to whom it was addressed that very night. In vain he pleaded the state of his health, to induce her to substitute some other person as the bearer of her commands; she peremptorily declined to listen to any excuse, repeating that her honour required his compliance, and that she should insist upon being obeyed. She then left him in a state of the utmost bewilderment, vainly endeavouring to think how it was possible, at the same time, to keep his appointment with Laura, and observe his loyalty and obedience to his sovereign. In this perplexity Fabio waited upon him:

:

Fabio. My lord, does not the day appear to you to very be long?

Frederick. It is the devil that has sent you here. Go, Fabio, and saddle both our horses.

Fabio. Have you received another letter, either by the fire, or by the air?

Frederick. Yes; I have just received a letter. Fabio. Oh! very well. Make a little alteration in it, as in the other, and you will be as merry as ChristLook at it again, and your sorrow will end. Frederick. I have not yet had the courage to read even the superscription.

mas.

Fabio. Read it, and see whether it agrees with your first impression.

Frederick. I will see, at least, whither I am sent [reads] "To the Duke of Mantua." [aside] Heavens my confusion is now of another kind; she has, doubtless, discovered the duke, and takes this method of showing how offended she is with me, for my want of fidelity in concealing him in my apartments. This is what she meant by saying that it was on business that concerned her honour. Oh! my foolish thought; I have but escaped one danger to fall into another. Fabio. Well, sir, does the letter improve? Frederick. The more I see of it, the less I comprehend it.

Fabio. Perhaps it is written in cipher, like the letter of the merchant.

Frederick. You fatigue me; I know not of what you are speaking.

Fabio. Well, to remove your ignorance I will tell you the story. A certain inhabitant of Tremezen, a dealer in glass, was in love with a lady of the same place. He had a particular friend, who resided at Tetuan. One day the lady told her lover that she would like to have a monkey, and desired him to write to his friend at Tetuan to send one. As a lover is always anxious not only to gratify, but even to execed, the wishes of his beloved; and wishing that the lady would have the opportunity of selecting one to her liking, he requested his friend to send him three or four monkeys. In his letter, however, instead of writing the numbers, he used figures, and as O is the Spanish of or, his astonished friend read as follows:"Dear friend, for a person for whom I have a great respect, send me 3 o 4 monkeys immediately." He of Tetuan, however, had nothing for it but to comply; and you can easily imagine the consternation of our lover, when, in a few days after, a ship arrived in the harbour of Tremezen, bearing, to his order, three hundred and four monkeys, playing more than three hundred thousand buffooneries. If the same thing has happened to you, I would advise you to read with figures; for, according to this story, one monkey in writing makes a hundred monkeys in cipher.

Frederick. Was anything more ill-timed than to give me this letter at the present moment.

Fabio. Is there no remedy by which you can send a less number of monkeys?

Frederick. Was there ever any one in the world in a greater state of uncertainty? What shall I do?

At this moment, Henry, who, as our readers are aware, was the Duke of

Mantua, to whom the letter was ad-. dressed, came into the apartment. Frederick, unheard by Fabio, told him of the difficulty in which he was placed. They agree that if the duke, on opening the letter, finds that Flerida has seen through his disguise, he shall immediately depart for his own territory: but if not, that Frederick shall proceed a little out of the city, as if on the road to Mantua, and return in the dusk of the night, to keep his appointment with Laura; the duke, writing a reply to Flerida's letter, which Frederick would present to her on the following morning, and thus make it appear that he had spent the night in executing her commands. This unexpected mode of extricating himself from his difficulty, made Frederick look so happy, that Fabio could only explain it by supposing that his master had deciphered the letter, and that his correspondent did not require so many monkeys as he had at first imagined.

