, In countenance!"-Heaven shield your grace from woe, As I, thus wrong'd, hence unbelieved go! Duke. I know you'd fain be gone :-An officer! On him so near us? This needs must be a practice. Isab. One that I would were here, friar Lodowick. Duke. A ghostly father, belike: Who knows that Lodowick? Lucio. My lord, I know him; 't is a meddling friar. I do not like the man: had he been lay, my lord, And to set on this wretched woman here A very scurvy fellow. F. Peter. Bless'd be your royal grace! a Countenance-false appearance. Duke. We did believe no less. Know you that friar Lodowick that she speaks of? As he 's reported by this gentleman; Did, as he vouches, misreport your grace. Lucio. My lord, most villainously; believe it. F. Peter. Well, he in time may come to clear himself; But at this instant he is sick, my lord, Of a strange fever: Upon his mere a request, b So vulgarly and personally accus'd,) Her shall you hear disproved to her eyes, Duke. Good friar, let's hear it. Do you not smile at this, lord Angelo ?— c Of your own cause.-Is this the witness, friar? Mari. Pardon, my lord; I will not show my face, Until my husband bid me. a Mere-sole, unmixed, absolute. b Vulgarly-publicly. c Impartial. Im was frequently used as an augmentative particle; and the meaning therefore is very partial. Why, you Are nothing then :-Neither maid, widow, nor wife? Lucio. My lord, she may be a punk; for many of them are neither maid, widow, nor wife. Duke. Silence that fellow: I would he had some cause To prattle for himself. Lucio. Well, my lord. Mari. My lord, I do confess I ne'er was married; And, I confess, besides, I am no maid: I have known my husband; yet my husband knows not That ever he knew me. Lucio. He was drunk then, my lord; it can be no better. Duke. For the benefit of silence, would thou wert so too! Lucio. Well, my lord. Duke. This is no witness for lord Angelo. Mari. Now I come to 't, my lord: She, that accuses him of fornication, In self-same manner doth accuse my husband; Ang. Mari. Not that I know. Charges she more than me? No? you say, your husband. Mari. Why, just, my lord, and that is Angelo, Who thinks he knows that he ne'er knew my body, But knows he thinks that he knows Isabel's. Ang. This is a strange abuse:-Let's see thy face. Mari. My husband bids me; now I will unmask. This is that face, thou cruel Angelo, [Unveiling. Which once thou swor'st was worth the looking on: Duke. Know you this woman? Lucio. Enough, my lord. Sirrah, no more. Ang. My lord, I must confess I know this woman : And, five years since, there was some speech of marriage Betwixt myself and her; which was broke off, Partly, for that her promised proportions I never spake with her, saw her, nor heard from her, Mari. Noble prince, As there comes light from heaven, and words from breath, As there is sense in truth, and truth in virtue, I am affianc'd this man's wife, as strongly As words could make up vows: and, my good lord, But Tuesday night last gone, in his garden-house, He knew me as a wife: As this is true Let me in safety raise me from my knees; Or else for ever be confixed here, A marble monument ! Ang. I did but smile till now; Now, good my lord, give me the scope of justice; a Composition-agreement. These poor informal a women are no more But instruments of some more mightier member, Duke. Ay, with my heart; And punish them unto your height of pleasure.Thou foolish friar; and thou pernicious woman, Compact with her that 's gone! think'st thou, thy oaths, Though they would swear down each particular saint, Were testimonies against his worth and credit, That's seal'd in approbation?-You, lord Escalus, Sit with my cousin; lend him your kind pains To find out this abuse, whence 't is deriv'd: There is another friar that set them on; Let him be sent for. F. Peter. Would he were here, my lord; for he, indeed, Hath set the women on to this complaint: Your provost knows the place where he abides, And he may fetch him. Duke. Go, do it instantly. [Exit Provost. And you, my noble and well-warranted cousin, Whom it concerns to hear this matter forth, In any chastisement: I for a while Will leave you; but stir not you, till you have Escal. My lord, we 'll do it thoroughly.-[Exit DUKE.] Signior Lucio, did not you say you knew that friar Lodowick to be a dishonest person? Lucio. Cucullus non facit monachum: honest in nothing, but in his clothes; and one that hath spoke most villainous speeches of the duke. Escal. We shall entreat you to abide here till he come, and enforce them against him: we shall find this friar a notable fellow. Lucio. As any in Vienna, on my word. a Informal-without sense. |