_Mont_. How unsuccessfully I still o'ercome!
I brought a rival, not a captive, home;
Yet I may be deceived; but 'tis too late
To clear those doubts, my stay brings certain fate.
[_Aside_.
Come, prince, you shall to Mexico return,
Where your sad armies do your absence mourn;
And in one battle I will gain you more
Than I have made you lose in three before.
_Aca_. No, Montezuma, though you change your side,
I, as a prisoner, am by honour tied.
_Mont_. You are my prisoner, and I set you free.
_Aca_. 'Twere baseness to accept such liberty.
_Mont_. From him, that conquered you, it should be sought.
_Aca_. No, but from him, for whom my conqueror fought.
_Mont_. Still you are mine, his gift has made you so.
_Aca_. He gave me to his general, not his foe.
_Mont_. How poorly have you pleaded honour's laws!
Yet shun the greatest in your country's cause.
_Aca_. What succour can the captive give the free.
_Mont_. A needless captive is an enemy.
In painted honour you would seem to shine;
But 'twould be clouded, were your wrongs like mine.
_Aca_. When choler such unbridled power can
have,
Thy virtue seems but thy revenge's slave:
If such injustice should my honour stain,
My aid would prove my nation's loss, not gain.
_Mont_.
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