r, easiness in love is more than
half the pleasure of it.

_Fred._ This way of chatting pleases me; for debauchery, I hate it;
and to love is not in my nature, except it be my friends. Pray, what
do you call that nunnery?

_Cam._ 'Tis a house of Benedictines, called the _Torre di Specchi_,
where only ladies of the best quality are professed.
[LUCRETIA _and_ HIPPOLITA _appear at the grate._

_Aur._ Look you yonder, sir, are two of the pretty magpies in white
and black. If you will lull yourself into a Platonic dream, you may;
but consider your sport will be dull when you play without stakes.

_Fred._ No matter, I'll fool away an hour of courtship; for I never
was engaged in a serious love, nor I believe can be. Farewell,
gentlemen; at this time I shall dispense with your attendance;--nay,
without ceremony, because I would be incognito.

_Cam._ Come then, Aurelian, to our own affairs.
[_Exeunt_ AURELIAN _and_ CAMILLO.

_The Prince and_ ASCANIO _approach._

_Fred._ [_To_ LUCRETIA.] For what crime, fair creature, were you
condemned to this perpetual prison?

_Luc._ For chastity and devotion, and two or three such melancholy
virtues: They first brought me hither, and must now keep me company.

_Fred._ I should rather have guessed it had been murder, and that you
are veiled for fear of doing more mischief with those eyes; for,
indeed, they are too sharp to be trusted out of the scabbard.

_Luc._ Cease, I beseech you, to accuse my eyes, till they have done
some execution on your heart.

_Fred._ But I am out of reach, perhaps.

_Luc._ Trust not to that; they may shoot at a distance, though they
cannot strike you near at hand.

_Fred._ But if they should kill, you are ne'er the better: There's a
grate betwixt us, and you cannot fetch in the dead quarry.

_Luc._ Provided we destroy the enemy, we do not value their dead
bodies: But you, perhaps, are in your first error, and think we are
rather captives than warriors; that we come like prisoners to the
grate, to beg the charity of passengers for their love.

_Fred._ [_To_ ASCANIO.] Enquire, as dextrously as you can, what is the
name and quality of this charming creature.

_Luc._ [_To_ HIPPOLITA.] Be sure, if the page approaches you, to get
out of him his master's name.
[_The Prince and_ LUCRETIA _seem to talk._

_Hip._ [_To_ ASCANIO.] By that short whisper, which I observed