Flerida, having thus succeeded, as she thought, in getting one of the lovers out of the way, now turned all her attention to discover who was the other. She would herself have gone to the terrace in the garden, so anxious did she feel to know who her rival was, if she had not been afraid of compromising her dignity. As Laura was her most trusted and confidential agent, and as, of all others, she never had the slightest suspicion of her, she told her that she had learned with great surprise and displeasure, that some lady connected with her court had appointed to meet a gentleman in the garden that very night, and as she could not tolerate such an impropriety, and was anxious to know who the parties were, in order to punish them, she requested Laura to watch from time to time upon the terrace, and report to her accordingly. Poor Laura was very much frightened at this statement, lest Flerida should in reality have known more than she pretended: with some confusion, she, of course, undertook the commission of her mistress, and in her subsequent interview with Frederick, accused him of not having observed a proper secrecy with regard to their meeting-telling him what Flerida had said, and that it was owing to her misplaced confidence she was enabled to keep her appointment with him. He, of course, protested his innocence. The discovery, however, proving the constant vigilance of Fle

rida, and that some one was betraying their secrets, Frederick promised that he would send her, on the following day, a plan by which, even in the presence of third parties, they could speak to each other aloud, without their meaning being understood by any one but themselves. This restored them a little to their confidence, and after mutual vows of constancy and love, they separated, she to invent some story that would dissipate the suspicions of the duchess, and he, to have the appearance of returning from Mantua in the morning.

Next day, accordingly, Frederick and Fabio, having, from their dress, all the appearance of persons who had spent the night in travelling, were seen approaching the palace of Flerida, Frederick bearing the answer of the Duke of Mantua, written by his own hand, and sealed with the ducal seal, as well as the promised letter to Laura, containing the plan of "the secret in words." This was, simply, that after a signal given by either of them (the drawing forth of a handkerchief), the first word of every line spoken by the party giving the signal, was intended for the other, and the remainder for the Duchess, or whatever third parties might be present. By joining these words together, the meaning of the speaker would be discovered. Fabio accompanied his master, quite bewildered by all the contradictory orders he had received, and utterly incapable of penetrating the mystery of his proceedings. Being unable to keep silence any longer on the subject, he expressed himself in the following terms..

Fabio, Must an honorable man endure all this? Frederick. Of what are you complaining, Fabio? Fabio. Oh! I complain of nothing, my lord; but perhaps your lordship would allow me to make a calculation of the time I have served you, for if you paid me by the hour as much as you pay me by the year, I vow to God I would not serve you a day longer. Frederick. And why?

Fabio. Because my unfortunate head is absolutely sea-sick with thinking and reflecting; and there is not money enough in the world to pay a valet that reflects: besides, your orders are so various that I cannot understand them.

Frederick. How is that?

Fubio, Why, to give you a specimen-" Fabio, I must die. This day my life and hope expire." Oh! indeed, my lord. Then am I to look after your lordship's funeral? No, you need not mind it at present, Fabio, for now I will not die, as this black night that is approaching will be brighter in my eyes than the sunniest day." I am delighted to hear it. "Fabio!" My lord? "I must depart this instant; so get our horses ready immediately." "Tis done. "Now I will not depart, but let the horses be brought nevertheless." They are brought. "Mount." I do so. How far do we go? "One league." Are we to return? "We must return." Shall I attend your lordship? "No, Fabio; go to my apartments, and mind that you do not follow me." And many

other absurdities, contradictions, and mysteries, that the devil himself could not understand. Besides, my conscience upbraids me for serving a master who, without being Pope, has so many reserved cases.

Frederick. Silence, for her highness approaches. Remember what I have told you already, that you should in no manner allow it to be known that I did not leave P'arma last night.

Fabio. Of course; (aside) I am dying to tell it to Flerida, and for these reasons-Firstly, to regale my tongue a little; secondly, to revenge myself upon my master; and thirdly, to serve the duchess.

Frederick presents the letter of the duke to Flerida, and also one to Laura, which he says he received from Celia, a lady connected with the court of the duchess, the duke's mother. Flerida being quite convinced by the seal and writing of the duke that Frederick must have been to Mantua, feels quite pleased with her stratagem. And as Laura reported that she was unable to see any one in the gardens on the preceding evening, she feels satisfied that, whoever Frederick's mistress may be, she belongs to the city, and not to the court. Fabio, however, takes a very early opportunity of disabusing her on the subject; tells her that his master did not leave Parma the preceding night, the better part of which he spent in conversation with his mistress, and that as to the letter, it must have been the devil himself that brought it to him, as Frederick neither went nor sent any human being to Mantua for that purpose. Flerida, as usual, acquaints Laura with this new intelligence, to the utmost terror and amazement of the latter. Laura retires to think over this strange discovery, and also to read the letter which she herself had received from Frederick. While reading it with great attention, she is surprised by Lisardo, who, in his jealousy, insists upon seeing its contents. She, of course, refuses, and the noise of their altercation attracts Flerida, Frederick, and Fabio, as well as her father, Arnesto, to the spot

Arnesto. What is all this noise, Lisardo?
Flerida. Laura, what is all this outcry?
Lisardo. It is nothing.
Laura.

