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Go thou with her to the west end of the wood,
There is our captain; we'll follow him that's fled;
The thicket is beset, he cannot 'scape.

cave;

Fear not; he bears an honourable mind,
And will not use a woman lawlessly.

Than plural faith, which is too much by one:
Thou counterfeit to thy true friend!
Pro.
In love,

1 Out. Come, I must bring you to our captain's Who respects friend?
Sil.
All men but Proteus.
Pro. Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words
Can no way change you to a milder form,
I'll woo you like a soldier, at arms' end;
And love you 'gainst the nature of love, force you.
Sil. O heaven!

Sil. O Valentine, this I endure for thee! [Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

-

· Another part of the Forest.

Enter VALENTINE.

Val. How use doth breed a habit in a man!
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns:
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And, to the nightingale's complaining notes,
Tune my distresses, and record my woes.
O thou that dost inhabit in my breast,
Leave not the mansion so long tenantless;
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall,
And leave no memory of what it was!
Repair me with thy presence, Silvia;

Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn swain ! -
What halloing, and what stir is this to-day?

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These are my mates, that make their wills their law, 'Mongst all foes, that a friend should be the worst!
Have some unhappy passenger in chase:
They love me well; yet I have much to do,
To keep them from uncivil outrages.

Withdraw thee, Valentine: who's this comes here?
[Steps aside.

Enter PROTEUS, SILVIA, and JULIA.
Pro. Madam, this service I have done for you,
(Though you respect not aught your servant doth,)
To hazard life, and rescue you from him
That would have forc'd your honour and your love.
Vouchsafe me for my meed but one fair look ;
A smaller boon than this I cannot beg,
And less than this, I am sure, you cannot give.

Val. How like a dream is this I see and hear!
Love, lend me patience to forbear a while. [Aside.
Sil. O miserable, unhappy that I am!
Pro. Unhappy were you, madam, ere I came;
But, by my coming, I have made you happy.

Sil. By thy approach thou mak'st me most un-
happy.

Jul. And me, when he approacheth to your pre[Aside.

sence.

Sil. Had I been seiz'd by a hungry lion,
I would have been a breakfast to the beast,
Rather than have false Proteus rescue me.
O, heaven be judge how I love Valentine,
Whose life's as tender to me as my soul;
And full as much (for more there cannot be)
I do detest false perjur'd Proteus;
Therefore begone, solicit me no more.

Pro. What dangerous action, stood it next to
death,

Would I not undergo for one calm look?
O, 'tis the curse in love, and still approv'd 5,
When women cannot love where they're belov'd.

Sil. When Proteus cannot love where he's belov'd.
Read over Julia's heart, thy first best love,
For whose dear sake thou didst then rend thy faith
Into a thousand oaths; and all those oaths
Descended into perjury, to love me.

Thou hast no faith left now, unless thou hadst two,
And that's far worse than none; better have none
5 Felt, experienced.

4 Sing.

Pro. My shame and guilt confound me. —
Forgive me, Valentine: if hearty sorrow
Be a sufficient ransom for offence,
I tender it here; I do as truly suffer,
As e'er I did commit.

Val.
Then I am paid;
And once again I do receive thee honest:
Who by repentance is not satisfied,
Is nor of heaven, nor earth; for these are pleas'd;
By penitence the Eternal's wrath's appeas'd:
And, that my love may appear plain and free,
All that was mine in Silvia, I give thee.
Jul. O me unhappy!
Pro. Look to the boy.

[Faints.

Val. Why, boy! why, wag! how now? what is the matter?

Look up; speak.

Jul.

O good sir, my master charg'd me
To deliver a ring to madam Silvia;
Which, out of my neglect, was never done.
Pro. Where is that ring, boy?

Jul.
Here 'tis this is it. [Gives a ring.
Pro. How! let me see:
Why this is the ring I gave to Julia.
Jul. O, cry your mercy, sir, I have mistook;
This is the ring you sent to Silvia.

[Shows another ring. Pro. But, how cam'st thou by this ring? at my depart,

I gave this unto Julia.

Jul. And Julia herself did give it me;
And Julia herself hath brought it hither.
Pro. How! Julia!

