'Tis well! So Rochester 's the Devil's Chaplain!
'Tis wondrous well devised—ay, wondrous well!
They deem it no hard task to close my eyes.
They hoodwink me, drug me, and kidnap me;
Most excellent.
[To Davenant.] Your tragi-comedies,
Sirrah, are past compare, if all your plays
Equal your perfidy.
[To Thurloe, who enters at this moment.
Let this good man
Be taken under escort to the Tower.
Charles hatted you, I lodge you in my turn.
May Heaven bless you!
Davenant [aside.] Ominous conclusion!
[Exit with the guards.
Thurloe [to Cromwell.]The Parliament, to whom, by your command,
A holy minister, my lord, has given
A solemn exhortation, waits without,
Bringing for your approval divers bills
And notably th' address whereby the crown
Is placed upon your head.
Cromwell. Let them come in.
[Exit Thurloe.
O tenebrous affair! By their own ruse
They must be brought to nought. 'Tis my design
To ensnare them in the nets they spread for me.
[He looks at Rochester's scroll and Davenant's despatch in turn.
I hold them in my hand—
[He closes his hands with a forcible gesture.