Nay, your highness,

[Aside.

It is much now, love, assist me!
Arnesto. Wilt thou speak thus? [to Lisardo.
Flerida.
Wilt thou quar-
[to Laura,

rel?

Arnesto. With thy cousin?
Flerida.

Thy betrothed?
Arnesto. Say, Lisardo, what has happened?
Flerida. Laura, what has passed between you?
Lisardo. It is nothing that I know of.
Laura. It is much: you know, Senora,
That you left me here this instant
Reading Madam Celia's letter.

Flerida. Yes. Laura.

And being thus employed, I Was insulted by Lisardo, Who, with insolent presumption, Dared to treat me with suspicion : And, that you may know the reason,

Kind senora, prithee listen-
Listen, also, thon my father,

And the friends who have come with thee:

For to me it is important

All the world should know the secret

That I carry in my bosom: [takes out her handkerchief.

Frederick. Tell me what has happened, Fabio. Fabio. I don't know: [aside] If I were certain It were not about the matter That I mentioned to the duchess,

It would give me little trouble:

Frederick. Since I see she gives the signal [aside. Let me pay her strict attention, Joining the first words she utters.

Arnesto. Speak, my daughter. What delays you? Flerida. Laura, end your hesitation.

Laura. Flerida-who to wondrous beauty

Has-all mental riches added

Learned and lovely, surely knoweth
Already-how I love her highness.

Flerida. Well I know your love, dear Laura;

But why now remind me of it?

Frederick. Ah! the first words plainly tell me,

Laura. And that-the jealous words, Lisardo,
You spoke-have given much annoyance
Unto me, is plain, for I am

Your mistress-but not yet your wife.

Lisardo. My love, dear Laura, must excuse me. Flerida. Peace, Lisardo. [To Laura.] Pray, continue.

Frederick. "And that you spoke unto your mistress" [Aside.

Laura. For which-I feel the indignation She feeleth-whom suspicions libel.

Very proud I am, and ever

Lisardo, Heaven defend me! would one ever

Think so slight a cause as asking

To peruse a lady's letter,

Could create so great a quarrel?

Frederick, do you plainly see

What has caused her indignation?

Frederick. Yes, the reason is apparent :

'Tis because of your suspicion.

Lisardo. Ah! my foolish hope has perished, Murdered by my greater folly !

[Exit. Frederick. Ah, iny hope has also vanished! [Aside. Fabio. I have nothing now to fear for. [Aside. Frederick. Let me join each separate sentence; [Aside.

And, lest memory might deceive me,

I will look upon her portrait,

Thinking 'tis her brighter self. [ Takes out a portrait, Tell me, thou divinest image,

What thou wishest I should know.

Fabio. Ah! a portrait? this is something [Aside. New to tell unto Flerida.

Frederick "Flerida has already learned,

That from this you did not go;

And that you spoke unto your mistress,
For which she feeleth very jealous.
Remember that you name me not,
For the man who is your servant
Is your greatest foe; but come
To-night, and speak to me again."
Heaven and earth! atrocious traitor,
It is thou that hast betrayed me!
Fabio. Oh, my lord, what sudden anger
Has possessed you? why attack me
In this most unpleasant manner?

[To Fabio, [Punishes him.

Frederick. Thus I pay you for your treason. Fubio. What treason? did you not, sir, enter Here with me the best of friends, And, since then, no one in private Has, I'm sure, addressed your lordship Who has spoken badly of me?

Frederick, Villain! since I here have entered

I have learned that you betrayed me-
How I spent last night in Parma,

And that I did meet my mistress.

Fabio. Since you entered here, you say?
Frederick. Yes.

