The Jewel Merchants. A Comedy in One Act Read online

  GRACIOSA Do you think only of buying and selling, Guido?

  GUIDO It is a pursuit not limited to us who frankly live by sale and purchase .Count Eglamore, for example, knows that men may be bought as readily as merchandise. It is one reason why he is so hated—by the unbought.

  GRACIOSA (Irritated by the title.) Count Eglamore, indeed! I ask in my prayers every night that some honest gentleman may contrive to cut the throat of this abominable creature.

  GUIDO (His hand going to his throat.) You pray too much, madonna. Even very pious people ought to be reasonable.

  GRACIOSA (Rising from the bench.) Have I not reason to hate the man who killed my kinsman?

  GUIDO (Rising from his gems.) The Marquis of Cibo conspired, or so the court judged—

  GRACIOSA I know nothing of the judgment. But it was this Eglamore who discovered the plot, if there indeed was any plot, and who sent my cousin Cibo to a death—(pointing to the shrine)—oh, to a death as horrible as that. So I hate him.

  GUIDO Yet you have never even seen him, I believe?

  GRACIOSA And it would be better for him never to see me or any of my kin. My father, my uncles and my cousins have all sworn to kill him—

  GUIDO So I have gathered. They remain among the unbought.

  GRACIOSA (Returning, sits upon the bench, and speaks regretfully.) But they have never any luck. Cousin Pietro contrived to have a beam dropped on Eglamore's head, and it missed him by not half a foot—

  GUIDO Ah, yes, I remember.

  GRACIOSA And Cousin Georgio stabbed him in the back one night, but the coward had on chain-armor under his finery—

  GUIDO I remember that also.

  GRACIOSA And Uncle Lorenzo poisoned his soup, but a pet dog got at it first. That was very unfortunate.

  GUIDO Yes, the dog seemed to think so, I remember.

  GRACIOSA However, perseverance is always rewarded. So I still hope that one or another of my kinsmen will contrive to kill this Eglamore before I go to court.

  GUIDO (Sits at her feet.) Has my Lord Balthazar yet set a day for that presentation?

  GRACIOSA Not yet.

  GUIDO I wish to have this Eglamore's accounts all settled by that date.

  GRACIOSA But in three months, Guido, I shall be sixteen. My sisters went to court when they were sixteen.

  GUIDO In fact, a noble who is not rich cannot afford to continue supporting a daughter who is salable in marriage.

  GRACIOSA No, of course not. (She speaks in the most matter-of-fact tone possible. Then, more impulsively, the girl slips down from the bench, and sits by him on the around.) Do you think I shall make as good a match as my sisters, Guido? Do you think some great rich nobleman will marry me very soon? And shall I like the court! What shall I see there?

  GUIDO Marvels. I think—yes, I am afraid that you will like them.

  GRACIOSA And Duke Alessandro—shall I like him?

  GUIDO Few courtiers have expressed dislike of him in my presence.

  GRACIOSA Do you like him? Does he too buy lavishly?

  GUIDO Eh, madonna! some day, when you have seen his jewels—

  GRACIOSA Oh! I shall see them when I go to court?

  GUIDO Yes, he will show them to you, I think, without fail, for the Duke loves beauty in all its forms. So he will take pleasure in confronting the brightness of your eyes with the brightness of the four kinds of sapphires, of the twelve kinds of rubies, and of many extraordinary pearls—

  GRACIOSA (With eyes shining, and lips parted.) Oh!

  GUIDO And you will see his famous emerald necklace, and all his diamonds, and his huge turquoises, which will make you ashamed of your poor talisman—

  GRACIOSA He will show all these jewels to me!

  GUIDO (Looking at her, and still smiling thoughtfully.) He will show you the very finest of his gems, assuredly. And then, worse still, he will be making verses in your honor.

  GRACIOSA It would be droll to have a great duke making songs about me!

  GUIDO It is a preposterous feature of Duke Alessandro's character that he is always making songs about some beautiful thing or another.

