Ne'er led the foremost, still himself the first.
I grudge the yielding to the Florentines
That now must follow.
2nd noble.
Than that within our gates; the citizens,
Stirr'd by Castruccio, talk of their rights:
Time was, a creditor, grown troublesome,
Might hang, a useful warning, at our door;
But Castrucani has so changed the state,
That not a knave who walks the market-place
But holds his life as precious as our own.
Why Lucca is as quiet as a bower.
1st noble.
Victory on victory o'er the Florentines.
2nd noble.
How stronger, hour by hour, has grown his sway.
Among ourselves, if it were left to him,
We should not have a single privilege
Beyond the meanest citizen.
Enter the Count Leoni, as if from a journey, speaking to his Page as he enters.
See all your charges safe: then follow me,
Bringing the casket where my cousin's name
Is work'd in pearls.
1st noble.
(All gather round him.)