Fabio.

But pray, my lord, considerFrederick. I will make you an example! Fabio, Heavens! my lord, who could have told

you?

Frederick. Think to whom you spoke, you rascal, 'Tis the same who told me of it.

Fabio. I told no one [uside]; more prepared Am I to die than tell the truth.

Frederick. As I live you'll die this instant!

Luckily, at this critical moment of Fabio's existence, Henry, the disguised duke, entered the apartment, and, with some difficulty, rescued the unfortunate valet from his master's hands. Fabio was but too glad to have an opportunity of escaping, and immediately withdrew. Upon the whole matter being explained to Henry, he advised Frederick to act for the future with greater caution, to appear as if he had not the slightest suspicion of any espionage being practised against him, and to resume, even with Fabio, his old manner of confidence and familiarity. Fabio did not lose much time in repairing to Flerida with his new intelligence. At first, affecting to be greatly incensed at what appeared to be the inability of the duchess to keep

a secret even for a single day, he professes that he has learned nothing, and that he will tell nothing. A little persuasion, however, induces him to break the strictness of his resolution, and he informs Flerida that his master always carries about with him the portrait of his mistress, and that by obtaining possession of it, she would be enabled to discover who the lady was. Frederick, on meeting his valet the next time, astonishes him by his kindness, which he carries to the extreme length of promising Fabio a new coat, for which that grateful personage prays, that in the other world his master's soul may be dressed in a cloak of scarlet, a trowsers of crystal, and a waistcoat of ambergris. Flerida, on the first opportunity, drops several hints to Frederick that she has discovered his duplicity; and that, if he has any engagement for that night, it would be well, to prevent disappointment, that he would send word to his mistress that he could not go, as she herself would have a great deal of writing for him to execute during the evening. By means of their secret method of conversation, Frederick is enabled, in the presence of Flerida, to inform Laura of this circumstance. Flerida arranges a plan, by which she will be able to obtain a sight of the portrait, which she is about explaining to her confidante Laura, when Frederick enters, with paper, &c., to execute the orders that he had received. Laura retires,

but fearful of some discovery, waits outside the door, when the following conversation takes place :

Frederick. Here, senora, are the papers:
Flerida. Leave them there; for I no longer
Can permit that you should hold them;
Or that you should act henceforward

As my confidential agent:

Faithless servant-base betrayer

Of my interest and honour.

Frederick. Lady, how have I been wanting

In my duty. as to merit

For my long and faithful service

Such an infamous description?

Flerida. Dost thou dare to ask me wherefore?

Knowing that I have sufficient

Evidence to prove thee guilty.

Frederick. May I know my crime, your highness, And I trust to exculpate me.

Laura. I am curious to discover

[peeping at the

How, by such a charge, Flerida

Means to learn who is his mistress.

door.

Flerida. How's this?-the Duke ?- All-seeing

Now has sent a real cause.

Frederick. He has lived within the palace Since your highness spoke unto him. Flerida. Was the duke the cavalier, whom I admitted to my palace? Frederick. Yes, senora. Flerida.

Oh how often

[aside.

[at the door.

Is a truth the child of falsehood!
Itura, Scared by terror after terror,
Still I cannot see her meaning.
Flerida. Why from me was this kept sceret ?
Frederick. As the suitor of your highness,
I believed that you would pardon
What was but love's indiscretion,
Not the dark crime of a traitor.

Flerida. Now I understand 'twas easy
To present my letter to him:

Frederick. Yes, senora, at the moment
I was going on my journey
He arrived: and I was able
Without going out of Parma,
Thus to execute my mission.

Flerida. Well, allowing that to be so,
Tell me, whence came Laura's letter?
Frederick. That-the duke himself brought with

him.

Laura. He has answered most adroitly:

But I yet cannot discover
How she means to gain her object.

[at the door.

Flerida. Do you think my information
Endeth here. Produce the letters
Which you have received this morning
From his grace the Duke of Florence,
On the subject of the ancient
Claim he makes upon my kingdom.

Frederick. Humbly I entreat your highness,
That at least you will remember

Who I am: if I have acted
Wrong in giving my assistance
To a lover who adores you,
Do not think that I am guilty
Of a crime, so much unworthy
Of my stainless blood and honour.

