Chapter: ACT IV. SCENE I.


_The moated grange at ST LUKE'S._

  _Enter MARIANA and a BOY._

_BOY sings._

Take, O, take those lips away,
  That so sweetly were forsworn;
And those eyes, the break of day,
  Lights that do mislead the morn:
But my kisses bring again, bring again;                              5
Seals of love, but sealed in vain, sealed in vain.

_Mari._ Break off thy song, and haste thee quick away:
Here comes a man of comfort, whose advice
Hath often still'd my brawling discontent.    [_Exit Boy._

  _Enter DUKE disguised as before._

I cry you mercy, sir; and well could wish                           10
You had not found me here so musical:
Let me excuse me, and believe me so,
My mirth it much displeased, but pleased my woe.

_Duke._ 'Tis good; though music oft hath such a charm
To make bad good, and good provoke to harm.                         15

I pray you, tell me, hath any body inquired for me here to-day?
much upon this time have I promised here to meet.

_Mari._ You have not been inquired after: I have sat
here all day.

  _Enter ISABELLA._

_Duke._ I do constantly believe you. The time is come               20
even now. I shall crave your forbearance a little: may be
I will call upon you anon, for some advantage to yourself.

_Mari._ I am always bound to you.    [_Exit._

_Duke._ Very well met, and well come.
What is the news from this good Deputy?                             25

_Isab._ He hath a garden circummured with brick,
Whose western side is with a vineyard back'd;
And to that vineyard is a planched gate,
That makes his opening with this bigger key:
This other doth command a little door                               30
Which from the vineyard to the garden leads;
There have I made my promise
Upon the heavy middle of the night
To call upon him.

_Duke._ But shall you on your knowledge find this way?              35

_Isab._ I have ta'en a due and wary note upon't:
With whispering and most guilty diligence,
In action all of precept, he did show me
The way twice o'er.

_Duke._           Are there no other tokens
Between you 'greed concerning her observance?                       40

_Isab._ No, none, but only a repair i' the dark;
And that I have possess'd him my most stay
Can be but brief; for I have made him know
I have a servant comes with me along,
That stays upon me, whose persuasion is                             45
I come about my brother.

_Duke._                'Tis well borne up.
I have not yet made known to Mariana
A word of this. What, ho! within! come forth!

  _Re-enter MARIANA._

I pray you, be acquainted with this maid;
She comes to do you good.

_Isab._                 I do desire the like.                       50

_Duke._ Do you persuade yourself that I respect you?

_Mari._ Good friar, I know you do, and have found it.

_Duke._ Take, then, this your companion by the hand,
Who hath a story ready for your ear.
I shall attend your leisure: but make haste;                        55
The vaporous night approaches.

_Mari._ Will't please you walk aside?

    [_Exeunt Mariana and Isabella._

_Duke._ O place and greatness, millions of false eyes
Are stuck upon thee! volumes of report
Run with these false and most contrarious quests                    60
Upon thy doings! thousand escapes of wit
Make thee the father of their idle dreams,
And rack thee in their fancies!

  _Re-enter MARIANA and ISABELLA._

                                  Welcome, how agreed?

_Isab._ She'll take the enterprise upon her, father,
If you advise it.

_Duke._         It is not my consent,                               65
But my entreaty too.

_Isab._            Little have you to say
When you depart from him, but, soft and low,
'Remember now my brother.'

_Mari._                  Fear me not.

_Duke._ Nor, gentle daughter, fear you not at all.
He is your husband on a pre-contract:                               70
To bring you thus together, 'tis no sin,
Sith that the justice of your title to him
Doth flourish the deceit. Come, let us go:
Our corn's to reap, for yet our tithe's to sow.    [_Exeunt._


  NOTES: IV, 1.

  SCENE I. Enter M.] Ff. M. discovered sitting. Steevens.
  5, 6: F4 omits the refrain in l. 6. Rowe omits it in both lines.
  6: _but_] _though_ Fletcher's version.
  13: _it_] _is_ Warburton.
  17: _meet_] _meet one_ Hanmer.
  19: Enter I.] Transferred by Singer to line 23.
  24: SCENE II. Pope.
  _well come_] Ff. _welcome_ Warburton.
  32, 33, 34: _There have I made my promise Upon the heavy middle
    of the night To call upon him._] S. Walker conj.
    _There have I made my promise, upon the Heavy middle of the night
    to call upon him._ Ff.
    _There on the heavy middle of the night Have I my promise made
    to call upon him._ Pope.
    _There have I made my promise to call on him Upon the heavy
    middle of the night._ Capell.
    _There have I made my promise in the heavy Middle...._ Singer.
    _There have I made my promise on the heavy Middle...._ Dyce.
    Delius and Staunton read with Ff. but print as prose.
  38: _action all of precept_] _precept of all action_ Johnson conj.
  49: SCENE III. Pope.
  52: _have_] _I have_ Pope.
  58-63: _O place ... fancies_] These lines to precede III. 2. 178.
    Warburton conj.
  60: _these_] _their_ Hanmer. _base_ Collier MS.
  _quests_] _quest_ F1.
  61: _escapes_] _'scapes_ Pope.
  62: _their idle dreams_] Pope. _their idle dreame_ Ff.
    _an idle dream_ Rowe.
  63: _Welcome, how agreed?_] _Well! agreed?_ Hanmer.
  SCENE IV. Pope.
  65: _It is_] _'Tis_ Pope.
  74: _tithe's_] _Tithes_ F1 F2 F3. _Tythes_ F4. _tilth's_ Hanmer
    (Warburton).
  _Our ... sow_] _Our tythe's to reap, for yet our corn's to sow_
    Capell conj. MS.

 The Duke and Isabella pay Mariana a little visit at her farm, which is surrounded by a moat. When they arrive, Mariana is listening to a Boy singing a sad song about a jilted lover. When Mariana sees the Duke she tells the kid to scram so she can talk in privacy. Apparently, the Duke has visited with Mariana before and listened to her confession. Isabella and the Duke confer about where and when her secret rendezvous with Angelo is supposed to go down - Isabella is supposed to meet Angelo in a secret garden. Isabella and Marianna take a walk together during which time Isabella fills in Marianna on the Duke's plot to trick Angelo. Marianna is all for the Duke's little bed trick. Brain Snack: "Bed trick," by the way, is a common term for one of Shakespeare's favorite plot devices - it always involves one person who thinks he/she is going to bed with another person, but who is then tricked into sleeping with someone else. In Shakespeare, the duped party is usually a guy, like Bertram in All's Well That Ends Well. The Duke explains that Marianna's actions won't be counted as a sin or a crime because Angelo is her "husband on a pre-contract," meaning, they were formally betrothed before Angelo backed out of the wedding at the last minute. Everybody runs off to put the sneaky plan into action.