  GRACIOSA Such strange songs, Guido! I was singing over one of them just before you came,—

  Let me have dames and damsels richly clad

  To feed and tend my mirth,

  Singing by day and night to make me glad—

  But I could not quite understand it. Are his songs thought good?

  GUIDO The songs of a reigning duke are always good.

  GRACIOSA And is he as handsome as people report?

  GUIDO Tastes differ, of course—

  GRACIOSA And is he—?

  GUIDO I have a portrait of the Duke. It does not, I think, unduly flatter him. Will you look at it?

  GRACIOSA Yes, yes!

  GUIDO (Drawing out a miniature on a chain.) Here is the likeness.

  GRACIOSA But how should you—?

  GUIDO (Seeing her surprise.) Oh, it was a gift to me from his highness for a special service I did him, and as such must be treasured.

  GRACIOSA Perhaps, then, I shall see yon at court, Messer Guido, who are the friend of princes?

  GUIDO If you do, I ask only that in noisy Florence you remember this quiet garden.

  GRACIOSA (Looks at him silently, then glances at the portrait. She speaks with evident disappointment.) Is this the Duke?

  GUIDO You may see his arms on it, and on the back his inscription.

  GRACIOSA Yes, but—(looking at the portrait again)—but … he is … so …

  GUIDO You are astonished at his highness' coloring? That he inherits from his mother. She was, you know, a blackamoor.

  GRACIOSA And my sisters wrote me he was like a god!

  GUIDO Such observations are court etiquette.

  GRACIOSA (With an outburst of disgust.) Take it back! Though how can you bear to look at it, far less to have it touching you! And only yesterday I was angry because I had not seen the Duke riding past!

  GUIDO Seen him! here! riding past!

  GRACIOSA Old Ursula told me that the Duke had gone by with twenty men, riding down toward the convent at the border. And I flung my sewing-bag straight at her head because she had not called me.

  GUIDO That was idle gossip, I fancy. The Duke rarely rides abroad without my—(he stops)—without my lavish patron Eglamore, the friend of all honest merchants.

  GRACIOSA But that abominable Eglamore may have been with him. I heard nothing to the contrary.

  GUIDO True, madonna, true. I had forgotten you did not see them.

  GRACIOSA No. What is he like, this Eglamore? Is he as appalling to look at as the Duke?

  GUIDO Madonna! but wise persons do not apply such adjectives to dukes. And wise persons do not criticize Count Eglamore's appearance, either, now that Eglamore is indispensable to the all-powerful Duke of Florence.

  GRACIOSA Indispensable?

  GUIDO It is thanks to the Eglamore whom you hate that the Duke has ample leisure to indulge in recreations which are reputed to be—curious.

  GRACIOSA I do not understand you, Guido.

  GUIDO That is perhaps quite as well. (Attempting to explain as much as is decently expressible.) To be brief, madonna, business annoys the Duke.

  GRACIOSA Why?

  GUIDO It interferes with the pursuit of all the beautiful things he asks for in that song.

  GRACIOSA But how does that make Eglamore indispensable?

  GUIDO Eglamore is an industrious person who affixes seals, and signs treaties, and musters armies, and collects revenues, upon the whole, quite as efficiently as Alessandro would be capable of doing these things.

  GRACIOSA So Duke Alessandro merely makes verses?

  GUIDO And otherwise amuses himself as his inclinations prompt, while Eglamore rules Tuscany—and the Tuscans are none the worse off on account of it. (He rises, and his hand goes to the dagger at his belt.) But is not that a horseman?

  GRACIOSA (She too has risen, and is now standing on the bench, looking over the wa
ll.) A solitary rider, far down by the convent, so far away that he seems hardly larger than a scarlet dragon-fly.

  GUIDO I confess I wish to run no risk of being found here, by your respected father or by your ingenious cousins and uncles.

  GRACIOSA (She turns, but remains standing upon the bench.) I think your Duke is much more dangerous looking than any of them. Heigho! I can quite foresee that I shall never fall in love with this Duke.

