The Spanish Tragedy Act 2, Scene 1 Summary

  • The scene opens with Balthazar moping about Bel-Imperia denying his best pick-up lines.
  • Lorenzo tries to assure Balthazar that his sister will eventually give in if he just remains patient, but he does admit that it's possible that she loves another knight.
  • Lorenzo is a forward thinking baddie, so he's got a plan if Bel-Imperia is crushing on a new dude. As soon as he tells Balthazar this, the henchman who will carry out this plan enters the room—his name is Pedringano (servant to Bel-Imperia).
  • Lorenzo reminds Pedringano that he owes him one for a solid in the past. Apparently, Pedringano helped to hide Bel-Imperia's relationship with Andrea from the King. And Lorenzo helped to shield the wormy servant from the king's wrath.
  • After being reminded of his debt, Pedringano is more than willing to give Lorenzo any information he might need—in fact, Pedringano seems to enjoy being bad.
  • His first bad guy move is to rat out the lady he serves. So, Pedringano spills the beans and says that Bel-Imperia now loves Horatio—big trouble.
  • He even goes the extra mile by letting Lorenzo know that he passed love notes to Horatio for Bel-Imperia. Lorenzo happily pays Pedringano for the down low, and says something like, "there's more where that comes from if you wanna help."
  • Pedringano accepts his new role as Lorenzo's moustache-twirling-assistant-villain. And while the money is nice, the job is also a perfect fit for a fellow of Pedringano's character and skill set.
  • After Pedringano exits the scene, Lorenzo tells Balthazar that the only way he'll hook up with Bel-Imperia is if Horatio is dead—man, this guy is really devoted to matchmaking.