thāks to his hostesse for his good cheere intertainment that he had receiued assuring hir that all the dayes of his life he wold imploy himself to recompense hir curtesie and withal dutie indeuor to acknowledge that fauor And hauing taken his leaue of the mother he went to the damosell to hir I say that had so sore wounded his heart who alredy was so depely grauē in his mind as the mark remained there for euer taking leaue of hir kissed hir hāds thinking verily to expresse that whervpō he imagined al the night his tong wits wer so tied rapt as the gētlewoman perfectly perceiued this alteratiō wherat she was no whit discōtented and therfore all blushyng saide vnto him I praye to God sir to ease and comfort your griefe as you leaue vs desirous and glad long to enioy your companie Truly Gentlewoman aunswered the Knight I thinke my selfe more than happie to heare that wysh procéede from such a one as you bée and specially for the desire whiche you say you haue of my presence which shall be euer redie to do that which it shall please you to 〈◊〉 The Gentlewoman bashful for that offer thāked him very hartily praying him with swete and smiling countenance not to forget the waye to come to visite them béeyng well assured that hir mother wold be very glad therof And for mine owne parte quod she I shall thinke my selfe happy to be partaker of the pleasure and great amitie that is betwene our two houses After greate reuerence leaue taken betwéene them Dom Diego retourned home where he tolde his mother of the good interteynement made him and of the great honestie of the Lady his hostesse wherfore Madame quod he to his mother I am desirous if it be your pleasure to let them know how much their bountiful hospitalitie hath tied me to them and what desire I haue to recompense the same I am therfore willing to bidde them hyther and to make thē so good chéere as with al their heart they made me whē I was with them The Ladie whiche was the assured friende of the mother of Gineura liked well the aduise of hir sonne and told him that they should be welcome for the aunciente amitie of long time betwéene them who was wont many times to visit one an other Dom Diego vpon his mothers words sent to intreat the Ladie and faire Gineura that it woulde please them to doe him the honour to come vnto his house To whiche request she so willingly yelded as he was desirous to bid them At the appointed day Dom Diego sought al meanes possible honourably to intertaine them In meates wherof there was no want in instrumentes of all sortes Mummeries Morescoes and a thousand other passetimes wherby he declared his good bryngyng vp the gentlenesse of his spirite and the desire that he had appeare such one as he was before hir which hadde alreadie the full possession of his libertie And bicause hée would not faile to accomplishe the perfection of his intent he inuited all the Gentlemen and Gentlewomen that were his neighbours I will not here describe the least part of the prouision for that feast nor the diuersitie of meates or the delicate kyndes of wines It shall suffise mée to tell that after dinner they daunced where the knight toke his mistresse by the hand so glad to sée hir selfe so aduaunced as he was content to be so néere hir that was the swéete torment and vnspeakable passion of his minde which he began to discouer vnto hir in this wyse Mistresse Gineura I haue bene always of this minde that Musike hath a certain secrete hidden vertue which well can not be expressed to reuiue the thoughts and cogitations of man bée they neuer so mornful and pensiue forcing them to vtter some outward reioyse I speake it by my self for that I liue in extreme anguish paine that al the ioy of the world séemeth vnto me displeasaunt care and disquietnesse and neuerthelesse my passion agréeing with the plaintife voyce of the instrument doth reioyse and conceiue comforte as well to perceyue insensible thinges 〈◊〉 to my desires as also to sée my selfe so néere vnto hir that hath the salue to ease my payne to discharge my disease and to depriue my minde from all griefs In like maner-reason it is that she hir selfe doe remedy my disease of whom I receiued the pricke and which is the first foundation of all mine euil I can not tell sayde the Gentlewoman what disease it is you speake of for I should be very vnkinde to giue him occasion of griefe that dothe make vs this greate chéere Ah Ladie mine sayd the Knight fetching a sighe from the bottome of his hearte the intertainement that I receyue by the continuall contemplation of 〈◊〉 beauties and the vnspeakeable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those two beames whyche twynckle in youre 〈◊〉 bée they that happily doe vere me and make me drinke thys cuppe of bitternesse wherein not wythstanding I fynde suche swéetenesse as all the heauenly drinke called Ambrosia fayned by the Poetes is but gall in respecte of that which I taste in mynde féelyng my deuotion so bente to doe you seruice as onely Death shall vntye the knotte wherewith voluntarilye I knytte my selfe to bée youre seruaunt for euer and yf it so please you youre faythfull and loyall friend and husbande The yonge Damoselle not woonted for to heare suche Songs did chaunge hir coloure at least thrée or foure tymes and neuerthelesse 〈◊〉 a little angre of that whych dydde contente hir moste and yet not so sharpe but that the Gentleman perceyued well enough that shée was touched at the quycke and also that hée was accepted into hir good grace and fauoure And therefore hée continued styll hys talke all that tyme after dynner and the mayden sayde vnto hym Syr I will nowe confesse that griefe may couer alteration of affections procéedyng from Loue. For although I hadde determined to dissemble that whiche I thynke yet there is a thyng in my mynde whyche I maye not name that gouerneth me so strongly and draweth me farre from my propre deuises and conceiptes in such wise as I am constrained to doe that which this second inspiration doeth leade mée vnto and dothe force my mynde to receyue an Impression that what will bée the ende thereof as yet I knowe not Not withstandyng reposyng me in youre vertue and honestie and acknowledgyng your merite I thinke my selfe happie to haue suche 〈◊〉 for friende that is so faire and comely a Knight and for suche I doe accepte you vntill you haue obtained of my Ladie my mother the seconde poynte whych accomplisheth that whyche is moste desired of them that for vertues sake do loue For but onely for that you shall be none otherwyse fauoured of me than hytherto you haue bene Till nowe haue I attended for this right happie daye of ioye and blisse sayde the 〈◊〉 in token whereof I doe kisse your white and delicate
those that be so fondly iealous as eche thing troubleth their minde and be afraide of the flies very shadowe that buzze about their faces For by paining molesting themselues with a thing that so little doeth please and content them vntill manifest and euident proofe appeare they display the folly of their minds imperfection and the weake stedfastnesse of their fantasy But where the fault is knowne the vice discouered where the husband séeth himselfe to receiue damage in the soundest part of his moueable goodes reason it is that he therein be aduised by timely deliberation and sage foresight rather than with headlōg fury raging rashnesse to hazard the losse of his honor and the ruin of his life and goodes And like as the faith and sidelitie of the vndefiled bed hath in all times worthily bene cōmended euen so he that polluteth it by infamie beareth the penaunce of the same Portia the daughter of Cato and wife of Brutus shall be praised for euer for the honest inuiolable loue which she bare vnto hir beloued husband almost like to lose hir life when she heard tell of his certaine death The pudicitie of Paulina the wife of Seneca appeared also when she assayed to die by the same kinde of death wherewith hir husband violently was tormented by the vniust commaundement of the most cruell and horrible Emperoure Nero. But whores and harlottes hauing honest husbandes and well allied in kinne and ligneage by abandoning their bodies doe prodigally consume their good renowme If they escape the Magistrates or auoide the wrath of offended husbandes for the wrong done vnto them yet they leaue an immortall slaunder of their wicked life and youth thereby may take example aswell to shun suche shamelesse women as to followe those Dames that be chaste and vertuous Now of this contempt which the wife beareth to hir husband doe rise very many times notorious slaunders and suche as are accompanyed with passing cruelties wherein the husband ought to moderate his heat and calme his choler and soberly to chastise the fault for so muche as excessiue wrath and anger doe Eclipse in man the light of reason and suche rages doe make them to be semblable vnto brute and reasonlesse beastes Méete it is to be angrie for things done cōtrary to right equitie but tēperance and modestie is necessary in all occurrentes be they with vs or against vs. But if to resist anger in those matters it be harde and difficulte it is also to be thought that the greater impossibilitie there is in the operation and effecte of any good thing the greater is the glory that banquisheth the affection and mastereth the first motion of the minde which is not so impossible to gouerne and subdue to reason as many doe estéeme A wise man then cannot so farre forget his duetie as to exceede the boundes and limites of reason and to suffer his minde to wander from the siege of Temperaunce which if he doe after he hath well mingled Water in his Wine hée may chaunce to finde cause of repentaunce and by desire to repaire his offense augment his fault sinne being so prompt and ready in man as the crime which might be couered with certain iustice and coloured by some lawe or righteous cause maketh him many times to fall into detestable 〈◊〉 and sinne so contrary to mildnesse and modesty as the very tyraunts themselues wold abhorre such wickednesse And to the end that I do not trouble you with allegation of infinite numbres of examples seruing to this purpose ne render occasion of tediousnesse for you to reuolue so many bokes I am cōtented for this present to bring in place an History so ouer cruell as the cause was reasonable if duety in the one had bene cōsidered and rage in the other bridled and forseene who madly murdred and offended those that were nothing guiltie of the facte which touched him so neare And although that these be matters of loue yet the reader ought not to be grieued nor take in euill part that we haue still that argument in hand For we doe not hereby go about to erect a scholehouse of loue or to teache youth the wanton toyes of the same but rather bring for the these examples to withdraw that pliant and tēder age of this our time from the pursute of like follies which may were they not in this sort warned ingender like effects that these our Histories doe recompt and wherof you shall be partakers by reading the discourse that followeth Ye must then vnderstand that in the time that Braccio Montane and Sforza Attendulo flourished in Italie and were the chiefest of that Italian men of warre there were thrée Lordes and brethren which helde vnder their authoritie and puissance Fcligno Nocera and Treuio parcell of the Dukedome of Spoleto who gouerned so louingly their landes togither as without diuision they mainteined themselues in their estate liued in brotherly concorde The name of the eldest of these thrée Lordes was Nicholas the second Caesar and the yongest Conrade gētle personages wise and welbeloued so wel of the Noble men their neighbors as also of the Citezens that were vnder their obeysaunce who in the end shewed greater loyaltie towards them than those that had sworne their faith and had giuen pledges for confirmation thereof as ye shall perceiue by reading that which foloweth It chaūced that the eldest oftentimes repairing from Foligno to Nocera and lodging still in the Castell behelde with a little too much wanton eye the wife of his lieuetenaunt which was placed there with a good number of dead payes to guard the forte kepe vnder the Citizens if by chaunce as it happeneth vpon the newe erection of estates they attempted some newe enterprise against their soueraigne Lords Now this Gentlewoman was faire and of better grace singularly delighting to be loked vpon which occasioned the Lord Nicholas by perceiuing the wantonnesse and good will of the mistresse of the Castell not to refuse so good occasion determining to prosecute the enioying of hir that was the bird after which he hunted whose beautie and good grace had déepely woūded his mind wherin if he forgotte his duetie I leaue for all men of good iudgement to consider For me thinke that this yong Lord ought rather singularly to loue and cherishe his Lieuetenaunt that faithfully and trustily had kept his Castell and Forte than to prepare against him so traiterous an attempt and ambushe And if so be his sayde Lieuetenaunt had bene accused of felony misprision or Treason yet to speake the trouth he might haue deliuered the charge of his Castel vnto an other rather thā to suborne his wife to follie And ought likewise to haue considered that the Lieuetenaunt by putting his trust in him had iust cause to complaine for rauishing his honoure from him in the person of his wife whome be ought to haue loued without any affection to infrindge the holy lawe of amitie the breaking
