Evad. I would not have a fool;
It were no credit for me.

Amin. Worse and worse!
Thou, that dar’st talk unto thy husband thus,
Profess thyself a whore, and, more than so,
Resolve to be so still—It is my fate
To bear and bow beneath a thousand griefs,
To keep that little credit with the world!
But there were wise ones too; you might have ta’en
Another.

King. No; for I believe thee honest,
As thou wert valiant.

Amin. All the happiness
Bestowed upon me turns into disgrace.
Gods, take your honesty again, for I
Am loaden with it!—Good my lord the king,
Be private in it.

King. Thou may’st live, Amintor,
Free as thy king, if thou wilt wink at this,
And be a means that we may meet in secret.

Amin. A bawd! Hold, hold, my breast! A bitter curse
Seize me, if I forget not all respects
That are religious, on another word
Sounded like that; and, through a sea of sins,
Will wade to my revenge, though I should call
Pains here, and after life, upon my soul!

King. Well, I am resolute you lay not with her;
And so I leave you.

[Exit King.

Evad. You must needs be prating;
And see what follows.

Amin. Pr’ythee, vex me not!
Leave me: I am afraid some sudden start
Will pull a murder on me.

Evad. I am gone;
I love my life well.

[Exit Evadne.

Amin. I hate mine as much.—
This ’tis to break a troth! I should be glad,
If all this tide of grief would make me mad.

[Exit.

SCENE II.—A Room in the Palace.

Enter MELANTIUS.

Mel. I’ll know the cause of all Amintor’s griefs,
Or friendship shall be idle.

Enter CALIANAX.

Cal. O Melantius,
My daughter will die.

Mel. Trust me, I am sorry.
Would thou hadst ta’en her room!

Cal. Thou art a slave,
A cut-throat slave, a bloody treacherous slave!

Mel. Take heed, old man; thou wilt be heard to rave,
And lose thine offices.

Cal. I am valiant grown,
At all these years, and thou art but a slave!

Mel. Leave! Some company will come, and I respect
Thy years, not thee, so much, that I could wish
To laugh at thee alone.