Jul. Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths,
And entertain'd them deeply in her heart:
How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root?7
O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush!
Be thou asham'd, that I have took upon me
Such an immodest raiment; if shame live
In a disguise of love:

It is the lesser blot, modesty finds,
Women to change their shapes, than men their minds.

6 Direction.

7 An allusion to cleaving the pin in archery.

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Pro. Than men their minds? 'tis true: O heaven! | And think thee worthy of an empress' love.

were man

But constant, he were perfect: that one error

Know then, I here forget all former griefs, Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again.

Fills him with faults; makes him run through all Plead a new state in thy unrivall'd merit,

sins :

Inconstancy falls off, ere it begins:
What is in Silvia's face, but I may spy
More fresh in Julia's with a constant eye?
Val. Come, come, a hand from either:
Let me be blest to make this happy close;
'Twere pity two such friends should be long foes.
Pro. Bear witness, heaven, I have my wish for ever.
Jul. And I have mine.

Enter Out-laws, with DUKE and THURIO.
Out.
A prize, a prize, a prize!
Val. Forbear, I say; it is my lord the duke.
Your grace is welcome to a man disgrac'd,
Banished Valentine.

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Thu. Yonder is Silvia; and Silvia's mine. Val. Thurio, give back, or else embrace thy death; Come not within the measure of my wrath :8 Do not name Silvia thine; if once again, Milan shall not behold thee. Here she stands, Take but possession of her with a touch; I dare thee but to breathe upon my love. Thu. Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I; I hold him but a fool, that will endanger His body for a girl that loves him not: I claim her not, and therefore she is thine. Duke. The more degenerate and base art thou, To make such means 9 for her as thou hast done, And leave her on such slight conditions. Now, by the honour of my ancestry, I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine,

8 Length of my sword.

9 Interest

To which I thus subscribe, - sir Valentine,
Thou art a gentleman, and well deriv'd ;
Take thou thy Silvia, for thou hast deserv'd her.
Val. I thank your grace; the gift hath made me
happy.

I now beseech you for your daughter's sake,
To grant one boon that I shall ask of you.

Duke. I grant it, for thine own, whate'er it be.
Val. These banish'd men, that I have kept withal,
Are men endued with worthy qualities;
Forgive them what they have committed here.
And let them be recall'd from their exíle :
They are reformed, civil, full of good,
And fit for great employment, worthy lord.

Duke. Thou hast prevail'd: I pardon them, and thee;

Dispose of them, as thou know'st their deserts.
Come, let us go; we will include all jars
With triumphs, mirth, and rare solemnity.

Val. And, as we walk along, I dare be bold With our discourse to make your grace to smile: What think you of this page, my lord?

Duke. I think the boy hath grace in him: he blushes.

Val. I warrant you, my lord; more grace than boy. Duke. What mean you by that saying?

Val. Please you, I'll tell you as we pass along,
That you will wonder what hath fortuned.
Come, Proteus; 'tis your penance, but to hear
The story of your loves discovered:

That done, our day of marriage shall be yours;
One feast, one house, one mutual happiness.

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Slen. I may quarter, coz?
Shal. You may, by marrying.
Eva. It is marring indeed, if he quarter it.
Shal. Not a whit.

Eva. Yes, py'r 3 lady; if he has a quarter of your coat, there is but three skirts for yourself, in my simple conjectures: but this is all one: If Sir John Falstaff have committed disparagements unto you, I am of the church, and will be glad to do my benevolence, to make atonements and compromises between you.

Shal. The Council shall hear it; it is a riot.

Eva. It is not meet the Council hear a riot; there

is no fear of Got in a riot; the Council, look you, shall desire to hear the fear of Got, and not to hear a riot; take your vizaments 4 in that.

Shal. Ha! o' my life, if I were young again, the sword should end it.

Eva. It is petter that friends is the sword, and end it: and there is also another device in my prain, which, peradventure, prings goot discretions with it: There is Anne Page, which is daughter to master George Page, which is pretty virginity.

Slen. Mistress Anne Page? She has brown hair, and speaks small like a woman.

Eva. It is that fery person for all the 'orld, as just as you will desire and seven hundred pounds of monies, and gold, and silver, is her grandsire,

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