Flerida. He who finds one crime when starting, May find many on the journey.

Give the letters I have asked for.

Frederick. Letters? Take, oh! take, senora,
All the papers that I carry.
Take the keys of all the others
In my house; and if in searching
You can find the smallest cipher
Of disloyalty or treason,

Then my life shall be the forfeit.

[He draws out a handkerchief, a bunch of keys, and a small box, or miniature-case, which last he conceals.]

Flerida. What is that you seem so anxious To conceal?

[aside.

Laura.

How I tremble!

What terror!

Oh! what bitter anguish !

Again Flerida retires in great anger, baffled in her plans, and totally unable to understand the reason of Frederick's disinclination to show her his own portrait, or why he carried it about with him, except that, like Narcissus, he was enamoured of himself. No explanation between the lovers follows. Fabio enters, and reminds his master of the coat he promised him. Frederick, enraged at his new treachery, addresses him in no very complimentary terms, and is about chastising him, when he thinks of his promise to the Duke of Mantua. Without any ostensible reason, his manner suddenly changes, and he now once more renews the promise of the coat. The second act closes, and the third opens with Fabio's reflections on the capriciousness of his master's temper.

"Well," said Fabio, "I wonder if any one, by any accident, has found the wits of an unfortunate valet, who has lost them because his muster has lost hiswhich, indeed, as they were no great loss to him who lost them, will be of equally little value to him who finds them? I am very anxious to learn their fate, nevertheless; but unfortunately there is no one here to give me any information. Let me, then, by way of soliloquy, ask fmyself two or three questions. After all, has any one, after losing his senses, ever recovered them? We'll pass that. Is there any news, Fabio? I don't know. What is the reason that, at the moment when I seem to be on the best terms with my master, he suddenly falls upon me and gives me two thousand blows? The reason is that he is mad. And what is the reason that, at the very time I feel most guilty, and wish to avoid his presence, he promises me a new dress, and overwhelms me with caresses? Why the reason is, that he is drunk! Two very admirable conclusions, indeed. I shall not proceed with my questions at present, as I see my master and Henry coming in this direction, talking very confidentially to each other. If they are seeking this remote chamber in order not to be seen by me, I think it only polite to anticipate them, and not allow myself to be seen by them. And as it will be agreeable to overhear what they say, and also to escape the uncertainty of my master's temper-for

his anger and good-humour come each in its turn, and this is the turn for anger-I think I may as well conceal myself under this buffet, a very appropriate hiding-place for one who like me has been so often buffetted in another manner."

He conceals himself accordingly, and Frederick and Henry enter the apartment. Frederick informs the duke that Flerida has seen through his disguise, so that it is useless to attempt to keep up that deception any longer. He also informs him that his own mistress, weary as well of the efforts made by her father to unite her in marriage with a person she did not like, as of the jealousy of the duchess, has written to him to state that she considers they have now no other remedy but flight, and that, in obedience to her letter, he has appointed to wait for her, that night, with two horses, between the bridge and the park. The duke begs of him to select Mantua as the place of his retreat, and not only offers him his protection there, but even his assistance and company on the road. This latter favour, however, Frederick respectfully declines, as he considers it essential to the duke's honour that the duke himself, before his departure, should have an expla nation with Flerida on the subject of his disguise, and most conducive to his own interest that he should leave behind him in Parma so powerful a friend, who would be able to explain and defend his conduct. Fabio at once bears this intelligence to the duchess, who is reduced to her last stratagem. Her only hope is, that by endeavouring to keep Frederick a close prisoner to his apartments during the night, she will be able to postpone, if not to prevent, the dreaded elopement. For this purpose, she informs Arnesto, the father of Laura, that she has reason to believe that Frederick, having received a challenge, is about fighting a duel, orders him to keep a strict watch on the young man during the evening and night; and to prevent his leaving the house, if possible by fair means, and under some pretence, but if those fail, to place him under arrest. Accordingly, just as he is on the point of going out to keep his important engagement, and as he is taking leave of Henry, Arnesto pays him his unexpected and most ill-timed visit: