James Cabell: The Jewel Merchants. A Comedy in One Act

GRACIOSABecause it reminds me constantly of the hours which I have spent here with my lute—

GUIDOOh, with your lute!

GRACIOSAAnd with your pack of lovely jewels—

GUIDOYes, to be sure! with my jewels.

GRACIOSAAnd with you.

GUIDOThere is again my gracious lady. Now, in reward for that, you shall feast your eyes.

GRACIOSA( All eagerness. ) And what have you to-day?

GUIDO opens his pack. She bends above it with hands outstretched.

GUIDO( Taking out a necklace. ) For one thing, pearls, black pearls, set with a clasp of emeralds. See! They will become you.

GRACIOSA( Taking them, pressing them to her cheek. ) How cool! But I—poor child of a poor noble—I cannot afford such.

GUIDOOh, I did not mean to offer them to you to-day. No, this string is intended for the Duke's favorite, Count Eglamore.

GRACIOSA( Stiffening. ) Count Eglamore! These are for him?

GUIDOFor Count Eglamore.

GRACIOSAHas the upstart such taste?

GUIDOIf it be taste to appreciate pearls, then the Duke's chief officer has excellent taste. He seeks them far and wide. He will be very generous in paying for this string.

GRACIOSA drops the pearls, in which she no longer delights. She returns to the bench, and sits down and speaks with a sort of disappointment.

GRACIOSAI am sorry to learn that this Eglamore is among your patrons.

GUIDO( Still half engrossed by the contents of his pack. The man loves jewels equally for their value and their beauty. ) Oh, the nobles complain of him, but we merchants have no quarrel with Eglamore. He buys too lavishly.

GRACIOSADo you think only of buying and selling, Guido?

GUIDOIt 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—

GRACIOSAI 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.

GUIDOYet you have never even seen him, I believe?

GRACIOSAAnd 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—

GUIDOSo 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—

GUIDOAh, yes, I remember.

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

GUIDOI remember that also.

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

GUIDOYes, the dog seemed to think so, I remember.

GRACIOSAHowever, 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?

GRACIOSANot yet.

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

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

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

GRACIOSANo, 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?

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

GRACIOSAAnd Duke Alessandro—shall I like him?

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

GRACIOSADo you like him? Does he too buy lavishly?

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

GRACIOSAOh! I shall see them when I go to court?

GUIDOYes, 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!

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

GRACIOSAHe 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.

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

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

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

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

GUIDOThe songs of a reigning duke are always good.

GRACIOSAAnd is he as handsome as people report?

GUIDOTastes differ, of course—

GRACIOSAAnd is he—?

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

GRACIOSAYes, yes!

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

GRACIOSABut 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.

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