before Tel me I beséech you what rewarde and gift what honour and preferment haue I euer bestowed vpon you sithens my first arriuall to this victorious raigne that euer you by due desert did binde me therunto Which if you did then liberall I can not bée termed but a slauishe Prince bounde to do the same by subiects merite High mightie Kings doe rewarde and aduaunce their men hauing respect that their gift or benefite shal excede desert otherwise that preferment can not bée termed liberall The great conquerour Alexander Magnus wanne a great and notable Citie for wealth and spoile For the principalitie and gouernment wherof diuers of his noble men made sute alleaging their painefull seruice and bloudie woundes about the getting of the same But what did that worthie King was he moued with the bloudshead of his Captaines was he stirred with the valiance of his men of warre was he prouoked with their earnest sutes No truely But calling vnto him a poore man whome by chaunce he founde there to him he gaue that riche and wealthie Citie and the gouernement thereof that his magnificence and liberalitie to a person so poore and base might receiue greater fame estimation And to declare that the cōferred benefit did not procede of 〈◊〉 or duetie but of mere liberalitie very curtesie true munificence and noble disposition deriued from princely heart and kingly nature Howbeit I speake not this that a faithfull seruant shoulde be vnrewarded a thyng very requisite but to inferre and proue that rewarde should excell the merite and seruice of the receiuer Now then I say that you going about by large desert and manifold curtesie to binde me to recompence the same you séeke next way to cut of the meane whereby I shoulde be liberall Doe you not sée that through your vnaduised 〈◊〉 I am preuented and letted from mine 〈◊〉 liberalitie wherwith dayly I was wont to reward my kinde louing and loyall seruants to whome if they deserued one talent of gold my maner was to giue them two or thrée If a thousande crownes by the yeare to giue them fiue Do you not know that when they looked for least rewarde or preferment the sooner did I honour and aduaunce them Take héede then from henceforth Ariobarzanes that you liue with suche prouidence and circumspection as you may be knowen to be a seruaunt and I reputed as I am for your soueraigne Lorde and maister All Princes in mine opinion require 〈◊〉 things of their seruants that is to say Fidelitie Loue which being had they care for no more Therfore he that list to contend with me in curtesie shall finde in the end that I make small accompt of 〈◊〉 And he that is my trustie and faithfull seruaunt diligent to execute and doe my commaundements faithfull in my secrete affaires and duetifull in his vocation shall trulie witte and most certainly féele that I am both curteous and liberall Which thou thy selfe shall well perceiue and be forced to confesse that I am the same man in déede for curtesie and liberalitie whom thou indeuorest to surmount Then the king held his peace and Ariobarzanes very reuerently and stoutly made answer in this maner Most Noble and victorious Prince Wel vnderstanding the conceiued griefe of your inuincible minde pleaseth your sacred maiestie to giue me leaue to answer for my selfe not to aggrauate or heape your wrath and displeasure which the Gods forbid but to disclose my humble excuse before your maiestie that the same poized with that equall balance of your rightful mind my former attemptes may neither seme presumptuous ne yet my wel meaning minde well measured with iustice ouerbold or malapert Most humbly then prostrate vpon my knées I say that I neuer went about or else did thinke in minde to excéede or compare with your infinite and incomprehensible bountie but indeuored by all possible meanes to let your grace perceiue and the whole worlde to know that there is nothing in the worlde which I regarde so much or estéeme so deare as your good grace and fauour And mightie Ioua graunte that I doe neuer fall into so great errour to presume for to contende with the greatnesse of your mind which fond desire if my beastly minde should apprehend I might be likened to the man that goeth about to berieue and take away the clerenesse of the Sun or brightnesse of the splendant starres But euer I did thinke it to be my bounden duetie not onely of those fortunes goods which by your princely meanes I do inioy to be a distributer and large giuer but also bounde for the profite and aduauncement of your regal crowne and dignitie and defence of your most noble person of mine owne life and bloude to be both liberall and prodigall And where your maiestie thinketh that I haue laboured to compare in curteous déede or other liberall behauior no déede that euer I did or fact was euer enterprised by me for other respect but for to get continue your more ample fauour and dayly to increase your loue for that it is the seruants part with all his force and might to aspire the grace and fauor of his soueraine lord Howbeit most noble Prince before this time I did neuer beleue nor heard your grace cōfesse that magnanimitie gentlenesse and curtesie wer vertues worthie of blame correction as your maiestie hath very 〈◊〉 done me to vnderstād by words seuere taunting checks vnworthy for practise of such rare and noble vertues But how so euer it be whether life or death shall depende vpon this praiseworthie honorable purpose I mean hereafter to pelde my dutie to my souerain lord then it may please him to terme my déedes courteous or liberall or to think of my behauior what his own princely mind shall déeme iudge The King vpon those words rose vp said Ariobarzanes nowe it is no time to continue in further disputation of this argumēt cōmitting the determination and iudgement hereof to the graue deliberation of my Councell who at conuenient leisure aduisedly shall according to the Persian lawes and customes conclude the same And for this present time I say vnto thée that I I am disposed to accompte the accusation made against thée to be true and confessed by thy selfe In the means time thou shalte repaire into thy countrey and come no more to the Court till I commaunde thée Ariobarzanes receiuing this answere of his soueraigne Lorde departed and to his greate contentation went home into his countrey merie for that he shoulde be absent out of the dayly sight of his ennimies yet not well pleased for that the King had remitted his cause to his Councell Neuerthelesse minded to abide and suffer all fortune he gaue him selfe to the pastime of hunting of Déere running of the wilde Boare and flying of the Hauke This noble Gentleman had 〈◊〉 only daughters of his wife that was deceassed the most beautifull Gentlewomen of the countrey the eldest of which
to like effect as she did before therby to draw him frō his cōceiued purpose whervnto the wise King hauing made replie continuing his intended mynde at length in ragyng wordes and stormed mind he sayd vnto Euphimia How much the swéeter is the wine the sharper is the egred sawe thereof I speake this Parable for that thou not knowyng or greatly regarding the gentle disposition of thy fathers nature in the ende mayst so abuse the same as where hitherto he hath bene curteous and benigne he may become through thy disordered déedes ryghte sowre and sharpe and without vtterance of further talke departed Who resting euil content with that fond fixed loue thought that the next way to remedie the same was to tel Acharisto how 〈◊〉 he toke his presumed fault and in what heinous part he conceiued his ingratitude and how for the benefites which liberally hée had bestowed vpon him he had brought and enticed his daughter to loue him that was farre vnagreable hir estate And therfore he called hym before him and with reasons first declared the duetie of a faithfull seruant to his souerain Lord and afterwards he sayd That if the receyued benefits were not able to lette him know what were conuenient and séemely for his degrée but would perseuere in that which he had begonne he would make him féele the iust displeasure of a displeased Prince whereby hée shoulde repent the tyme that euer hée was borne of womans wombe These wordes of the King semed grieuous to Acharisto not to moue him to further anger hée séemed as though that being fearfull of the kinges displeasure hée did not loue his daughter at all but sayd vnto hym that hée deserued not to bée so rebuked for that it lay not in his power to withstande hir loue the same proceding of hir owne good will and libertie And that hée for his part neuer required loue if she did bend hir mynde to loue him 〈◊〉 could not remedie that affection for that the fréewill of such vnbridled appetite rested not in him to reforme Notwithstāding bycause hée vnderstoode his vnwilling mynd 〈◊〉 from that time forth would so indeuor himselfe as hée shoulde well 〈◊〉 that the vnstayde mynde of the yong gentlewoman Euphimia was not incensed by him but voluntarily conceyued of hir selfe You shall doe well sayde the King if the effect procede according to the promise And the more acceptable shall the same bée vnto me for that I desire it shold so come to passe The king liked wel these words although that Acharisto had conceiued within 〈◊〉 plat of his intended minde some other treason For albeit that hée affirmed before the kings owne face that hée would not loue his daughter yet knowing the assured will of the louing gentlewoman hée practised the mariage and like an vnkind wretched man deuised cōuenient tyme to kill him And fully bent to execute that cruell enterprise hée attempted to corrupt the chiefest men about him promising promocions vnto some to some hée assured restitucion of reuenewe which by fathers fault they had lost béefore and to other golden hilles so that hée might attaine by slaughter of the King to 〈◊〉 a kingly state and kingdome Which the sooner he persuaded himselfe to acquire if in secrete silence they coulde put vp that which by generall voice they hadde agréed And although they thought themselues in good assurāce that their enterprise coulde take no yll successe by reason of their sounde and good discourse debated amonges them selues for the accomplishement thereof yet it fortuned that one of the conspiracie as commonly in suche lyke traiterous attemptes it chaunceth béeyng with his beloued ladie and she making mone that little commoditie succéeded of hir loue for hir aduauncement brake out into these woordes Holde thy peace sayde hée for the time will not bée long before thou shalt bée one of the chiefest Ladies of this lande Howe can that be sayde his woman No more adoe quod the Gentleman Cease from further questions and bée merrie for wée shall enioye together a verie honourable and a quiete lyfe When hir Louer was departed the gentlewoman went to an other of hir gossips very iocunde and tolde hir what hir louer had sayd and she then not able to kepe counsell went and told an other In such wise as in the ende it came to the cares of the Kings stewards wife and she imparted the same vnto hir husband who marking those words like a mā of great wisedome experience did verily beléeue that the same touched the daunger of the Kings person And as a faithfull seruant to his lorde and maister diligently harkned to the muttering talke murmured in the court by him which had tolde the same to his beloued ladie knowing that it proceded from Acharisto which was an 〈◊〉 and sedicious varlet and that he with