  GUIDO A prince has means to overcome all obstacles.

  GRACIOSA No. It is unbefitting and a little cowardly for Duke Alessandro to shirk the duties of his station for verse-making and eternal pleasure-seeking. Now if I were Duke—

  GUIDO What would you do?

  GRACIOSA (Posturing a little as she stands upon the bench.) If I were duke? Oh … I would grant my father a pension … and I would have Eglamore hanged … and I would purchase a new gown of silvery green—

  GUIDO In which you would be very ravishingly beautiful.

  His tone has become rather ardent, and he is now standing nearer to her than the size of the garden necessitates. So GRACIOSA demurely steps down from the bench, and sits at the far end.

  GRACIOSA And that is all I can think of. What would you do if you were duke,

  Messer Guido?

  GUIDO (Who is now sitting beside her at closer quarters than the length of the bench quite strictly demands.) I? What would I do if I were a great lord instead of a tradesman! (Softly.) I think you know the answer, madonna.

  GRACIOSA Oh, you would make me your duchess, of course. That is quite understood. But I was speaking seriously, Guido.

  GUIDO And is it not a serious matter that a pedler of crystals should have dared to love a nobleman's daughter?

  GRACIOSA (Delighted.) This is the first I have heard of it.

  GUIDO But you are perfectly right. It is not a serious matter. That I worship you is an affair which does not seriously concern any person save me in any way whatsoever. Yet I think that knowledge of the fact would put your father to the trouble of sharpening his dagger.

  GRACIOSA Ye-es. But not even Father would deny that you were showing excellent taste.

  GUIDO Indeed, I am not certain that I do worship you; for in order to adore whole-heartedly the idolater must believe his idol to be perfect. (Taking her hand.) Now your nails are of an ugly shape, like that of little fans. Your nose is nothing to boast of. And your mouth is too large. I do not admire these faults, for faults they are undoubtedly—

  GRACIOSA Do they make me very ugly? I know that I have not a really good mouth,

  GUIDO, but do you think it is positively repulsive?

  GUIDO No…. Then, too, I know that you are vain and self-seeking, and look forward contentedly to the time when your father will transfer his ownership of your physical attractions to that nobleman who offers the highest price for them.

  GRACIOSA But we daughters of the poor Valori are compelled to marry—suitably. We have only the choice between that and the convent yonder.

  GUIDO That is true, and nobody disputes it. Still, you participate in a monstrous bargain, and I would prefer to have you exhibit distaste for it.

  Bending forward, GUIDO draws from his jewel pack the string of pearls, and this he moodily contemplates, in order to evince his complete disinterestedness. The pose has its effect. GRACIOSA looks at him for a moment, rises, draws a deep breath, and speaks with a sort of humility.

  GRACIOSA And to what end, Guido? What good would weeping do?

  GUIDO (Smiling whimsically.) I am afraid that men do not always love according to the strict laws of logic. (He drops the pearls, and, rising, follows her.) I desire your happiness above all things, yet to see you so abysmally untroubled by anything which troubles me is—another matter.

  GRACIOSA But I am not untroubled, Guido.

  GUIDO No?

  GRACIOSA No. (Rather tremulously.) Sometimes I sit here dreading my life at court. I want never to leave my father's bleak house. I fear that I may not like the man who offers the highest price for me. And it seems as if the court were a horrible painted animal, dressed in bright silks, and shining with jewels, and waiting to devour me.

  Beyond the wall appears a hat of scarlet satin with a divided brim, which, rising, is revealed to surmount the head of an extraordinarily swarthy person, to whose dark skin much powder has only loaned the hue of death: his cheeks, however, are vividly carmined. This is all that the audience can now see of the young DUKE of FLORENCE, whose proximity the two in the garden are just now too much engrossed to notice.

  The DUKE looks from one to the other. His eyes narrow, his teeth are displayed in a wide grin; he now understands the situation. He lowers his head as GRACIOSA moves.

