But 'tis most base, 'tis perjury and theft,

When a lost girl is like a widow left;

The rogue who ruins"—here the father found

His spouse was treading on forbidden ground.

"That's not the point," quoth he,—"I don't suppose

280

My good friend Fletcher to be one of those;

What's done amiss he'll mend in proper time—

I hate to hear of villany and crime.

'Twas my misfortune, in the days of youth,