thrée or foure other his familiars kept secrete companie in corners iudged that which he first coniectured to be most certaine and true Wherefore determined to moue the King therof and vpon a day finding him alone he sayde vnto him that the fidelittie and good will wherwith hée serued him and the desire which he had to sée him liue in long and prosperous estate made him to attende to the safegarde of his person to hearken vnto such as shold attempt to daūger the same For which cause marking and espying the doings of certain of his chamber whose common assemblies and priuie whisperings mislyking he feared least they conspiring with Acharisto shoulde worke treason for berieuyng of his life and to the intent their endeuors might be preuented and his safetie foreséene he thought good to reueale the same to his maiestie Then he tolde the King the words that were spoken by the first Gentlewomā to one or two of hir companions and disclosed the presumptions which hée 〈◊〉 séene and perceyued touching the same Amongs the yll conditions of men there is nothing more common than poyson conspiracies and treason of Princes and great lordes and therefore euery little suspicion presumyng such 〈◊〉 is a great demonstration of like mischiefe Which made the Kyng to giue credite to the wordes of his Steward hauing for his long experience knowen him to be faithfull and trustie And sodainly he thought that Acharisto attempted the same that after his death by mariage of Euphimia he might be the inheritour of his kingdome The beliefe wherof and the singular credite which he reposed in his Steward besides other thinges caused him to cōmaunde the captaine of his Guard to apprehend those iiii of whom his Steward told him and Acharisto cōmitting them to seuerall prisons Then be sent his officers to examine them and founde vpon their confessions the accusation of his Stewarde to be true But Acharisto although the whole 〈◊〉 of the treason was confessed by those foure conspirators that were apprehēded and aduouched to his face and for all the tormentes wherewith he was racked and cruciated yet still denied that either he
be very straunge that such 〈◊〉 guard shold be obserued of those which ought to liue at libertie and doe not consider how libertie and licentious bridle let slip vnto youth brede vnto the same most strong and tedious bondage that better it had bene the same to haue bene chained and closed in some obscure prison than marked with those blottes of infamie which willingly such licence and libertie doe conduce If England doe not by experience sée maidens of Noble houses infamed through too much vnbrideled and frank maner of life and their parents desolate for such villanie and the name of their houses fabulous and ridiculous to the people yet that manner of espiall and watch ouer children may be noted in nations not very farre cōfining from vs where men be iealous of the very fantasie of thē whome they thinke to be of good grace and who dare with one very loke giue atteint vnto their Daughters But where examples be euident where follie is more than manifest where all the world is assured of that which they sée by daily experience and that the frutes of the disordered breake out into light it behoueth no more to attend the daungerous customes of a Countrey and to condescend to the sottishe opinion of them which say that youth too narrowly looked vnto is trained vp in such grosenesse and blockishnesse of minde as impossible it is afterwards the same should do any thing praise worthy The Romane maidēs 〈◊〉 were cloistered within their fathers Palaces stil at their mothers elbowes notwithstanding were so wel brought vp that those of best ciuility finest trained vp in our age shal not be the second to one of the least perfect in that Citie But who can learne ciuilitie vertue in these our daies our daughters nousled in cōpanies whose mouths run ouer with whorish filthy talk with 〈◊〉 full of ribauldrie many times 〈◊〉 with facts lesse honest thā word is able to expresse I do not pretend héereby to depriue that sexe of honest and seemely talk and companie and lesse of exercise amongs the Noble Gentlemen of our English soile ne yet of the libertie receiued from our auncestors only me thinke that requisite it were to contemplate the maners and inclination of wils and refrain those that be prone to wantonnesse by like meanes to reioyce the mindes of them that be bent to heauinesse diuided from curtesie and ciuility by attending of which choise and considering of that difference impossible it is but vertue must shine more bright in Noble houses than homelinesse in cabanes of pesants and coūtrey carles who oftentimes better obserue the Discipline of our predecessors in education of their children than they which presume to praise thēselues for good skill in vse and gouernmēt of that age more troublesome painfull to rule than any other time of mannes life Therfore the good and wise Emperor Marcus Aurelius would not haue his daughters to be brought vp in Courts For quod he what profite shall the nurse receiue by learning hir maiden honesty and vertue whē our works intice them to dalliance and to learne the follie of those that be amorous I make this discourse not that I am so 〈◊〉 a iudge for our maydens of England that I wishe them so reformed as to sée and be séene should be forbidden being assured that vertue in what place so euer she be cannot but open things that shall sauor of the tast therof But to talke of an Italian dame who so long as hir first husband knowing hir inclination kept hir subiect she liued in reputation of a modest and sober wife Nothing is séene in hir that can defame hir 〈◊〉 And so soone as the shadow of that frée captiuitie was passed by the deathe of hir husband God knoweth what pageant she played and how she soyled both hir owne renoume and the honor of hir second husband as ye shal vnderstand if with pacience ye vouchsafe to reade the discourse of this present Historie Cafall as it is not vnknown is a Citie of Piedmont and subiecte to the Marquize of Montferrato where dwelled one that was very rich although of base birth named Giachomo Scappardone who being growne to be rich more by wicked Art and vsury to much manifest than by other his owne diligence tooke to wife a yong Greke maiden which the Marchionesse of Montferrato mother of Marquize Guglielmo had broughte home with hir from that voyage that she made into Grecia with hir husband when the Turkes ouerran that countrey of Macedonia and seased vpon the Citie of Modena which is in Morea Of that maiden Scappardone had a daughter indifferent faire but in behauior liuely and pleasant who by name was called Bianca Maria. The father died within a while after hir birth as one that was of good yeres and had bene greatly turmoiled in getting of riches whose value amoūted aboue one hundred thousand Crownes Bianca Maria arriued to the age of xvj or 〈◊〉 yeres was required of many aswell for hir beautie gentlenesse good grace as for hir great riches In the ende she was maried to the vicecount Hermes the sonne of one of the chiefest houses in Millan who incontinently after the mariage conueyed hir home to his house leauing his 〈◊〉 mother to gouerne the vsuries 〈◊〉 by hir dead husbād The Gentleman which amōgs two gréene knew one that was ripe hauing for a certain time wel vsed and learned the maners of his wife saw that it behoued him rather to deale with the bit and bridle than the spur séeing hir to be wanton full of desire and coueted nothing so much as fonde and disordered libertie therfore without cruell dealing disquiet or trouble he used by little and little to keepe hir in and cherished hir more than his nature willingly wold suffer of purpose to holde hir within the bounds of duetie And although the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 haue almost like liberties that ours haue yet the Lord Hermes kept hir within dores and suffred hir to frequent none other house and company but the Ladie Hippolita Sforcia who vpon a day demaunded of him wherfore he kept in his wife so short persuaded him to giue hir somewhat more the bridle bicause diuers already murmured of this order as too straite froward estéeming hint either to be too much fond ouer hir or else to iealous Madame said the Millanoise they which at pleasure so speake of me know not yet the nature of my wife who I had rather shold be somewhat restrained than run at rouers to hir dishonour and my shame I remember well madame the proper saying of Paulus Emilius that Notable Romane Who being demaunded wherfore hee refused his wife being a Gentlewoman so faire beautiful O quod he lifted vp his leg whereupon was a new paire of buskins ye sée this fair buskin méete and séemely for this leg to outwarde apparance not grieuous or noisome but in what place it hurteth me or
shall faile in performance of your commaundement for were it the strongest poyson or moste 〈◊〉 venome rather would I thrust it into my body than to consent to fall in the hands of him whome I vtterly 〈◊〉 with a right strong reason then may I for 〈◊〉 my self and offer my body to any kinde of mortal danger to approche and draw neare to him vpon whome wholly dependeth my life al the contentation I haue in this world Go your wayes then my daughter quod the Frier the mighty hand of God keepe you and his surpassing power defend you and confirme that will and good mind of yours for the accomplishment of this worke Iulietta departed from Frier Laurence and returned home to hir fathers palace about xi of the clock where she founde hir mother at the gate attending for hir and in good deuotion demaūded if she continued stil in hir former follies But Iulietta with more gladsome chéere than she was wont to vse not suffering hir mother to aske againe sayde vnto hir Madame I come from S. Frauncis Church where I haue taried longer peraduenture than my duetie requireth how be it not without frute and great rest to my afflicted conscience by reason of the godly persuasions of our ghostly father Frier Laurence vnto whome I haue made a large declaration of my life And chiefly haue communicated vnto him in confession that which hath past betwene my Lord my father and you vpon the mariage of Counte Paris and me But the good man hath reconciled me by his holy woords and commendable exhortations that where I had minde neuer to mary now I am well disposed to obey your pleasure and commaundement Wherefore 〈◊〉 I be séeche you to recouer the fauor good will of my father aske pardon in my behalfe and say vnto him if it please you that by obeying his Fatherly request I am ready to méete the Counte Paris at Villafranco and there in your presence to accept him for my Lord and husband in assurance wherof by your pacience I meane to repair into my closet to make choise of my most pretious iewels that I being richly adorned and decked may 〈◊〉 before him more agréeable to his minde and pleasure The good mother rapte with excéeding great ioy was not able to answer a word but rather made spéede to séeke out hir husband the Lord Antonio vnto whome she reported the good will of hir daughter and how by meanes of Frier Laurence hir minde was chaunged Wherof the good olde man maruellous ioyfull praised God in heart saying wife this is not that first good turne which we haue receiued of that holy man vnto whom euery Citizen of this Common wealth is dearly 〈◊〉 I wold to God that I had redemed xx of his yeres 〈◊〉 the third parte of my goods so grieuous is to me his extreme olde age The self same houre the Lord Antonio went to séeke the Counte Paris whome he thought to persuade to goe to Villafranco But the Counte tolde him againe that the charge would be to great and that better it were to reserue that cost to the mariage day for the better celebration of the same Notwithstāding if it were his pleasure he would himself goe visite Iulietta and so they went together The mother aduertised of his comming caused hir Daughter to make hir self ready and to spare no costly iewels for adorning of hir beautie against the Countes cōming which she bestowed so wel for garnishing of hir personage that before the Counte parted frō the house she had so stolne away his heart as he liued not frō that time forth but vpon meditation of hir beautie and slacked no time for acceleration 〈◊〉 that mariage day ceasing not to be importunate vpon father and mother for the ende and consummation thereof And thus with ioy inoughe passed forth this day and many others