Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, Vol. 05 of 10Fletcher, John
General
Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, Vol. 05 of 10
Fletcher, John
English drama
_Alph._ Thou lyest; 'tis damnable ill, 'tis most abominable;
Will ye confess (Thing?)
_Jul._ Say I were guilty, Sir;
I would be hang'd before I would confess;
Is this a World to confess in?
_Cur._ Deal directly.
_Jul._ Yes, if my matter lye direct before me;
But when I am forc'd, and ferretted.
_Alph._ Tell me the truth,
And as I live, I'll give thee a new Petticoat.
_Jul._ And you would give me ten, I would not tell ye,
Truths bear a greater price than you are aware of.
_Seb._ Deal modestly.
_Jul._ I do not pluck my Cloaths up.
_Al._ What say you, Sirrah? you? or you? are ye dumb all?
_Port._ I saw her last night, and't shall like your Worship,
When I serv'd in her Livery.
_Alph._ What's that, Sirrah?
_Port._ Her Chamber-pot, and't please you.
_Seb._ A new Livery.
_Alph._ Where lay she? who lay with her?
_Port._ In truth, not I, Sir;
I lay with my fellow _Frederick_ in the flea-Chamber,
And't like your Worship, we are almost worried.
_Jul._ I left her by her self, in her own Closet,
And there I thought she had slept.
_Alph._ Why lay you from her?
_Jul._ It was her will I should; she is my Mistriss,
And my part is obedience.
_Alph._ Were all the doors lock'd?
_Port._ All mine.
_Ser._ And mine; she could not get out those ways
Unless she leapt the walls; and those are higher
Than any Womans courage dare aspire at.
_Alph._ Come, you must know.
_Cur._ Conceal it not, but deal plain.
_Jul._ If I did know, and her trust lay upon me,
Not all your angers nor your flatteries
Should make me speak, but having no more interest
Than I may well deliver to the air,
I'll tell ye what I know, and tell it liberally,
I think she is gone, because we cannot find her;
I think she is weary of your tyranny,
And therefore gone; may be she is in love;
May be in love, where you show no great liking,
And therefore gone; May be some point of Conscience,
Or vow'd Devotion.
_Alph._ These are nothing, minion;
You that can aim at these, must know the truth too.
_Jul._ Any more truth than this if I know, hang me,
Or where to search for it, if I make a lye
To gain your love, and envy my best Mistriss,
Pin me against a wall with my heels upward.
_Alph._ Out of my doors.
_Jul._ That's all my poor petition;
For if your house were Gold, and she not in it,
Sir, I should count it but a Cage to whistle in.
_Alph._ Whore, if she be above ground, I will have her.
_Jul._ I would live in a Coal-pit then, were I your daughter.
_Seb._ Certain she does not know, Sir.
_Alph._ Hang her, hang her;
She knows too much; search all the house, all corners,
And where 'tis possible she may go out, [_Ex. Servants._
If I do find your tricks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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