All’s Well That Ends Well

Gentleman

Madam, he’s gone to serve the duke of Florence:
We met him thitherward; for thence we came,
And, after some dispatch in hand at court,
Thither we bend again.

Helena

Look on his letter, madam; here’s my passport.

Reads. When thou canst get the ring upon my finger which never shall come off, and show me a child begotten of thy body that I am father to, then call me husband: but in such a “then” I write a “never.”

This is a dreadful sentence.

Countess Brought you this letter, gentlemen? First Gentleman

Ay, madam;
And for the contents’ sake are sorry for our pain.

Countess

I prithee, lady, have a better cheer;
If thou engrossest all the griefs are thine,
Thou robb’st me of a moiety: he was my son;
But I do wash his name out of my blood,
And thou art all my child. Towards Florence is he?

Second Gentleman Ay, madam. Countess And to be a soldier? Second Gentleman

Such is his noble purpose; and believe’t,
The duke will lay upon him all the honour
That good convenience claims.

Countess Return you thither? First Gentleman Ay, madam, with the swiftest wing of speed. Helena

Reads. Till I have no wife I have nothing in France.

’Tis bitter.

Countess Find you that there? Helena Ay, madam. First Gentleman ’Tis but the boldness of his hand, haply, which his heart was not consenting to. Countess

Nothing in France, until he have no wife!
There’s nothing here that is too good for him
But only she; and she deserves a lord
That twenty such rude boys might tend upon
And call her hourly mistress. Who was with him?

First Gentleman

A servant only, and a gentleman
Which I have sometime known.

Countess Parolles, was it not? First Gentleman Ay, my good lady, he. Countess

A very tainted fellow, and full of wickedness.
My son corrupts a well-derived nature
With his inducement.

First Gentleman

Indeed, good lady,
The fellow has a deal of that too much,
Which holds him much to have.

Countess

You’re welcome, gentlemen.
I will entreat you, when you see my son,
To tell him that his sword can never win
The honour that he loses: more I’ll entreat you
Written to bear along.

Second Gentleman

We serve you, madam,
In that and all your worthiest affairs.

Countess

Not so, but as we change our courtesies.
Will you draw near! Exeunt Countess and Gentlemen.

Helena

“Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France.”
Nothing in France, until he has no wife!
Thou shalt have none, Rousillon, none in France;
Then hast thou all again. Poor lord! is’t I
That chase thee from thy country and expose
Those tender limbs of thine to the event
Of the none-sparing war? and is it I
That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou
Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark
Of smoky muskets? O you leaden messengers,
That ride upon the violent speed of fire,
Fly with false aim; move the still-peering air,
That sings with piercing; do not touch my lord.
Whoever shoots at him, I set him there;
Whoever charges on his forward breast,
I am the caitiff that do hold him to’t;
And, though I kill him not, I am the cause
His death was so effected: better ’twere
I met the ravin lion when he roar’d
With sharp constraint of hunger; better ’twere
That all the miseries which nature owes
Were mine at once. No, come thou home, Rousillon,
Whence honour but of danger wins a scar,
As oft it loses all: I will be gone;
My being here it is that holds thee hence:
Shall I stay here to do’t? no, no, although
The air of paradise did fan the house
And angels officed all: I will be gone,
That pitiful rumour may report my flight,
To consolate thine ear. Come, night; end, day!
For with the dark, poor thief, I’ll steal away. Exit.

Scene III

Florence. Before the Duke’s palace.

	Flourish. Enter the Duke of Florence, Bertram, Parolles, Soldiers, Drum, and Trumpets.
Duke	The general of our horse thou art; and we, Great in our hope, lay our best love and credence Upon thy promising fortune.
Bertram	Sir, it is A charge too heavy for my strength, but yet We’ll strive to bear it for your worthy sake To the extreme edge of hazard.
Duke	Then go thou forth; And fortune play upon thy prosperous helm, As thy auspicious mistress!
Bertram	This very day, Great Mars, I put myself into thy file: Make me but like my thoughts, and I shall prove A lover of thy drum, hater of love. Exeunt.

Scene IV

Rousillon. The Count’s palace.

	Enter Countess and Steward.
Countess	Alas! and would you take the letter of her? Might you not know she would do as she has done, By sending me a letter? Read it again.
Steward	Reads. I am Saint Jaques’ pilgrim, thither gone: Ambitious love hath so in me offended, That barefoot plod I the cold ground upon, With sainted vow my faults to have amended. Write, write, that from the bloody course of war My dearest master, your dear son, may hie: Bless him at home in peace, whilst I from far His name with zealous fervour sanctify: His taken labours bid him me forgive; I, his despiteful Juno, sent him forth From courtly friends, with camping foes to live, Where death and danger dogs the heels of worth: He is too good and fair for death and me: Whom I myself embrace, to set him free.
Countess	Ah, what sharp stings are in her mildest words! Rinaldo, you did never lack advice so much, As letting her pass so: had I spoke with her, I could have well diverted her intents, Which thus she hath prevented.
Steward	Pardon me, madam: If I had given you this at over-night, She might have been o’erta’en; and yet she writes, Pursuit would be but vain.
Countess	What angel shall Bless this unworthy husband? he cannot thrive, Unless her prayers, whom heaven delights to hear And loves to grant, reprieve him from the wrath Of greatest justice. Write, write, Rinaldo, To this unworthy husband of his wife; Let every word weigh heavy of her worth That he does weigh too light: my greatest grief, Though little he do feel it, set down sharply. Dispatch the most convenient messenger: When haply he shall hear that