_Abd_. Not I, by Heaven: Oh, that this Head were circled in a Crown, And I were King, by Fortune, as by Birth! And that I was, till by thy Husband’s Power I was divested in my Infancy-- Then you shou’d see, I do not flatter ye. But I, instead of that, must see my Crown Bandy’d from Head to Head, and tamely see it: And in this wretched state I live, ‘tis true; But with what Joy, you, if you lov’d, might guess. _Qu_. We need no Crowns; Love best contented is In shady Groves, and humble Cottages, Where when ‘twould sport, it safely may retreat, Free from the Noise and Danger of the Great; Where Victors are ambitious of no Bays, But what their Nymphs bestow on Holy-days; Nor Envy can the amorous Shepherd move, Unless against a Rival in his Love. _Abd_. Love and Ambition are the same to me, In either I’ll no Rivals brook. _Qu_. Nor I: And when the King you urge me to remove, It may be from Ambition, not from Love. _Abd_. Those Scruples did not in your Bosom dwell, When you a King did in a Husband kill. _Qu_. How, Sir, dare you upbraid me with that Sin, To which your Perjuries first drew me in? _Abd_. You interrupt my Sense; I only meant A Sacrifice to Love so well begun Shou’d not Devotion want to finish it; And if that stop to all our Joys were gone, The envying World wou’d to our Power submit: But Kings are sacred, and the Gods alone Their Crimes must judge, and punish too, or none-- Yet he alone destroys his Happiness. _Qu_. There’s yet one more-- _Abd_. One more! give me his Name, And I will turn it to a Magick Spell, To bind him ever fast. _Qu. Florella_. _Abd. Florella_! Oh, I cou’d gnaw my Chains | That humble me so low as to adore her: | [_Aside_. But the fond Blaze must out--while I erect | A nobler Fire more fit for my Ambition. | --_Florella_ dies--a Victim to your Will. I will not let you lose one single Wish, For a poor Life, or two; Tho I must see my Glories made a Prey, And not demand ‘em from the Ravisher; Nor yet complain--because he is my King: But _Philip’s_ Brow no sacred Ointment deifies, If he do wrong, stands fair for the Revenger. _Qu. Philip_! instruct me how t’ undo that Boy I hate; The publick Infamy I have receiv’d, I will revenge with nothing less than Death. _Abd_. ‘Tis well we can agree in our Resentments, For I have vow’d he shall not live a day; He has an Art to pry into our Secrets: To all besides our Love is either hid, Or else they dare not see--But this Prince Has a most dangerous Spirit must be calm’d. _Qu_. I have resolv’d his Death, And now have waiting in my Cabinet, Engines to carry on this mighty Work of my Revenge. _Abd_. Leave that to me, who equally am injur’d; You, like the Gods, need only but command, And I will execute your sacred Will-- That done, there’s none dare whisper what we do.