AGLAURA.

Or

ACT I. SCENE I.

Enter IOLAS and IOLINA.

Iolas. Married? and in Diana's grove!

Ioli. So was th' appointment,

my sense deceiv'd me.

Iolas. Married!

Now by those pow'rs that tie those pretty knots,

'Tis very fine, good faith 'tis wondrous fine.

Ioli. What is, brother?

Iolas. Why, to marry, sister

T' enjoy 'twixt lawful and unlawful thus

A happiness, steal as it were one's own.

Diana's grove, say'st thou ?

Ioli. That's the place; the hunt once up, and all

Engaged in the sport, they mean to leave

The company, and steal unto those thickets

Where there's a priest attends them.

Iolas. Thou say'st well; 'tis fine, 'tis wondrous fine.

Diana's grove —

Ioli. Yes, Diana's grove.

But, brother, if you should speak of this now. —

Iolas. Why, thou know'st a drowning man holds not a thing so

fast.

Enter SEMANTHE, she sees IOLAs, and goes in again.

Semanthe! she shuns me too.

Ioli. The wound festered sure!

The hurt the boy gave her, when first

She look'd abroad into the world, is not yet cur'd.
Iolas. What hurt?

Ioli. Why, know you not

She was in love long since with young Zorannes,
(Aglaura's brother) and the now queen's betroth'd?

Iolas. Some such slight tale I've heard.

Ioli. Slight! She yet does weep, when she but hears him nam'd,

And tells the prettiest, and the saddest stories

Of all those civil wars, and those amours,

That, trust me, both my lady and myself

Turn weeping statues still.

Iolas. Pish, 'tis not that.

'Tis Ziriff, and his fresh glories here Have robb'd me of her.

Since he thus appear'd in court

My love has languish'd worse than plants in drought.
But Time's a good physician. Come, let's in:

The king and queen, by this time are come forth.

Enter Servingmen to ZIRIFF.

[Exeunt.

1 Serv. Yonder is a crowd without, as if some strange sight were to be seen to-day here.

2 Serv. Two or three, with carbonadoes afore instead of faces, mistook the door for a breach; and at the opening of it, are striving still which should enter first.

3 Serv. Is my lord busy?

Enter ZIRIFF as in his study.

1 Serv. My lord, there are some soldiers without -
Zir. Well! I will despatch them presently.

2 Serv. Th' ambassadors from the Cadusians too -
Zir. Show them the gallery.
3 Serv. One from the king-
Zir. Again; I come, I come.

[Knocks.

[Exeunt Servingmen.

ZIRIFF, solus.

Greatness, thou vainer shadow of the prince's beams,
Begot by mere reflection, nourish'd in extremes;
First taught to creep, and live upon the glance,
Poorly to fare, till thine own proper strength
Bring thee to surfeit of thyself at last.

How dull a pageant would this state's-play seem
To me now, were not my love and my revenge
Mix'd with it!

Three tedious winters have I waited here,
Like patient chemists blowing still the coals,
And still expecting when the blessed hour
Would come should make me master of
The court elixir, power, for that turns all :

"Tis in projection now; down, sorrow, down,

And swell my heart no more; and thou wrong'd ghost
Of my dead father, to thy bed again,

And sleep securely;

It cannot now be long, for sure fate must,

As't has been cruel, so a while be just.

[Exit.

Enter King and Lords, the Lords entreating for Prisoners.

King. I say they shall not live; our mercy
Would turn sin, should we but use it e'er;
Pity and love the bosses only be

Of government, merely for show and ornament;
Fear is the bit that man's proud will restrains,
And makes its vice its virtue-See it done.

Enter to them the Queen, AGLAURA, and Ladies: the King addresses himself to AGLAURA.

So early and so curious in your dress, fair mistress?

These pretty ambushes and traps for hearts,

Set with such care to-day, look like design:

Speak, lady, is't a massacre resolv'd?

Is conquering one by one grown tedious sport?
Or is the number of the taken such,
That for your safety you must kill outright?

Agl. Did none do greater mischief, sir, than I,
Heav'n would not much be troubled with sad story,

Nor would the quarrel man has to the stars
Be kept alive so strongly.

King. When he does leave't,

Woman must take it up, and justly too,

For robbing of the sex, and giving all to you.

Agl. Their weaknesses you mean, and I confess, sir.
King. The greatest subjects of their power or glory.

Such gentle rape thou act'st upon my soul,

And with such pleasing violence dost force it still,
That when it should resist, it tamely yields,

Making a kind of haste to be undone,

As if the way to victory were loss,

And conquest came by overthrow.

Enter an Express, delivering a packet upon his knee.
The King reads.

Queen. Pretty! [Looking upon a flower in one of the ladies' heads. Is it the child of nature, or of some fair hand?

Lady. 'Tis as the beauty, madam, of some faces :

Art's issue only.

King. Thersames,

This concerns you most; brought you her picture?
Exp. Something made up for her in haste I have.

[Presents the picture.

King. If she does owe no part of this fair dower Unto the painter, she is rich enough.

Agl. A kind of merry sadness in this face Becomes it much.

King. There is indeed, Aglaura,

A pretty sullenness dress'd up in smiles,
That says this beauty can both kill and save.
How like you her, Thersames?

Ther. As well as any man can do a house
By seeing of the portal; here's but a face,
And faces, sir, are things I have not studied;
I have my duty, and may boldly swear,
What you like best will ever please me most.

King. Spoke like Thersames, and my son.
Come! the day holds fair,

Let all the huntsmen meet us in the vale,

We will uncouple there.

ARIASPES stays behind.

Ari. How odd a thing a crowd is unto me!

Sure nature intended I should be alone;

Had not that old doting man-midwife Time

Slept, when he should have brought me forth, I had

Been so too

To be born near, and only near a crown

Enter IOLAS.

Iolas. How now, my Lord?

What? walking o' th' tops of pyramids?

Whispering yourself away

Like a denied lover? Come! to horse, to horse,

And I will show you straight a sight will please you,

More than kind looks from her you dote upon

After a falling out.

Ari. Prithee what is't?

Iolas. I'll tell you as I go

[Exeunt.

[Studies.

[Exeunt.

Enter Huntsmen hallooing and whooping.

Hunts. Which way? which way?

Enter THERSAMES, and AGLAURA muffled.

Ther. This is the grove, 'tis somewhere here within. [Exeunt.