Cress! Buy cress! A supper for Queen Bess!
Elizabeth lays down the purse on the table as the girl comes back.
Girl [distressed]. Madam—
Elizabeth. It was here. That cress seller has a sweet voice. Fling her a coin and ask her where she lives!
Girl [going to the window]. Hey, beggar!
Hawker. Bless you, lady!
Girl. Where do you come from with your green stuff?
Hawker. Marlow, lady, Marlow! Down by the river where the cresses grow, And buttercups like guineas. Cress! Buy cress! Who’ll buy my cress-es?
Her voice dies away in the distance.
Girl. She has come a long way. Marlow’s across the river, far from us.