The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan | Page 6

Was I consulted? (Duke shakes his head.) Then it was a
most unpardonable liberty! DUKE. Consider his extreme youth and
forgive him. Shortly after the ceremony that misguided monarch
abandoned the creed of his forefathers, and became a Wesleyan
Methodist of the most bigoted and persecuting type. The Grand
Inquisitor, determined that the innovation should not be perpetuated in
Barataria, caused your smiling and unconscious husband to be stolen
and conveyed to Venice. A fortnight since the Methodist Monarch and
all his Wesleyan Court were killed in an insurrection, and we are here
to ascertain the whereabouts of your husband, and to hail you, our
daughter, as Her Majesty, the reigning Queen of Barataria! (Kneels.)
(During this speech Luiz re-enters.)
DUCH. Your Majesty! (Kneels.) (Drum roll.) DUKE. It is at such
moments as these that one feels how necessary it is to travel with a full
band. CAS. I, the Queen of Barataria! But I've nothing to wear! We are
practically penniless! DUKE. That point has not escaped me. Although
I am unhappily in straitened circumstances at present, my social
influence is something enormous; and a Company, to be called the
Duke of Plaza-Toro, Limited, is in course of formation to work me. An
influential directorate has been secured, and I shall myself join the
Board after allotment. CAS. Am I to understand that the Queen of
Barataria may be called upon at any time to witness her honoured sire
in process of liquidation? DUCH. The speculation is not exempt from
that drawback. If your father should stop, it will, of course, be
necessary to wind him up. CAS. But it's so undignified--it's so
degrading! A Grandee of Spain turned into a public company! Such a
thing was never heard of! DUKE. My child, the Duke of Plaza-Toro
does not follow fashions--he leads them. He always leads everybody.
When he was in the army he led his regiment. He occasionally led them

into action. He invariably led them out of it.
SONG--DUKE OF PLAZA-TORO.
In enterprise of martial kind, When there was any fighting, He led his
regiment from behind-- He found it less exciting. But when away his
regiment ran, His place was at the fore, O-- That celebrated, Cultivated,
Underrated Nobleman, The Duke of Plaza-Toro!
ALL. In the first and foremost flight, ha, ha! You always found that
knight, ha, ha! That celebrated, Cultivated, Underrated Nobleman, The
Duke of Plaza-Toro!
DUKE. When, to evade Destruction's hand, To hide they all proceeded,
No soldier in that gallant band Hid half as well as he did. He lay
concealed throughout the war, And so preserved his gore, O! That
unaffected, Undetected, Well-connected Warrior, The Duke of
Plaza-Toro!
ALL. In every doughty deed, ha, ha! He always took the lead, ha, ha!
That unaffected, Undetected, Well-connected Warrior, The Duke of
Plaza-Toro!
DUKE. When told that they would all be shot Unless they left the
service, That hero hesitated not, So marvellous his nerve is. He sent his
resignation in, The first of all his corps, O! That very knowing,
Overflowing, Easy-going Paladin, The Duke of Plaza-Toro!
ALL. To men of grosser clay, ha, ha! He always showed the way, ha,
ha! That very knowing, Overflowing, Easy-going Paladin, The Duke of
Plaza-Toro!
(Exeunt Duke and Duchess into Grand Ducal Palace. As soon as they
have disappeared, Luiz and Casilda rush to each other's arms.)
RECITATIVE AND DUET--CASILDA AND LUIZ.
O rapture, when alone together Two loving hearts and those that bear
them May join in temporary tether, Though Fate apart should rudely
tear them.
CAS. Necessity, Invention's mother, Compelled me to a course of
feigning-- But, left alone with one another, I will atone for my
disdaining!
AIR
CAS. Ah, well-beloved, Mine angry frown Is but a gown That serves to
dress My gentleness!
LUIZ. Ah, well-beloved, Thy cold disdain, It gives no pain-- 'Tis mercy,

played In masquerade!
BOTH. Ah, well-beloved, etc.
CAS. O Luiz, Luiz--what have you said? What have I done? What have
I allowed you to do? LUIZ. Nothing, I trust, that you will ever have
reason to repent. (Offering to embrace her.) CAS. (withdrawing from
him). Nay, Luiz, it may not be. I have embraced you for the last time.
LUIZ (amazed). Casilda! CAS. I have just learnt, to my surprise and
indignation, that I was wed in babyhood to the infant son of the King of
Barataria! LUIZ. The son of the King of Barataria? The child who was
stolen in infancy by the Inquisition? CAS. The same. But, of course,
you know his story. LUIZ. Know his story? Why, I have often told you
that my mother was the nurse to whose charge he was entrusted! CAS.
True. I had forgotten. Well, he has been discovered, and my father has
brought me here to claim his hand.