Jessica.—You are dreadfully cross. When I came to you and told you the story of my life, how I eloped with poor, dear Lorenzo, who was all a woman could ask, while the money I took from father lasted——
Mrs. Pet.—And who hastily departed simultaneously with the last ducat——
Jessica.—Do not wound my spirit. I repeat, you promised to give me shelter, to shield me, treat me kindly——
Mrs. Pet.—Shut up! move! Lorenzo, you say, has gone to Padua to seek a position as pen-wiper to Ballario; believe it not; he is in Venice suing for a divorce before the Duke. Unhappy woman, move!
Jessica (aside).—As Jessica Shylock I was envied as a rich man’s child; as Jessica Lorenzo I am——
Mrs. Pet.—What’s the use of whining; you will never see Lorenzo more.
Jessica.—
There is a tide in the affairs of men—
If men, then women, too—
Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune;