Cromwell.But you forget the locust.
Rochester [aside.] Ah! the deuce!
But who would put such vermin in his paunch?
Cromwell.Nor do you say what 'tis most meet to know:
"Who touches a dead body doth remain
Impure till evening."
[Aside.] But it matters not
He is most learned! and one may well not have
Ideas so strict as mine on such concerns.
[Aloud.]One last word. To conform to Holy Writ,
Must one his hair wear long or short?
Rochester [with assurance.] Oh! short,
Quite short!
[Aside.]Thou Roundhead, make the most of that!
Cromwell.Which leads you to conclude?
Rochester [hastily.] This hair of ours
Is vanity! For Absalom was hanged
By his long hair.
Cromwell. But Samson ceased to live
When he was shorn.
Rochester [aside, biting his lips.] The devil! fairly caught!
Cromwell.So far as may be, to elucidate
So grave a point, I go to fetch my Bible. [Exit
Scene 16.—Lord Rochester, alone.
Rochester.Go to! that skirmish I sustained not ill.
Though Puritan he be, the knave's no fool.
I fear, in truth—St. Paul! who can he be,
This traitor who is in the confidence
Of Cromwell and of Hyde the Chancellor?—
The villain!—But the old devil I deceived!
