Page:Works of Sir John Suckling.djvu/307

] Bel. Who, my lord?

Flo. My wife, my lord. Draw, draw, or by all my hopes,

My rage will make me turn a murderer.

Bel. Not so easily.

Flo. Hold, let's breathe: why should I do him right,

Who has done me such wrong,

Or die for her that will not live for me?

Go, enjoy her!

Bel. Soft! [Pulls him back.] You have stol'n a secret here,

That you must give again, or take my life.

Draw!

Flo. Prithee, disturb me not.

Bel. No,

Unless you promise never to disclose

What you have here discover'd, this must be

The passage.

Flo. Hum!

I will be mute, credit me: I will not speak one word.

Bel. Nay [pulls him back], you must swear it too.

Flo. If I must, I must.

By heaven and by my honour, how tame a thing

A cuckold is!

Bel. 'Sdeath,

Why did I let him go? We can no more

Subsist together than fire and water.

One of us two must die;

And, charity tells me, better he than I.

But how?

It is not for my honour to kill him basely;

Nor is it for hers to kill him otherwise.

Th' whole court will guess the quarrel, if it be a duel.

It is decreed. No matter which way, so he fall;

Mine, in respect of hers, are no respects at all.

Doc. Abused, grossly abused!

A base affront, believe it, Drollio!

Drol. Why, what's the matter, signior?