  GRACIOSA No, I am not untroubled. For I cannot fathom you, and that troubles me. I am very fond of you—and yet I do not trust you.

  GUIDO You know that I love you.

  GRACIOSA You tell me so. It pleases me to have you say it—

  GUIDO Madonna is candid this morning.

  GRACIOSA Yes, I am candid. It does please me. And I know that for the sake of seeing me you endanger your life, for if my father heard of our meetings here he would have you killed.

  GUIDO Would I incur such risks without caring?

  GRACIOSA No,—and yet, somehow, I do not believe it is altogether for me that you care.

  The DUKE laughs. GUIDO starts, half drawing his dagger. GRACIOSA turns with an instinctive gesture of seeking protection. The DUKE'S head and shoulders appear above the wall.

  THE DUKE And you will find, my friend, that the most charming women have just these awkward intuitions.

  The DUKE ascends the wall, while the two stand motionless and silent. When he is on top of the wall, GUIDO, who now remembers that omnipotence perches there, makes haste to serve it, and obsequiously assists the DUKE to descend. The DUKE then comes well forward, in smiling meditation, and hands first his gloves, then his scarlet cloak (which you now perceive to be lined with ermine and sable in four stripes) to GUIDO, who takes them as a servant would attend his master.

  The removal of this cloak reveals the DUKE to be clad in a scarlet satin doublet, which has a high military collar and sleeves puffed with black. His tights also are of scarlet, and he wears shining soft black riding-boots. Jewels glisten at his neck. About his middle, too, there is a metallic gleaming, for he is equipped with a noticeably long sword and a dagger. Such is the personage who now addresses himself more explicitly to GRACIOSA.

  THE DUKE (Sitting upon the bench, very much at his ease while the others stand uncomfortably before him.) Yes, madonna, I suspect that Eglamore here cares greatly for the fact that you are Balthazar Valori's daughter, and cousin to the late Marquis of Cibo.

  GRACIOSA (Just in bewilderment.) Eglamore!

  THE DUKE For Cibo left many kinsmen. These still resent the circumstance that the matching of his wits against Eglamore's wits earned for Cibo an unpleasantly public death-bed. So they pursue their feud against Eglamore with vexatious industry. And Eglamore goes about in hourly apprehension of another falling beam, another knife-thrust in the back, or another plate of poison.

  GRACIOSA (She comprehends now.) Eglamore!

  THE DUKE (Who is pleased alike by Eglamore's neat plan and by his own cleverness in unriddling it.) But if rich Eglamore should make a stolen match with you, your father—good thrifty man!—could be appeased without much trouble. Your cousins, those very angry but penniless Valori, would not stay over-obdurate to a kinsman who had at his disposal so many pensions and public offices. Honor would permit a truce with their new cousin Eglamore, a truce very profitable to everybody.

  GRACIOSA He said they must be bought somehow!

  THE DUKE Yes, Eglamore could bind them all to his interest within ten days. All could be bought at a stroke by marrying you. And Eglamore would be rid of the necessity of sleeping in chain-armor. Have I not unraveled the scheme correctly, Eglamore?

  GUIDO (Smiling and deferential.) Your highness was never lac
king in penetration.

  GRACIOSA, at this, turns puzzled from one man to the other.

  GRACIOSA Are you—?

  THE DUKE I am Alessandro de Medici, madonna.

  GRACIOSA THE DUKE!

  THE DUKE A sadly neglected prince, who wondered over the frequent absences of his chief counselor, and secretly set spies upon him. Eglamore here will attest as much—(As GRACIOSA draws away from GUIDO)—or if you cannot believe Eglamore any longer in anything, I shall have other witnesses within the half-hour. Yes, my twenty cut-throats are fetching back for me a brace of nuns from the convent yonder. I can imagine that, just now, my cut-throats will be in your opinion more trustworthy witnesses than is poor Eglamore. And my stout knaves will presently assure you that I am the Duke.