vntill the day before the mariage against which time the mother of Iulietta did so well prouide that there wanted nothing to set forth the magnificence and nobilitie of their house Villafranco wherof we haue made mention was a place of pleasure where the lorde Antonio was wont many times to recreate him self a mile or two from Veronna there the dynner was prepared for so muche as the ordinarie solemnitie of necessitie muste be done at Veronna Iulietta perceiuing hir time to approach dissembled the matter so well as shée coulde and when time forced hir to retire to hir chambre hir woman wold haue waited vpon hir and haue lyen in hir chambre as hir custome was But Iulietta sayde vnto hir Good and faithfull mother you know that to morow is my mariage day and for that I would spende the most parte of the night in prayer I pray you for this time to let me alone and to morow in the morning about 〈◊〉 of the clocke come to me againe to helpe me make me redie The good olde woman willing to folow hir mind suffred hir alone and doubted nothing of that whiche she did meane to do Iulietta being within hir chambre hauing an eawer ful of water standing vpon the table filled the viole which the Frier gaue hir and after she had made the mixture she set it by hir bed side went to bed And being layde new thoughts began to assaile hir with a conceipt of grieuous death which broughte hir into such case as she coulde not tell what to doe but playning incessantly sayd Am not I the most vnhappie and desperat creature that euer was borne o◠woman for me there is nothyng lefte in this wretched worlde but mishap miserie and mortall woe my distresse hath brought me to such extremitie as to saue mine honor and consciēce I am forced to deuoure the drinke wherof I know not the vertue but what know I sayd she whether the operation of this pouder will be to soone or to late or not correspondent to the due time and that my faulte being discouered I shall remayne a iesting stocke and fable to the people what know I moreouer if the serpents and other venomous and crauling wormes which commonly frequent the graues and pittes of the earth will hurt me thinkyng that I am dead But how shal I indure the stinche of so many carions and bones of myne auncestors which rest in the graue if by fortune I do awake before Rhomeo Frier Laurence doe come to help me And as she was thus plunged in the déepe contēplation of things she thought that she sawe a certaine vision or fansie of hir cousin Thibault in the very same sort as she sawe him wounded and imbrued with blood and musyng howe that she must be buried quicke amongs so many dead carcases and deadly naked bones hir tender and delicate body began to shake and tremble and hir yelowe lockes to stare for feare in suche wise as frighted with terrour a colde sweate beganne to pierce hir heart and bedew the rest of all hir membres in suche wise as she thought that
nourishment and me of mine 〈◊〉 The Gentlewoman whether she was weary of that 〈◊〉 or rather doubted that in the end hir chastitis should receiue some assault through the dismesured passiō which she saw to endure sayd vnto him with rigorous words You haue talked and written inough you haue 〈◊〉 well sollicited hir which is throughly resolued by former minde to kepe hir honor in that worthy reputacion of degrée wherin she maintaineth the same amongs the best I haue hitherto suffred you to abuse my pacience and haue vsed that familiaritie which they deserue not that goe aboute 〈◊〉 to assaile the chastitie of those women that paciently giue them 〈◊〉 for the opinion they haue conceiued of some shadowing vertue of such foolish suters I now doe sée that all your woords doe tend to beguile me and to depriue me of that you cannot giue me which shall be a warning for me henceforth more wisely to looke about my businesse and more warely to take hede of the charmes of suche as you be to the ende that I by bending mine open 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not both surprised and ouercome with your enchauntments I pray you then for conclusion and the last sentence of my will that I heare no more these woords neither from you nor yet from the Ambassadour that commeth from you For I neither will ne yet pretend to 〈◊〉 to you any other fauoure than that which I haue enlarged for your comfort but rather do protest that so long as you abide in this Countrey that I will neither goe forth in streate nor suffer any Gentleman to haue accesse into this place except he be my neare kinsman Thus for your importune sute I wil 〈◊〉 my self for 〈◊〉 vnto you in those requests which duety womanhode ought not to haue 〈◊〉 And if you do procéede in your folly I wil séeke redresse according to your desert which 〈◊〉 now I haue deferred thinking that time would haue put out the 〈◊〉 heat of your folly and wanton youth The infortunate Lord of Virle hearing this 〈◊〉 sentence remained long time without speach so astonned as if he had bene falne from the clouds In the end for all his despaire he sayd to Zilia 〈◊〉 countenaunce indifferent mery Sith it is so madame that you take from me all hope to be your perpetual seruaunt that without other comfort or contentation I must 〈◊〉 depart your presence neuer perchaunce hereafter to speake vnto you again yet be not so squeimish of your beautie and cruell towards your languishing louer as to deny him a kisse for a pledge of his last farewell I demaund nothing here in secrete but that 〈◊〉 you may performe opēly It is all that alone which I craue at your hands in recompēse of all the trauails paines afflictions suffred for your sake The malitious dame full of rancor and spitefull rage sayd vnto him I shall sée by and by sir if that loue which you 〈◊〉 to beare me be so vehement as you séeme to make Ah Madame sayd the vnaduised louer commaūd only and you shal sée with what deuotion I wil performe your wil were it that it should cost me the price of my proper life You shall haue quod she the kisse which you require of me if you will make promise and sweare by the sayth of a Gentleman to doe the thing which I shall commaund without fraud couin or other delay Madame sayd the ouer wilfull louer I take God to witnesse that of the thing which you shall commaund I will not leaue one iote 〈◊〉 but shall be executed to the vttermost of your request and will She hearing him sweare with so good affection sayd vnto him smiling Now then vpon your othe which I beleue and assured of your vertue and Noble nature I wil also perfourme and kepe my promise And saying so she embraced him kissed him very louingly The pore gentleman not knowing howe 〈◊〉 he had brought that dissauorable fauour and bitter swéetenesse helde hir a whyle betwéene his armes doublyng kisse vpon kysse with such pleasure as his soule thought to flie vp to the heauens with that impoisoned baulme which he sucked in the swéete and sugred breath of his cruel mistresse who vndoyng hir selfe out of hir louers armes sayde vnto hym Sith that I haue made the first disclosure bothe of the promise and the effect therof it behoueth that you perform that whiche resteth for the full accomplishment of the same Come on hardily saith he God knoweth how spedily you shal be obeyd I wil then quod she commaund you vpon your promised faith that frō this presēt time vntil that space of thrée yeres be expired you speake to no liuing person for any thing that shal happen vnto you nor yet expresse by tongue by sounde of worde or speach the thyng you want or desyre otherwise if you shall doe I will neuer trust liuing man for youre sake but will publishe your same to be villanous and your person periured and a promise breaker I leaue for you to thinke whether this vnhappie louer were amazed or not to heare such a straunge request and cōmaundement so vniust and therwithall the difficultie in the performance Notwithstanding he was so stout of heart and so religious an obseruer of his 〈◊〉 that at that very time he began to do the part which she had commaunded playing 〈◊〉 and vsing other signes that he would do his duetie accordynge to hir demaund Thus after his right humble reuerence vnto hir he went home wher fayning that he had lost his speach by means of a Catarre or reume which distilled from his braine he determined to forsake his countrey vntil the time of his penance was expired Wherfore settyng staye in his affaires and prouidyng for his traine he made hym redie to depart Notwithstanding he wrote a Letter vnto Zilia before hée toke hys iourney whych was towards the countrey of France that in olde tyme hathe beue the solace and refuge of the miserable as well for the pleasantnesse and temperature of the ayre the greate wealthe and the abundaunce of all thyngs as for the curtesie gentlenesse and familiaritie of the people whyche maye compare with any other Nation vppon the earth Nowe the Letter of Philiberto fell into the handes of Ladie Zilia by meanes of hys Page instructed for that purpose who aduertised hir of the departure of his mayster and of the despaire wherein hée was Whereof shée was somewhat sorye and offended but yet puttyng on hir aunciente seueritie tooke the Letters and breakyng the seale found that which foloweth THE very euill that causeth mine anoy The matter is that bredes to me my ioy Which doth my wofull heart full sore displease And yet my hap and hard yll lucke doth ease I hope one day when I am franke and free To make hir do the thing that pleaseth me Whereby gaine I shall some pleasaunt gladnesse To supply mine vndeserued sadnesse The like whereof no mortall Dame can
and Physitian dwelling at Cutiano a Citie of Boeme where plenty of siluer Mines and other mettals is The knight whose Castle was not farre from Cutiano had occasion to repaire vnto that Citie and according to his desire found out Pollacco which was a very olde mā and talking with him of diuers things perceiued him to be of great skill In end he entreated him that for so much as he had done pleasure to many for 〈◊〉 of their loue he wold also instruct him how he might be assured that his wife did kéepe hir self honest all the time of his absence and that by certaine signes he might haue sure knowledge whether she brake hir faith by sending his honesly into Cornwall Such vain trust this Knight reposed in the lying Science of Sorcery which although to many other is found deceitfull yet to him serued for sure euidence of his wiues sidelitie This Pollacco which was a very cunning enchaunter as you haue hard sayd vnto him Sir you demaund a very straūge matter such as where with neuer hitherto I haue bene acquainted ne yet searched the depthe of those hidden secretes a thing not commonly sued for ne yet practised by me For who is able to make assurance of a womans chastitie or tel by signes except he were at the déede doing that she hath done amisse Or who can gaine by proctors wryt to summon or sue a sprituall Court peremptorily to affirme by neuer so good euidence or testimony that a woman hath hazarded hir honesty except he sweare Rem to be in Re which the greatest 〈◊〉 that euer Padua bred neuer sawe by processe duely tried Shall I then warrant you the honesty of such 〈◊〉 cattell prone and ready to lust easy to be vanquished by the suites of earnest pursuers But blame worthy surely I am thus generally to speake for some I know although not many for whose pore honesties I dare aduenture mine owne And yet that number howe small so euer it be is worthy all due reuerence and honoure Notwithstanding bicause you séeme to be an honest Gentleman of that knowledge which I haue I will not be greatly 〈◊〉 A certaine secrete experiment in déede I haue wherwith perchaūce I may satisfie your demaunde And this is it I can by mine Arte in small time by certaine compositions frame a womans Image which you continually in a little boxe may carry about you and so ofte as you list beholde the same If the wife doe not breake hir mariage faith you shall still sée the same so faire and wel coloured as it was at the first making séeme as though it newly came from the painters shop but if perchaūce she meane to abuse hir honesty the same wil waxe pale and in déede committing that filthy facte sodainely the colour wil be black as arayed with cole or other 〈◊〉 the smel wherof wil not be very plesāt but at al times when she is attempted or pursued the colour wil be so yealow as gold This maruellous secrete deuise greatly pleased the Knight verely beleuing the same to be true specially much moued assured by the fame bruted abrode of his science wherof the Citizens of 〈◊〉 told very strange incredible things When the price was paid of this precious iewel he receiued the Image ioyfully returned home to his castle wher tarying certain dayes he determined to repair to that Court of the glorious king Mathie making his wife priuy to his intent Afterwards whē he had disposed his houshold matters in order he cōmitted that gouernment therof to his wife hauing prepared all necessaries for his voyage to the great sorow griefe of his beloued he departed arriued at Alba Regale where that time the King lay with Quéene Beatrix his wife of whom he was ioyfully receiued entertained He had not long continued in the Court but he had obtained won the fauor good will of all men The King which knew him full well very honorably placed him in his court by him accōplished diuers and many waighty affaires which very wisely and trustely he brought to passe according to the kings mind pleasure Afterwards he was made Colonel of a certaine nūber of footemen sent by the king against the Turks to defend a holde which the enimies of God begā to assaile vnder the conduct of Mustapha Basca which cōduct he so wel directed therin stoutly behaued himself as he chased al the Infidels out of those coastes winning therby that name of a most valiant soldier prudent captain Whereby he meruellously gained the fauor grace of the king who ouer and besides his daily intertainement gaue vnto him a Castle and the Reuenue in fée farme for euer Such rewards deserue all valiāt men which for the honor of their Prince countrey do willingly imploy their seruice worthy no dout of great regard cherishing vpō their home returne bicause they hate idlenesse to win glory deuising rather to spēd hole dayes in field than houres in Courte which this worthy Knight deserued who not able to sustaine his pore estate by politik wisdō prowesse of armes endeuored to serue his Lord and countrey wherin surely he made a very good choise Then he deuoutly serued and praised God for that he put into his minde such a Noble enterprise trusting daily to atchieue greater fame and glory but the greater was his ioy and contentation bicause the image of his wife inclosed within a boxe which still he caried about him in his pursie continued freshe of coloure without any alteration It was noysed in the Court that this valiant Knight Vlrico had in Boeme the fairest and goodliest Lady to his wife that liued either in Boeme or Hungarie It chaūced as a certaine company of yong Gentlemen in the Court were together amongs whome was this Knighte that a 〈◊〉 Earon sayd vnto him How is it possible syr 〈◊〉 being a yeare and a half since you departed out of Boeme that you haue no minde to returne to sée your wife who as the common fame reporteth is one of the goodliest women of all the Countrey truely it séemeth to me that you care not for hir which were great pitie if hir beautic be correspondent to hir fame Syr quod Vlrico what hir beautie is I referre vnto the worlde but how so euer you estéeme me to care of hir you shall vnderstande that I doe loue hir and will doe so during my life And the cause why I haue not visited hir of lōg time is no little proofe of the great assurance I haue of hir vertue and honest life The argument of hir vertue I proue for that she is contented that I shold serue my Lord and king and sufficient it is for me to giue hir intelligence of my state and welfare which many times by letters at opportunitie I faile not to doe the proofe of my Faith is euident by reason of my bounden duety to our soueraigne Lord of whome
the fault to conceiue no sinister suspicion of thy running away crauing thyne acquaintaunce and is contented to sacrifice him self vnto thyne anger to appease and mitigate thy rage Nowe to speake no more hereof but to procede in that which I began to say I offer vnto thée then bothe death and loue choose whether thou liste For I sweare againe by hym that séeth and heareth al things that if thou play the foole thou shalt féele and proue me to be the cruellest enimie that euer thou hadst and such a one as shall not feare to imbrue 〈◊〉 handes with the bloode of hir that is the deathe of the chiefest of all my friendes Gineura hearing that resolute answere 〈◊〉 hir selfe to be nothing afraide nor declared any token of feare but rather 〈◊〉 to haue encouraged Roderico in braue and mannish sort farre diuers from the simplicitie of a yong and tender maidē as a man wold say such a one as had neuer felt the assault es and troubles of aduerse fortune Wherfore frouncing hir browes and grinning hir téeth with closed 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 very bolde she made hym aunswere Ah thou knight which once gauest assault to cōmit a villanie treason thinkest thou now without remorse of conseience to cōtinue thy mischief I speake it to thée villain which 〈◊〉 shed the blood of an honester mā thā thou art fearest not nowe to make mée a companion of his death Which thing spare not hardily to 〈◊〉 to the intent that I liuing may not be such a one as thou falsly iudgest me to be for neuer man hitherto 〈◊〉 and neuer shall that he hathe hadde the spoyle of my virginitie from the frute whereof lyke an arrant thiefe thou hast depriued my loyall spouse Nowe doe what thou list for I am farre better content to suffer death be it as cruel as thou art mischeuous borne for the 〈◊〉 vexation of honest maidēs not withstanding I humbly beséech almightie God to gyue 〈◊〉 so muche pleasure contentation and ioy in thy loue 〈◊〉 thou hast done to me by hastening the death of my dere husbande O God if thou be a iust God suche a one as from whome wée thy poore creatures do beleue all 〈◊〉 to procéede thou I say which art the rampire and refuge of all iustice poure downe thy vengeance and plague vpon these pestiferous thieues and murderers which haue prepared a worldely plague vpon me thine innocent damsell Ah wicked Roderico thinke not that death can be so fearefull vnto mée but that wyth good heart I am able to accept the same trusting verily that one daye it shall be the cause of thy ruine and ouerthrowe of hym for whom thou takest all these pains Dom Roderico maruellously rapte in sense imagined the woman to be fully bent against hym who then had puissaunce as he thought ouer hir owne hearte and thynkyng that he sawe hir moued with like rage against hym as she was against Dom Diego stode still so perplered and voyde of righte minde that hée was constrained to sitte downe so feeble he felt him self for the onely remembrance of hir euill demeanor And whilest this was a doing the handemayde of Gineura and hir Page inforced to persuade their mystresse to haue compassion vpon the knight that hadde suffered so muche for hir sake and that she would consente to the honest requestes and good counsell of Roderico But she which was stubbornly bente in hir foolishe persuasions sayd vnto them What fooles are you so much be witched either with that fained teares of this disloyal knight which colorably thus doth torment himself or els ar ye inchāted with the venomous honie tirānical brauerie of the thief which murdered my husband and your master Ah vnhappie caytife maiden is it my chaunce to endure the 〈◊〉 of suche Fortune when I thoughte to liue at my beste case and thus cruelly to tomble into the handes of hym whome I hate so much as he fayneth loue vnto me And morcouer my vnluckie fate is not herewith content but redoubleth my sorrowe euen by those that be of my frayn who ought rather to incourage me to die than consente to so vureasonable requests Ah loue loue how euil be they recompenced which faithfully do homage vnto thée why should not I forget al 〈◊〉 neuer hereafter to haue mind on mā to proue beginning of a pleasure which tasted and 〈◊〉 bringeth more displeasure than euer ioy engendred 〈◊〉 Alas I neuer knewe what was the frute of that which so straungely did attache me and thou O 〈◊〉 and thieuishe Loue haste ordeined a banket 〈◊〉 with such bitter dishes as forced I am perforce to taste of their egre swéetes Auaunt swéete foly auant I doe henceforth for euer let thée 〈◊〉 to imbrace the death wherein I hope to finde my greatest reste for in thée I fynde noughte else but heapes of straynyng 〈◊〉 Auoyde from me all my myssehap 〈◊〉 from me ye furious ghostes and 〈◊〉 most vnkynde whose gaudes and toyes dame loue hath wrought to kéepe occupied my louing minde and suffer me to take ende in thée that I may lyue in an other life without thée being now charged with cup of grief which I shal 〈◊〉 in venomous drink soaked in the soppes of 〈◊〉 Sharpen thou thy selfe O death vnkinde prepare thy darte to strike the corpse of hir that she may voyd the quarels shot against hir by hir aduersarie Ah pore hart strip thy self from hope and qualifie thy desires Cease henceforth to wishe thy lyfe séeing and féeling the appointed fight of loue and life combattyng within my minde elsewhere to séeke my peace in an other world with him to ioy which for my sake was sacrificed to the treason of varlets hands who for the persite 〈◊〉 of his desires nought else didde séeke but to soile his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the purest bloode of my loyall friend And I this abundance of teares do sheade to saciate his felonous moode which shall be the iuste shortenyng of my doleful dayes When she had thus complained she began horribly to torment hir selfe and in furious guise that the cruellest of the companie were moued wyth compassion séeing hir thus strangely straught of wits 〈◊〉 they did not discontinue by duetie to sollicite hir to haue regarde to that whiche poore fayntyng Dom Diego dyd endure Who so sone as with fresh 〈◊〉 water hée was reuiued 〈◊〉 stil the heauinesse of his Ladie and hir incresed disdain and choler against him vanished in diuers soundings which moued Roderico frō studie 〈◊〉 wherin he was to ryse wherevnto that rage of Gineura had cast him down bicause forgetting all imaginarie affection of his Ladie and proposing his dutie before his eyes which eche Gentleman oweth to gentle damsels and women kind stil beholdyng with honourable respect the griefe of the martyred wyldernesse Knight sighyng yet by reason of former thought he sayde vnto Gincura Alas is it possible that in the heart of so yong and delicate a maiden there
where he had remained for a certaine time and passing before the house of his Ladie according to his custome heard the voice of women maidens which mourned for Montanine therwithal stayd the chiefest cause of his stay was for that he saw go forth out of the palace of his Angelica diuers women making mone lamentation wherfore he demaūded of that neighbors what noise that was whether any in those quarters were dead or no. To whom they declared at length all that which ye haue heard before Salimbene hearing this story went home to his house being secretly entred into his chāber begā to discourse with himself vpon that accident and 〈◊〉 a thousand things in his head in the ende thought that Charles shold not so be cast away wer he iustly or innocently condemned and for the only respect of his sister that she might not be left destitute of all the goodes and inheritance Thus discoursing diuers things at length he sayd I were a very simple person now to rest in dout sith Fortune is more curious of my felicitie than I could wish and séeketh the effecte of my desires when lest of all I thought vpon them For behold Montanine alone is left of al the mortal enimies of our house which to morow openly shall lose his head like a rebell seditious person vpon whose auncesters in him shall I bée reuenged and the quarell betwene our two families shall take ende hauing no more cause to feare renuing of discorde by any that can descend from him And who shall let me then from inioying hir whom I do loue hir 〈◊〉 being dead and his goodes confiscate to the segniorie and she without all maintenance and relief except the aide of hir onely beautie and curtesie What maintenance shall she haue if not by the loue of some honest Gentleman that for his pleasure may support hir and haue pitie vpon the losse of so excellent beautie Ah Salimbene what hast thou sayd Hast thou alreadie forgotten that a Gentleman for that only cause is estemed aboue all other whose glorious factes oughte to shine before the brightnesse of those that force themselues to folow vertue Art not thou a Gentleman borne and bredde in noble house ssued from the loines of gentle and noble parents Is it ignorant vnto thée that it pertaineth vnto a noble and gentle hearte to reuenge receiued iniuries himself without séeking aide of other or else to pardon them by vsing clemencie and princely curtesie burying all desire of vengeaunce vnder the tombe of eternall obliuion And what greater glorie can man acquire than by vanquishing himself and chastising his affections and rage to bynde him whiche neuer thought to receiue pleasure or benefite at his hand It is a thing which excedeth the cōmon order of nature and so it is mete and requisite that the most excellent do make the effects of their excellencie appeare and séeke means for the immortalitie of their remembrāce The great Dictator Caesar was more praised for pardoning his 〈◊〉 and for shewing him selfe curteous and easie to be spoken to than for subduing the braue and valiant Galles and Britons or vanquishing the mightie Pompee Dom Roderico Viuario the Spaniard although he might haue ben reuenged vpon Dom Pietro king of Aragon for his infidelitie bicause he went about to hinder his voyange against the Saracens at Grenado yet wold not punishe or raunsom him but taking him prisoner in the warres suffered him to go without any tribute or any exaction of him and his 〈◊〉 The more I folowe the example of mightie personages in things that be good the more notorious and wonderful shal I make my self in their rare and noble déedes And not willing to forget a wrong done vnto me whereof may I cōplain of Montanine what thing hath hée euer done against me or mine And albeit his predecessors were enimies to our familie they haue therfore borne the penance more hard than the sin deserued And truly I shold be afrayd that God wold suffer me to 〈◊〉 into some mishap if séeing one afflicted I shold reioyse in his affliction take by his decay an argument of ioy plesure No no Salimbene is not of minde that such fond imagination should bereue good will to make himselfe a friend to gaine by liberalitie curtesie hir which for hir only vertue deserueth a greater lord than I. Being asiured that there is no man except he were 〈◊〉 of al good nature humanitie specially bering the loue to Angelica that I do but he woulde be sory to see hir in such heauinesse and dispaire wold attempt to deliuer hir from such dolorous grief For if I loue hir as I do in dede must not I likewise loue al that which she earnest ly loueth as him that is now in daunger of death for a simple fine of a thousand Florens That my heart doe make appere what the loue is which maketh me tributarie and subiect to faire Angelica that eche man may know that furious loue hath vanquisht kings greate monarches it behoueth not me to be abashed if I which am a man subiect tapassiōs so wel as other do submit my self to the seruice of hir who I am assured is so vertuous as euē very necessitie cannot force hir to forget the house wherof she toke hir original Uaunt thy self then 〈◊〉 Angclica to haue forced a heart of it selfe impregnable giuen him a wound which the stoutest lads might sooner haue depriued of life than put him out of the way of his gentle kind And 〈◊〉 Montanine thinke that if thou wilte thy selfe thou wynnest to day so heartie a friende as onely death shall separate the vnion of vs twaine and of all our posteritie It is I nay it is I my selfe that shall excell thée in duetie poynting the way for the wysest to get honor and violently compell the moued myndes of those that be oure aduersaries desiring rather vainly to forgo mine own life than to giue ouer the vertuous conceipts whiche be alreadie grifted in my minde After this long discourse séeing that the tyme required diligence he tooke a thousande Ducates and went to the Treasurer of the fines deputed by the state whom he fonnd in his office and said vnto him I haue brought you sir the Thousand Ducates which Charles Montanine is bounde to pay for his deliuerance Tell them and giue hym an acquittance that presently he may come forth The Treasorer woulde haue giuen him the rest that excéeded the summe of a Thousand Florens but Salimbene refused the same and receiuing a letter for his discharge he sent one of his seruants therwithall to the chiefe Gailer who séeing that the summe of his condemnation was payd immediatly deliuered Montanine out of the prison where he was fast shutte and fettred with great and weighty giues Charles thinkyng that some Frier had ben come to confesse hym and that they had shewed hym 〈◊〉 mercy to do him to
whereof dissolueth the duetie of eche seruaunt towardes his soueraigne Lord and maister To be short this blinded louer yelding no resistance to loue and the foolish conceit which altereth the iudgementes of the wisest suffred his fansie to roue so farre vnto his appetites as on a day when the Lieuetenaunt was walked abrode into the Castell to viewe the Souldioures and deade payes to pleasure him that sought the meanes of his displeasure he spake to the Gentlewoman his wife in this manner Gentlewoman you being wise and curtuous as eche man knoweth needefull it is not to vse long or Rethorical Orations for so much as you without further supply of talke doe clearely perceiue by my lookes sighes and earnest viewes the loue that I bear you which without comparison nippeth my heart so neare as none can féele the parching paines that the same poore portion of me doeth suffer Wherefore hauing no great leisure to let you further vnderstand my minde it may please you to shewe me so much fauoure as I may be receiued for him who hauing the better right of your good grace may there withall enioy that secrete acquaintaunce which suche a one as I am deserueth of whome ye shall haue better experience if you please to accept him for your owne This mistresse Lieuetenaunt which compted hir selfe happie to be beloued of hir Lord and who tooke great pleasure in that aduenture albeit that she desired to lette him know the good will that she bare vnto him yet dissembled the matter a little by answearing him in this wise Your disease sir is sodaine if in fo little time you haue felt suche excesse of maladie but perchaunce it is your heart that being ouer tender hath lightly receiued the pricke which no doubt will so soone vanishe as it hath made so ready entrie I am very glad Sir that your heart is so merily disposed to daliaunce and can finde some matter to contriue the superfluitie of time the same altering the diuersitie of mannes complexion accordingly as the condition of the hourely planet guideth the nature of euery wight It is altogither otherwise answered hée for being 〈◊〉 hither as a 〈◊〉 and Lord I am become a seruaunt and slaue And briefly to speake my minde if you haue not pitie vpon me the disease which you call sodaine not onely will take increase but procure the death and finall ruine of my heart Ah sir sayde the Gentlewoman your griefe is not so déepely rooted and death so present to succéede as you affirme ne yet so ready to giue ouer the place as you protest but I sée what is the matter you desire to laugh me to scorn and your heart craueth something to solace it selfe which cannot be idle but must imploy the vacant time vpon some pleasant toyes You haue touched the prick answeared the Louer for it is you in déede whereupon my heart doeth ioy and you are the cause of my laughter and passetime for otherwise all my delights were displeasures and you also by denying me to be your seruaunt shall abbreuiate and shorten my liuing dayes who only reioyseth for choise of such a mistresse And how replied she can I be assured of that you say the disloyaltie and infidelitie of man being in these dayes so faste vnited and following one another as the shadowe doeth the bodie wheresoeuer it goeth Only experience sayd he shall make you know what I am and shal teach you whether my heart is any thing different from my woordes and I dare be bolde to say that if you vouchsafe to doe me the pleasure to 〈◊〉 me for your owne you may make your vaunt to haue a Gentleman so faithfull for your friend as I estéeme you to be discrete and as I desire to 〈◊〉 you 〈◊〉 the effect of mine affection by such some honest order as may be deuised Sir sayd she it is wel and 〈◊〉 spoken of you but yet I thinke it straunge for such a Gentleman as you be to debase your honor to so pore a Gentlewoman and to goe about bothe to dishonor me and to put my life in perill God forbid answered the Lord Nicholas that I be cause of any slaūder and rather had I die my selfe than minister one simple occasion wherby your fame should be brought in question Only I do pray you to haue pitie vpon me and by vsing your curtesie to satisfie that which my seruice faithful friendship dothe constraine and binde you for the comfort of him that loueth you better than himself We will talk more thereof hereafter answered the Lieuetenaunts wife and then will I tell you mine aduise and what resolution shall follow the summe of your demaunde How now Gentlewoman sayd he haue you the heart to leaue me voide of hope to make me languish for the prorogation of a thing so doubtfull as the delayes 〈◊〉 which loue deferreth I humbly pray you to tell me wherunto I shall trust to the intent that by punishing my heart for proofe of this enterprise I may 〈◊〉 also mine eyes by reuing frō them the meanes for euer more to sée that which contenteth me best and wherin 〈◊〉 my solace leauing my minde ful of desires and my heart without finall stay vpon that greatest pleasure that euer man 〈◊〉 choose The Gentlewoman would not loose a Noble man so good 〈◊〉 whose presence already pleased hir aboue all other things and who voluntarily had agréed to his request by the only signe of hir gests and lokes sayd vnto him smiling with a very good grace Doe not accuse my heart of lightnesse nor my minde of 〈◊〉 and treason if to please obey you I forget my duetie abuse the promise made vnto my husband for I swear vnto you sir by God that I haue more forced my thought of long time haue constrained mine appetites in dissembling the loue that I bear you thā I haue receiued pleasure by knowing my self to be beloued by one agreable to mine affection For which cause you shall finde me being but a pore Gentlewoman more ready to do your plesure and to be at your commaundemēt than any other that liueth be she of greater port and regard than I am And who to satisfie your request shall one day sacrifice that fidelitie to the iealous fury of hir husband God defend sayd the yong Lord for we shall be so discrete in our doings so 〈◊〉 shal communicate talke togither as impossible it is for any mā to 〈◊〉 the same But if missehap wil haue it so and that some ill lucke doe discouer our dealings I haue shift of wayes to colour the same power to stoppe the mouthes of them that dare presume to clatter and haue to doe with our priuate conference All that I know well inough sir sayd she but it is great simplicitie in such things for a man to trust to his authoritie the forced inhibition whereof shall prouoke more babble than rumor is able to spred for al his
foloweth The Captaine then hauing sente his message and being sure of his intent no lesse than if he already had the brethren within his hold vpon the point to couple them together with hys wife to sende them all in pilgrimage to visite the faithfull sorte that blason their loues in an other worlde with Dido Phyllis and suche like that more for dispaire than loue bée passed the straictes of death caused to be called before him in a secrete place all the souldiers of the Fort and such as with whome he was sure to preuaile to whom not without sheading forth some teares and she wyng heauie countenance he spake in this maner My Companions friends I doubt not but ye be abashed to sée me wrapt in so heauie plight and appeare in this forme before you that is to say bewept heuy panting with sighes and al contrary to my custome in other state and maner than my courage and degrée require But when ye shall vnderstande the cause I am assured that the case which séemeth strange to you shall be thought iust and right and so wil performe the thing wherein I shall employe you Ye knowe that the first point that a Gentleman ought to regarde consisteth not onely in repelling the 〈◊〉 done vnto the bodie but rather it behoueth that the fight begyn for the defense of his honor which is a thing that procedeth from the mind and resorteth to the bodie as the instrument to worke that which the spirite appointeth Now it is honour for conseruation whereof an honest man and one of good courage feareth not to put himself in al perill and daunger of death and losse of goodes referryng himselfe also to the guarde of that which toucheth as it were oure owne reputation In suche wyse as if a good Captaine doe suffer hys souldier to be a wicked man a robber a murderer and 〈◊〉 exacter he beareth the note of dishonor albeit in all his doings he gouerneth hys estate after the rule of honestie dothe nothing that is vnworthy his vocatiō But what he being a head vnited to such mēbres if the partes of that vnited thing be corrupt and naught the head must needes beare that blot of the faulte before referred to the whole bodie 〈◊〉 sayd he sighing what parte is more nere and dearer to man than that which is giuen vnto him for a pledge and comfort during his life and which is conioyned to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh to breath forth one minde and thinke with one heart and equall will It is of the Wife that I speake who being the moytie of hir husbande ye ought not to muse if I say that the honour of the one is the rest of the other and the one infamous and wicked the other féeleth the troubles of such mischief and the wife being carelesse of hir honor the husbands reputation is defiled and is not worthie of praise if he suffer such shame vnreuenged I must Companions good friends here discouer that which my heart would faine kepe secrete if it were possible and must reherse a thing vnto you which so sone as my mouth woulde faine kepe close the minde assayeth to force the ouerture And loth I am to do it were it not that I make so good accompt of you as ye being 〈◊〉 to me with an vnseparable amitie will yeld me your cōfort and aide against him that hath done me this villanie such as if I be not reuenged vpon him nedes must I be the executioner of that vengeance vpon my self that am loth to liue in this dishonor which all the days of my life without due vltion like a worme wil torment and gnaw my conscience Wherfore before I go any further I would knowe whether I might so well trust your aide and succour in this my businesse as in all others I am assured you wold not leaue me so long as any breath of life remained in you For without such assurance I do not purpose to let you know that pricking naile that pierceth my hearte nor the griefe that greueth me so nere as by vttering it without hope of help I shall open the gate to death and dye withont reliefe of my desire by punishyng him of whome I haue receyued an iniurie more bloodie than any man can doe The Souldiers whyche loued the Captaine as theyr owne lyfe were sorie to sée him in suche estate and greater was their dolour to heare woordes that tended to nothyng else but to furie vengeance and murder of himselfe Wherefore all with one accorde promised their healpe and maine force towardes and agaynst all men for the bringyng to passe of that which he dyd meane to require The Lieutenant assured of his men conceyued hearte and courage and continuing hys Oration and purpose determined the slaughter and ouerthrowe of the thrée Trinicien brethren for that was the surname of the Lordes of Foligno who pursued hys Oration in this manner Know ye then my companions and good frendes that it is my wife by whom I haue indured the hurt losse of mine honour and she is the partie touched and I am he that am moste offended And to the ende that I doe not holde you longer in suspence and the partie be concealed from you which hath done me this outrage Ye shal vnderstande that Nicholas Trinicio the elder of the thrée lordes of Foligno and Nocera is he that against al right and equitie hath suborned the wife of his Lieutenant and soiled the bed of him wherof he ought to haue ben the defēder the very bulwarke of his reputation It is of him my good frendes and of his that I meane to take suche vengeaunce as eternall memorie shall displaye the same to all posteritie and neuer lords shall dare to doe a like wrong to myne withoute remembrance what his duetie is which shall teache him how to abuse the honest seruice of a Gentleman that is one of hys owne traine It resteth in you bothe to holde vp your hande and kéepe your promise to the end that the Lorde Nicholas deceiuyng and mockyng me may not trust put affiance in your force vnto which I heartily do recommende my self The Souldiers moued and incited with the wickednesse of their Lord and with the wrong done to him of whome they receyued wages swore againe to serue his turne in any exploit he went about and required him to be assured that the Trinicien brethren shoulde be ouerthrowne and suffer deserued penance if they might lay hands vpon them and therfore willed him to séeke means to allure them thither that they might be dispatched The Lieutenāt at these words renuing a chéerefull countenaunce and she wing himselfe very ioyful for such successe after he had thanked his souldiers and very louingly imbraced the chiefest of them reuealed his deuised pollicie hoped shortly to haue them at his comaundement within the Fort alleaging that he had dispatched two messangers vnto them and
Captaine to surrender and to tell the cause of his reuolt and at whose prouocation he had committed so detestable a Treason The Captaine well assured and boldned in his wickednesse answered that he was not so well fortified to make a surrender so good cheape for so smal a price to forgoe his honor reputation and furthermore that his wit was not so slēder but he durst deuise and attempt such a matter without the councel of any other that all the déedes and deuises passed till that time were of his owne inuention And to be euen with the wrong done to his honor by the Lord Nicholas Trinicio for the violation of his wiues chastity he had cōmitted the murders told to Braccio being angry that all the tirānous race was not in his hand to spil to the end he might deliuer his countrey and put the Citizens in libertie albeit that fōdly they had refused the same as vn worthy of suche a benefite and well deserued that the tyrants should 〈◊〉 them at their pleasure and make them also their common slaues and drudges The trumpet warned him also to rēder to him the Duke bicause he was guiltlesse of the facte which the Captaine regarded so little as he did the first demaundes which was that cause the company being arriued at Nocera and the Constable vnderstanding the little accompt the Castell gentleman made of his summones that the battry the very day of their arriuall was layd and shotte against the place with suche thunder and dreadful thumpes of Canon shot as the hardiest of the mortpayes within began to faint But the corage litle feare of their chief retired their hearts into their bellies The breache being made againe the Constable who feared to lose the Duke in the Captaines furie caused the Trumpet to summone them within to fall to composition that bloudshed might not stirre their souldioures to further crueltie But so much gained this seconde warning as the first for which cause the next day after the assault was giuen wher if the assailed was valiaunt the resistance was no lesse than bolde and venturous But what can thirtie or fortie men doe against the force of a whole countrey and where the general was one of the most valiant and wisest Captains of his time and who was accompanied with the floure of the Neapolitane footmē The assault continued iiij or v. houres but in the ende the Dead payes not able to sustaine the force of the assailants forsooke the breache and assaying to saue them selues the Lieutenant retired to the Ripe of the Fort where his wife continued prisoner from the time that the two brethren were slaine Whiles they withoute ruffled in together in heapes amongs the defendaunts the Duke of Camerino with his men founde meanes to escape out of prison and ther with all began furiously to chastise the ministers of the disloyall Captain whiche in litle time were cut al to peices Conrade being within founde the Captains father vpon whom he was reuenged and killed him with his own handes And not content with that caried into further rage and furie he flashed him into gobbets and threwe them to the dogs Truly a strange maner of reuenge if the Captens crueltie had not attempted like inhumanitie To be short horrible it is to repeate the murders done in that stirre and hurly burly For they that were of the Captaines part and taken receiued all the straungest and cruellest punishment that man coulde deuise And were it not that I haue a desire in nothing to belie the author and lesse will to leaue that which he hath written vpon the miserable end of those that were the ministers and seruants to the barbarous tirannie of the Captaine I would passe no further but conceyle that which dothe not deserue remembrance except to auoide the example which is not straunge the crueltie of reuenging hearte in the nature of man in all times growyng to such audacitie as the torments which séeme incredible be liable to credite as well for those we reade in auncient histories as those we heare tel of by heare say and chauncing in our time He that had the vpper hande of his 〈◊〉 not content to kill but to eate with his ranenous téeth the hart disentrailde from his aduersarie was he lesse furious than Conrade by making an Anatomie of the bodie of the Captains father And he that 〈◊〉 Galleazze Fogase into the mouth of a Canon tying his head vnto his knées and causing him to be caried by the violent force of gunpouder into the citie from whence he came to bribe and corrupte certaine of his enimies army did he shew himself to be more curteous than one of these Leaue we a part those that be past to touche the miserable ende wherewith Conrade caused that last tribute of the Captains souldiers to be payd Now amongs these some wer tied to that tailes of wilde horses trained ouer hedges bushes downe the stiepnesse of high rocks some were haled in pieces afterwards burnt 〈◊〉 great martyrdom some wer diuided parted aliue in four quarters other sowed naked within an oxe hide so buried in earth vp to the chin by which torments they finished their liues with fearful groninges Wil ye say that the Bull of Perillus or Diomedes Horsses wer afflictions more cruel than these I know not what ye cal crueltie if these acts may beare the title of modestie But all this proceded of wrath disdaine of either parts The one disdained that the seruāt shold be his head the other was offended that his soueraigne lord should assay to take that from him which his dutie cōmaunded him to kepe Conrade toke in yll part the treson of the Captain who beyond measure was angrie that the lord Nicholas had made him a brother of Vulcans order had registred him in the boke of husbands which know that they dare not speake In sūme the one had right the other was not without some reason notwithstanding both surmounted the bounds of mans mild nature The one ought to contente himselfe as I haue said for being 〈◊〉 on him that had offended him the other of the murder done during the assault without shewing so bloody tokens of his crueltie so apparāt 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 vpon that ministers of that brutal bloody capten who seing his father put to death with such martyrdom his men so strangely tormented was vanquished with choler dispaire impaciēce And albeit that he had no gret desire to hurt his 〈◊〉 yet was he surmounted with suche rage as aprehēding hir binding hir hāds feet she stil crying him mercy crauing pardon for hir faultes at the hāds of god him he threw hir down frō the hiest Toure of the kipe vpō that 〈◊〉 of the castle court not without tears abashmēt of al which saw that mōstrous dredful sight which the souldiers viewing they fired the Toure with fire
I haue receiued so great and ample benefits and the warfare which I vse in his graces seruice in the frontiers of his Realme against the enimies of Christ whereunto I beare more good wil than I doe to wedlocke loue preferring duety to Prince before mariage albeit my wiues faythe and constācy is such as fréely I may spend my life without care of hir deuoir being assured that besides hir beauty she is wise vertuous and honest and loueth me aboue all worldly things tendring me so dearely as she doth the balles of hir owne eyes You haue stoutly sayd answered the Barone in defense of your wiues chastity whereof she can make vnto hir self no greate warrantise bicause a woman sometimes will be in minde not to be moued at the requests and gifts offred by the greatest Prince of the world who afterwards within a day vpon the only sight and view of some lusty yong man at one simple word vttered with a few tears and shorter sute yeldeth to his request And what is she then that can conceiue such assurance in hir self What is he that knoweth the secretes of hearts which be impenetrable Surely none as I suppose except God him selfe A woman of hir owne nature is moueable and plyant is the most ambitious creature of the world And by God no woman do I know but that she lusteth and desireth to be beloued required sued vn̄to honored cherished And oftentimes it commeth to passe that the most crafty dames which thinke with fained lookes to féede their diuers louers be the first that thrust their heades into the amorous nets and like little birdes in harde 〈◊〉 of weather be caught in louers 〈◊〉 wigges Wherby sir Vlrico I doe not sée that your wife aboue all other women compacte of flesh and bone hath such priuilege from God but that she may be soone entised and corrupted Well sir sayd the 〈◊〉 Knight I am persuaded of that which I haue spoken and verely doe beleue the effect of my beliefe moste true Euery man knoweth his owne affaires the foole knoweth better what he hath than his neighbors doe be they neuer so wise Beleue you what you think good for I meane not to digresse frō that which I conceiue And suffer me I pray you to beleue what I list sith belief cannot hurt me nor yet your discredite can hinder my belief being frée for eche man in semblable chaunces to think belieue what his minde lusteth and liketh There were many other Lords and Gentlemen of the court 〈◊〉 at that talke and as we commonly sée at such like metings 〈◊〉 man vttereth his minde wherupon many and sundry opinions were produced touching that question And bicause diuers mē be of diuers natures and many presume vpon the pregnancie of their wise heads there rose some stur about that talk eche mā obstinate in his alleaged reason more froward 〈◊〉 than reason did require the cōmunication grew so hot and talk brake forth so loud as the same was reported to the 〈◊〉 The good Lady sory to heare tel of such strife within hir Court abhorring naturally all cōtrouersie and contention sent for the parties required them from point to point to make recital of the beginning and circumstāce of their reasons and arguments And when she vnderstode the effect of al their talke she sayd that euery man at his owne pleasure might beleue what he list affirming it to be presumptuous and extreme follie to iudge all women to be of one disposition in like sort as it were a great error to say that al men be of one qualitie and condition the contrarie by daily experience manifestly appearing For both in mé and women there is so great difference and variety of natures as there be heads and wits And how it is cōmonly séene that two brothers and sisters born at one birth be yet of contrary natures and 〈◊〉 of manners and conditions so diuers as the thing which shall please the one is altogether displesant to the other Wherupon the 〈◊〉 concluded that the 〈◊〉 Knight had good reason to continue that good honest credit of his wife as hauing proued hir fidelitie of long time wherein she shewed hir self to be very wise discrete Now bicause as many times we sée the natures and appetites of diuers men to be insaciable and one man to be sometimes more foolish hardy than another euen so to say the 〈◊〉 were those two Hungarian Barons who seeming wise in their owne conceits one of them sayd to the 〈◊〉 in this maner Madame your grace doth wel maintaine the sere of womankinde bicause you be a woman For by nature it is giuē to that kinde stoutly to stand in 〈◊〉 of themselues bicause their imbecillitie and weakenesse otherwise would bewray them and although good reasons might be alleaged to open the causes of their 〈◊〉 and why they be not able to attaine the hault excellencie of man yet for this time I doe not meane to be tedious vnto your grace least the little heart of woman would rise and display that conceit which is wrapt within that little molde But to retourne to this chaste Lady throughe whome our talke began if we might craue licence of your maiesty and safe 〈◊〉 of this Gentleman to know hir dwelling place and haue 〈◊〉 to speake to hir we doubt not but to breake with our battering talke the Adamant walles of hir 〈◊〉 that is so famous and cary away that spoile which 〈◊〉 we shal 〈◊〉 I know not answered the 〈◊〉 Knight what ye can or will 〈◊〉 but sure I am that hitherto I am not 〈◊〉 Many things were spoken there and sundry opinions of 〈◊〉 partes alleaged In end the two Hungarian 〈◊〉 persuaded them selues and made their vaunts that they wer able to clime the skies and both wold attempt and also bring to passeny enterprise were it neuer so great affirming their former offer by oth and would gage all the landes and goods they had that within the space of v. months they would either of them obtaine the Gentlewomans good will to do what they list so that the Knight were 〈◊〉 neither to returne home ne yet to aduertise hir of that their determination The Quéene and all the standers by laughed heartily at this their offer mocking and iesting at their foolish and youthly conceites Which the Barons perceiuing sayd You thinke Madame that we speake triflingly and be not able to accomplish this our proposed enterprise but Madame may it please you to giue vs leaue we meane by earnest attempt to giue proofe therof And as they were thus in reasoning and debating the matter the king hearing tell of this large offer made by the Barons came into the place where the Quéene was at such time as she was about to dissuade them from their frātike deuise Before whō he being entred the chamber the two Barōs fel downe vpon their knées and humbly besought his grace that the compacte made
secrete conceipts which tormented beyond measure and burning with affection causeth somtimes the humor to gushe out in that parte that discouered the first assault and bredde the cause of that feuer which frighted the hearts of those two yong persons not knowing well what the same mighte be When they were come to the Castle and dismounted from their horsse many welcomes and gratulations were made to the knight which yelded more wood to the fire and liuely touched the yong Gentleman who was so outraged with loue as almost he had no minde of himself and rapt by litle and litle was so intoxicated with amorous passion as all other thoughts were lothsome and ioy displeasant in respect of the fauourable martirdome which he suffered by thinking of his faire and gentle Gineura Thus the knight which in the morning disposed him selfe to pursue the harte was in heart so attached as at euening he was become a seruant yea and such a slaue as that voluntarie seruitude wholy dispossessed him from hys former fréedome These be the frutes also of follie inuegling the eyes of men that launch themselues with eyes shut into the gulfe of despaire which in end doth cause the ruin and ouerthrow of him that yeldeth thervnto Loue procedeth neuer but of opinion so likewise the yll order of those that be afflicted with that passion riseth not elsewhere but by the fond persuasion which they conceiue to be blamed despised and deceiued of the thing beloued where if they measured that passion according to his valor they wold make no more accompt of that which doth torment them than they do of their health honor and life who for their seruice and labour delude them and recompense an other with that which the foolish louer shall employ that doth haste despair to hym and ende more than desperate by séeing an other come to enioy that for which he hath beate the bushes During the time that supper was preparing the Lady sent hir men to séeke the huntesmen of Dom Diego to giue them knowledge where he was become and therof to certifie his mother who when she hearde tell that he lay there was very glad beyng a righte good friende and very familiar neighbor with the Lady the hostesse of hir 〈◊〉 The Gentleman supping after he had tasted the feruent heate that broiled in his minde coulde eate litle meate rather satisfied with the féeding diete of his amorous eyes which without any maner of iealousie distributed their nourishment to the heart and 〈◊〉 very soberly priuily throwing his secrete prickes with louely and wanton looke to the heart of the faire Ladie which for hir part spared not to render vsurie of rollyng lookes wherof he was so sparing as almost he durst not lift vp his eyes for dazelyng of the same After supper the Knight bidding the mother and daughter good night went to bedde where in steede of sléepe he fell to sighing and imagening a thousande diuers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like numbre of follies such as they doe whose braines be fraught with loue Alas sayd he what meaneth it that always I haue liued in so great libertie and now doe féele my selfe attached with such bondage as I can not expresse whose effects neuerthelesse be fastned in me Haue I hunted to be takē Came I from my house in libertie to be shut vp in prison and do not know whether I shall be receiued or beyng receiued haue interteinement according to my desert Ah Gineura I would to God that thy beautie did prick mée no worsse than the trée whereof thou takest thy name is sharp in touching and bitter to them that 〈◊〉 the same Truely I estéeme my comming hither happy for all the passion that I indure sith the purchase of a griefe so luckie dothe qualifie the ioy that made me to wander thus ouer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fair amongs the fairest truly the fearful beast which with the bloody hareboundes was torne in pieces is not more martired than my hart deuided in opinions vpon thine affection And what do I know if thou louest an other more worthy to be fa uored of thée thā thy poore Dom Diego But it is impossible that any can approch the sinceritie the I féele in my hart determining rather to indure death thā to serue other but fair goldē Gineura therfore my loyaltie receiuing no cōparison cānot be matched in man sufficiēt for respect of the same to be called seruāt of thine 〈◊〉 Now come what shal by means of this I am assured that so long as Dom Diego liueth his hart shal receiue none other impression or desire but that whiche inciteth him to loue serue honor the fairest creature at this day within the cōpasse of Spaine 〈◊〉 herevpō sweating laboring trauelling vpon the framing of his loue he founde nothing more expediēt thā to tel hir his passion let hir vnderstād the good wil that he had to do hir seruice to pray hir to accept him for such as from that time forth wold perpetrate nothing but vnder that title of hir good name On the other side Gineura could not close hir eies knew not that cause almost that so 〈◊〉 hir of sléepe wherfore now tossing on the one side thē turning to the other inhir rich goodly bed fātasied no fewer deuises thā passionated Dom Diego did In the end she cōcluded that if that knight shewed hir any euidēt sign or opened by word of mouth of loue and seruice she wold not refuse to do the like to him Thus passed the night in thoughts sighs wishes betwene these 〈◊〉 apprentises of the thing whereof they that be lerners shal sone attain the experience they that folow the occupation throughly in short time be their 〈◊〉 masters The next day that knight would depart so soone as he was vp but the good widow imbracing that personage good order of the knight in hir heart more thā any other that she had séen of long time intreated 〈◊〉 so earnestly to tarie as he which loued better to obey hir request thā to depart although fained the contrary in that end appered to be vanquished vpō the great importunitie of the lady Al that morning that mother the daughter passed the time with Dom Diego in great talk of cōmon matters But he was then more astoonned inamored than the night before in such wise as many times he 〈◊〉 so vnaptly to their demaūds as it was easily perceiued that his minde was much disquieted with some thing that only did possesse the force vehemēce of that same not withstāding the lady imputed that to the 〈◊〉 of that gentlemā to his simplicity which had not greatly frequēted that cōpanie of Ladies When diner time was come they were serued with such great fare sundry delicates accordingly as with hir hart she wished to intertain the yong lord to the intent frō that time forth he might more willingly make repaire to hir house After diner he rēdred