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Show . » . - • 5 x 0 Tbe~A^natwn: Or, ^ and flip the Ticket into the hand of her Woman Beatrix^ And take care the elder Sifter Lwra fees you net, for fhe knows nothing of our Amour. Ben. A word to the Wife. Have you no Service to Laura> L £> Aurelian. AurNone that I lb all trouble you withal: 111 fee firft what Returns you make from this Voyage, before I put in m y Venture with you. Away* be gone, Mr. Mercury. Ben. I fly, Mr. Jupiter. C Exit. Aur. This Lady Laura I have feen from your Balcone, and was feen by her ; Methought, too, fhe lookt with a languiihmg Eye upon me, as w h o fhould fay, Areycyj a Man, and have no pity for a poor diftrefled Virgin? For m y part, I never found fo much difpofition in m y felf to Love any W o m a n at firft fight: Flandfome flic is, of that I am certain. * Cam. And has Wit, I dare allure you * but I have not heard fhe has admitted of any Gallantry. Aur. Her Hour is not come yet* fhe has not met with a M a n to Love: when that happens ( as I am refolv'd to pufh m y Fortune) you fhall fee that, as her Love warms, her Virtue will melt down, and diflblve in it* for there's no fuch Baud to a W o m a n , as her o w n Wit is. Cam. I look upon the Affignation, as certain: Will you promife m e to <ro> You and Benito fhall walk in the Garden, while I fearch the N y m p h within the Shade* one thing I had forgot to tell you, that our General of the Church the Duke of Mantoua, and the Prince his Son, are juft approaching the Gates of Rome: Will you go fee the Ceremony of their Entrance ? Aur. With all m y heart. They fay he has behav'd himfelf gallantly againft the French, at their return from Naples: Befides, I have a particular knowledge of young Prince Frederick^ ever fince he was laft at our Venetian Carnivals. Cam. Away, then, quickly* left we mifs the Solemnity. I Exeunt. Enter Laura, and Violetta, ftrhing about a Letter, which Laura holds. Vio. Let it go, I fay. Laii. I fay, Let you go. Vio. Nay, fweet Sifter Laura. Lau. Nay, dear Violetta, 'tis in vain to contend, I'm refolv'd to fee it. \_ Plucky tbe Paper from Violetta Vio. But I am refolv'd you fhall not read it. I know not what Authority tKi is which you affume* or what privilege a year or two can give vou tW „rf this Sovereignty over me. ° y ' u uie Lau Do you rebel, young Gentlewoman?; I'll make you know I have a r?n„ We Right over you : One, as I have more Years* and the other, as I have more lio Though I am not all Air and Fire, as you are, yet that little Wit I have will ferve to conduct m y Affairs without a Governefs. ' n a v e> Lau. No, Gentlewoman, but it fhall not: Are you fit at Flfr^n t^h** tx J ra T^^v^ryour to erLa ^ssss That, if tis not Luted ixith Care, The Spirit will vaorkjhrough the Bottle^ And vttnifl) away into Air. To keep it, there nothing fo hard is, 'Twill go betwixt Waking and Sleeping, The Simple too weak\ for a Guard is, And no Wit would be plagu'd with the kfepino. *Siffift &2EB, fJMT is"haTC y? s ^ ** ecution. ' , as t o u r t e e n» and now a m ready for another ex ry on your Bufinefs with Decent ',„? wher""11 V5" have Cunning to car- . Part ofW.ty in o S & T X e Wfc"2 L ^ S ' l &>»«* & » «Sto Love in a Nunnery. 52* the zeal of a preffing Hand? the fweetnefs of little Quarrels, caus'd and cur'd by the excels of Love? and, in fhort, the pleafing difquiets ofthe Soul always reftlefs, and wandring up and down in a Paradife of Thought, of its 'o making ? Vio. If I underftood not thus much before, I find you are an excellent In-ftrucior, and that argues you have had a feeling of the Caufe in your time too Sifter. Lau. W h a t have*I confefs'd before I was aware ! She'll find out m y inclination to that Stranger, w h o m I have only feen, and to w h o m I have never f p o k e n - I Afide.'] No, good Violetta, I never: was in Love* all m y Experience is from Plays and Romances: But w h o is this Man, to w h o m you have promis'd an Affignation? Vio. You'll tell m y Uncle. Lau. I hate m y Uncle more than you do. Vio. You know the Man* 'tis Signior Camillo: His Birth and Fortunes equal to what I can expeft* and he tells m e his Intentions are Honourable. Lau. Have I not feen him lately in his Balcony, which looks into our Garden, with another handfome Gentleman in his company,who feems a {franker > Vio. They are the fame. D o you think it a reafonable thing, dear Lanra^thsit m y Uncle fhould keep us up fo ftriftly, that we muft be beholden to here-fay to know a young Gallant is in the next Houfe to us ? Lau. 'Tis hard indeed, to be mew'd like Hawks, and never Mann'd • to be lock'd in like Nuns here. Vio. They that look for Nuns flefh in me fhall be miftaken. Lau. Well, W h a t anfwer have you return'd to this Letter ? Vio. That I would meet him at Eight this Evening, in the clofe W a l k in tbe Garden, attended only by Beatrix m y W o m a n. Lau. W h o comes with him? Vio. Only his Friend's M a n Benito * the fame w h o brought m c the Letter which you took from me. Lau. Stay, let m e think a little. D o Camillo, or this Benito, know your Maid Beatrix ? Vio. They have never talk'd with her * but only feen her. Lau. 'Tis concluded then* you fhall meet your Servant, but I'll be yobr Beatrix : I'll go inftead of her, and counterfeit your Waiting-woman * in the dark I may eafily pafs for her: By this means I fhall be prefent to inftruct'you * for you are yet a Callow Maid : I muft teach you to Peck a little, you may come to Prey for your felf in time. Vio. A little Teaching will ferve m y turn : If the Old one left m e to m y felf. I could go near to get m y Living Lau. I find you are eager, and Baiting to be gone already, and I'll not hinder you when your Hour approaches. In the mean time go in, and figh, and think fondly, and ignorantly, of your approaching Pleafures. Love, in young Hearts, is like the Muft of W i n e* 'Tis fweeter then * but elder 'tis more fine. [_ Exeunt, Fred. ACT II. SCEN I. The Front of a Nunnery. Prince Frederick, Aurelian, Camillo, and Afcanio the Princes Page, M Y Father's Ancient, and may Repofe himfelf, if he pleafes, after the Ceremony of his Entrance * but we, w h o are Younger, fhould think it a Sin, to fpend any part of Day-light in a Chamber. What are your W a ys of Living here ? Cam. W h y , Sir, we pafs our Time, cither in Converfation alone, or in Love alone, or in Love and Converfition together. Fred. Come, explain, explain, m y Counfel learned in the Laws of Living. Cam. For Converfation alone * that's either in going to Court, with a Face of Bufinefs, and there difcourling of the Affiirs of Europe, of which Rome, you know, is the Publick Mart* or, at beft, meeting the Vertuoft, and there, wearying one another with rehearfing our own Works, in Prcfc and Poetry. X x x Fred. |