<\/p>\n
(being a cont. serialisation)<\/p>\n
Great Hall, Woodstock Lodge (near Oxford), the Rochester country estate.<\/p>\n
ANNE WILMOT, DOWAGER COUNTESS OF ROCHESTER: I have a letter, post haste, from Baptiste. They arrive shortly. He says my son is very ill, but he gives no detail.<\/p>\n
REVEREND DR ROBERT PARSONS: I fear the worst, your ladyship.<\/p>\n
ANNE WILMOT: So you play the physician now, Parsons<\/p>\n
PARSONS (sanctimoniously)<\/em>: I refer to his spiritual condition. I\u2019m told that he\u2019s fallen under the influence of the Reverend Burnet, a fashionable preacher from Scotland. Burnet\u2019s specialty is ministering to pox-ridden whores discarded by the royal court.<\/p>\n ANNE WILMOT (aside, sotto voce): <\/em>Apart from the matter of gender, my son qualifies admirably for such ministrations. To Parsons<\/em>: A soul can be rescued up to the last breath of its mortal frame. That\u2019s your job, as my chaplain. That moment will likely come soon, so grievously has John abused his body. He was conceived here \u2013 a small cavalier victory in Cromwell\u2019s England; he was born here \u2013 on All Fool\u2019s Day; and he will assuredly die here, even before he has attained Our Saviour\u2019s span of years. He must depart this life as a Christian in good standing with his Maker. I cannot live with the thought that irreligion sullies the Rochester name.<\/p>\n PARSONS (obsequiously): <\/em>Your ladyship has striven ceaselessly in her son\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n ANNE WILMOT: What choice did I have? When husbands go to war, women of the gentry like myself are obliged to occupy manly roles. To keep my son\u2019s birthright intact, I employed every trick and ruse, manly and womanly, to fend off my grasping Puritan neighbours. I was, in all but name, landlord, agent, and attorney of the estate. I learned the arts of litigating, cajoling, and flattering \u2013 and I prevailed. These arts have their value in peacetime, too. While my son was playing the ardent suitor to his bride-to-be, I was extracting a respectable dowry from her miserly guardians. Not an easy task especially when John tried to force the issue by abducting Elizabeth, and as a consequence found himself confined, by the king\u2019s orders, in the Tower of London, until his ardour had cooled.<\/p>\n PARSONS: Such labours for an ingrate son, a hardened libertine, a very Lucifer.<\/p>\n ANNE WILMOT (sharply)<\/em>: You forget your station, Reverend Parsons! He remains my son in every circumstance. Fallen angel might fit the case, but his face still bears some marks of innocence, at least in his mother\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n PARSONS: I most humbly beg your ladyship\u2019s pardon.<\/p>\n Enter Elizabeth Wilmot, Countess of Rochester.<\/em><\/p>\n ELIZABETH WILMOT: Any news of John?<\/p>\n ANNE WILMOT: He arrives very soon, my dear. He enclosed this letter for you.<\/p>\n Elizabeth takes letter and reads [Rochester\u2019s voice]:<\/em><\/p>\n I am, by fate, slave to your will. ELIZABETH WILMOT: Whimsical husband. Gallantry in the face of calamity. It\u2019s the prospect of serenity that agitates him.<\/p>\n ANNE WILMOT: He was such a docile and obedient child\u2026<\/p>\n PARSONS: But with demons lurking within\u2026<\/p>\n ELIZABETH WILMOT: Which you no doubt would like to exorcise.<\/p>\n PARSONS: Modesty forbids, ma\u2019am; but there are experts of good reputation.<\/p>\n ELIZABETH WILMOT: I thought exorcism was a specialty of the Catholic priesthood. Don\u2019t tell me you\u2019ve strayed into that camp, now, Reverend Parsons.<\/p>\n PARSONS: No, your ladyship. I was referring to fervent and continuous bedside praying, with laying on of hands, by trained Protestant clergy. The results, the expulsion of Satan\u2019s demonic agents, surpass those dubiously claimed by Catholic exorcists. There are many such cases attested to.<\/p>\n ELIZABETH WILMOT: And I mistakenly thought we were now living in enlightened times. My husband needs gentle ministration for his mind and body, not spiritual trickery. I would be obliged if you kept your fervent friends at a safe distance. I go now to prepare for John\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n (exit Elizabeth)<\/em><\/p>\n PARSONS: I fear her ladyship doesn\u2019t like me, your ladyship.<\/p>\n ANNE WILMOT: She\u2019s young; you must try to be accommodating. After all you\u2019re well-practised. When you were a smooth-faced curate, I recall, you delivered sweet homilies on the beauty of holiness and universal salvation. As the Puritan cause triumphed, you became a fierce Calvinist, very strong on predestination and the popish crimes of the bishops. Now, lo and behold, you\u2019ve become a moderate man again, exquisitely adjusted to the temper of the times; though I warrant you could still conjure up the horrors of hell-fire should the need arise. With such experience in face-changing, surely you can present an agreeable face to the young mistress of the house.<\/p>\n PARSONS: I endeavour to follow your ladyship\u2019s wishes in all things.<\/p>\n Hubbub outside. Rochester enters assisted by Baptiste who deposits him on a chaise lounge.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n BAPTISTE (TO ANNE): He\u2019s very ill ma\u2019am. He has a hectic fever with delirium. He\u2019s in terrible pain. He\u2019s pissing blood and solid matter. And he has an ulcer, oozing puss, the size and shape of a large birch leaf on his back.<\/p>\n ANNE WILMOT: Oh God have mercy on us. He\u2019s not long for this world, but we can at least ease his exit from it. Fetch the laudanum, Baptiste; and get the doctor. And he needs ass\u2019s milk to soothe the bladder. Find a she ass quickly.<\/p>\n BAPTISTE: Yes, your ladyship. Rushes off while Anne Wilmot hovers over her son.<\/em><\/p>\n ROCHESTER (barely conscious)<\/em>: Mother, will you relieve the pain now please?<\/p>\n ANNE WILMOT: We\u2019ll do our best John.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lord Rochester is Dying: A Comedy<\/strong><\/p>\n Prologue: Aphra Behn<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n The centuries fall away. We live to see
\nAnd shall be most obedient still.
\nTo show my love, I will compose ye,
\nFor your fair finger\u2019s ring, a posy,
\nIn which shall be expressed my duty.
\nAnd how I\u2019ll be forever true t\u2019 ye.
\nWith low-made legs and sugared speeches,
\nYielding to your fair bum the breeches,
\nI\u2019ll show myself, in all I can,
\nYour faithful, humble servant,
\nJohn<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nEngland merry after war\u2019s murd\u2019rous spree.
\nFoul Cromwell\u2019s head rots on a spike. Hail Charles!
\nYour regal smile supplants a tyrant\u2019s snarls.
\nReligious hatred drove bloody strife;
\nHeresy, so-called, could cost you your life.
\nNow toleration is starting to show,
\nA tender plant needing nurture to grow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2292"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4427,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292\/revisions\/4427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}