The Man. Sing another verse!
Another. If Love and I—
Another. Shut up now and let the kid sing it!
Mary. Why yes, if you’ll let me pass afterwards, sir, like love in the song.
The Man. Sing another verse! Sing twenty other verses!
Mary [singing]. If Love should pass me by, I’ll follow till I find him, And when I hear him cry, I’ll tear the veils that blind him!
The Man. Now then, chorus!
All Together. Hey, Love! Ho, Love! None shall know, Love! Keep but a kiss for me!
Mary disappears in the crowd. The door swings to as Shakespeare turns back into the room.
Shakespeare. Marlowe! Marlowe! She is gone, Marlowe, that was a fume of wine Between us. Marlowe, Marlowe, speak to me! Never a sound. We have seen many a dawn Creep like a house-wife on the drunken night, And tumble him from heaven with work-day hand And bird-shrill railing; but such a waking up As this we never knew. Sorry and cold I look on you. Kit, Kit, this mark of the knife Is the first blot I ever saw in you, The first ill-writing. Kit, for your own sake, You should have wronged a stranger, not your friend; For like a looking-glass my heart still served you To see yourself, and when you struck at me, You struck yourself, and broke this mirror too. A knock. Mary? Is it Mary? Lie you quiet, Marlowe! We will not let her in.