The Orphan or, The Unhappy Marriage

Excerpt

ACT THE FIRST.

SCENE I. A GARDEN.

Enter Castalio, Polydore, and Page.Cas.Polydore, our sportHas been to-day much better for the danger:When on the brink the foaming boar I met,And in his side thought to have lodg'd my spear,The desperate savage rush'd within my force,And bore me headlong with him down the rock.Pol.But then——Cas.Ay, then, my brother, my friend, Polydore,Like Perseus mounted on his winged steed,Came on, and down the dang'rous precipice leap'dTo save Castilio.—'Twas a godlike act!Pol.But when I came, I found you conqueror.Oh! my heart danc'd, to see your danger past!The heat and fury of the chase was cold,And I had nothing in my mind but joy.Cas.So, Polydore, methinks, we might in warRush on together; thou shouldst be my guard,And I be thine. What is't could hurt us then?Now half the youth of Europe are in arms,How fulsome must it be to stay behind,And die of rank diseases here at home!Pol.No, let me purchase in my youth renown,To make me lov'd and valu'd when I'm old;I would be busy in the world, and learn,Not like a coarse and useless dunghill weed,Fix'd to one spot, and rot just as I grow.Cas.Our fatherHas ta'en himself a surfeit of the world,And cries, it is not safe that we should taste it.I own, I have duty very pow'rful in me:And though I'd hazard all to raise my name,Yet he's so tender, and so good a father,I could not do a thing to cross his will.Pol.Castalio, I have doubts within my heart,Which you, and only you, can satisfy.Will you be free and candid to your friend?Cas.Have I a thought my Polydore should not know?What can this mean?Pol.Nay, I'll conjure you too,By all the strictest bonds of faithful friendship,To show your heart as naked in this point,As you would purge you of your sins to heav'n.And should I chance to touch it near, bear itWith all the suff'rance of a tender friend.Cas.As calmly as the wounded patient bearsThe artist's hand, that ministers his cure.Pol.That's kindly said.——You know our father's ward,The fair Monimia:—is your heart at peace?Is it so guarded, that you could not love her?Cas.Suppose I should?Pol.Suppose you should not, brother?Cas.You'd say, I must not.Pol.That would sound too roughlyTwixt friends and brothers, as we two are.Cas.Is love a fault?Pol.In one of us it may be——What, if I love her?Cas.Then I must inform youI lov'd her first, and cannot quit the claim;But will preserve the birthright of my passion.Pol.You will?Cas.I will.Pol.No more; I've done.Cas.Why not?Pol.I told you, I had done.But you, Castalio, would dispute it.Cas.No;Not with my Polydore:—though I must ownMy nature obstinate, and void of suff'rance;I could not bear a rival in my friendship,I am so much in love, and fond of thee.Pol.Yet you will break this friendship!Cas.Not for crowns.Pol.But for a toy you would, a woman's toy,Unjust Castalio...!