The Hunchback | Page 7

for a rood!"
Wal. 'Twas a wise precept. You've a fair house--you'll get a mistress for
it?
Clif. In time!
Wal. In time! 'Tis time thy choice were made. Is't not so yet? Or is thy
lady love The newest still thou seest?
Clif. Nay, not so. I'd marry, Master Walter, but old use - For since the
age of thirteen I have lived In the world--has made me jealous of the
thing That flattered me with hope of profit. Bargains Another would
snap up, might be for me: Till I had turned and turned them!
Speculations, That promised, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, Ay,
cent-per-cent. returns, I would not launch in, When others were afloat,
and out at sea; Whereby I made small gains, but missed great losses. As
ever, then, I looked before I leaped, So do I now.
Wal. Thou'rt all the better for it! Let's see! Hand free--heart
whole--well-favoured--so! Rich, titled! Let that pass!--kind, valiant,
prudent - Sir Thomas, I can help thee to a wife, Hast thou the luck to

win her!
Clif. Master Walter! You jest!
Wal. I do not jest. I like you! mark - I like you, and I like not everyone!
I say a wife, sir, can I help you to, The pearly texture of whose dainty
skin Alone were worth thy baronetcy! Form And feature has she,
wherein move and glow The charms, that in the marble, cold and still,
Culled by the sculptor's jealous skill and joined there, Inspire us! Sir, a
maid, before whose feet, A duke--a duke might lay his coronet, To lift
her to his state, and partner her! A fresh heart too!--a young fresh heart,
sir; one That Cupid has not toyed with, and a warm one - Fresh, young,
and warm! mark that! a mind to boot; Wit, sir; sense, taste;--a garden
strictly tended - Where nought but what is costly flourishes! A consort
for a king, sir! Thou shalt see her!
Clif. I thank you, Master Walter! As you speak, Methinks I see me at
the altar-foot! Her hand fast locked in mine!--the ring put on! My
wedding-bell rings merry in my ear; And round me throng glad tongues
that give me joy To be the bridegroom of so fair a bride!
Wal. What! sparks so thick? We'll have a blaze anon!
Servant. [Entering.] The chariot's at the door.
Wal. It waits in time! Sir Thomas, it shall bear thee to the bower Where
dwells this fair--for she's no city belle, But e'en a sylvan goddess!
Clif. Have with you!
Wal. You'll bless the day you served the Hunchback, sir!
[They go out.]
SCENE II.--A Garden before a Country House.
[Enter JULIA and HELEN.]
Helen. I like not, Julia, this your country life. I'm weary on't!

Julia. Indeed? So am not I! I know no other; would no other know!
Helen. You would no other know! Would you not know Another
relative?--another friend - Another house--another anything, Because
the ones you have already please you? That's poor content! Would you
not be more rich, More wise, more fair? The song that last you learned
You fancy well; and therefore shall you learn No other song? Your
virginal, 'tis true, Hath a sweet tone; but does it follow thence, You
shall not have another virginal? You may, love, and a sweeter one; and
so A sweeter life may find than this you lead!
Julia. I seek it not. Helen, I'm constancy!
Helen. So is a cat, a dog, a silly hen, An owl, a bat,--where they are
wont to lodge That still sojourn, nor care to shift their quarters. Thou'rt
constancy? I am glad I know thy name! The spider comes of the same
family, That in his meshy fortress spends his life, Unless you pull it
down and scare him from it. And so thou'rt constancy? Ar't proud of
that? I'll warrant thee I'll match thee with a snail From year to year that
never leaves his house! Such constancy forsooth!--a constant grub That
houses ever in the self-same nut Where he was born, till hunger drives
him out, Or plunder breaketh through his castle wall! And so, in very
deed, thou'rt constancy!
Julia. Helen, you know the adage of the tree; - I've ta'en the bend. This
rural life of mine, Enjoined me by an unknown father's will, I've led
from infancy. Debarred from hope Of change, I ne'er have sighed for
change. The town To me was like the moon, for any thought I e'er
should visit it--nor was I schooled To think it half so fair!
Helen. Not half so fair! The town's the sun, and thou hast dwelt in night
E'er since thy birth, not to have seen the town! Their women there are
queens, and kings their men; Their houses palaces!