True. A steeple-chase. What made thee think of that?
I’m for the steeple—not to ride a race,
Only to get there!—nor alone, in sooth,
But in fair company.
Wild. Thou’rt not in love!
True. Heigh ho!
Wild. Thou wouldst not marry!
True. With your help.
Wild. And whom, I prithee?
True. Gentle Mistress Constance!
Wild. What!—neighbour Constance?—Never did I dream
That mortal man would fall in love with her. [Aside.]
In love with neighbour Constance!—I feel strange
At thought that she should marry!—[Aside.] Go to church
With neighbour Constance! That’s a steeple-chase
I never thought of. I feel very strange!
What seest in neighbour Constance?
True. Lovers’ eyes
See with a vision proper to themselves;
Yet thousand eyes will vouch what mine affirm.
First, then, I see in her the mould express
Of woman—stature, feature, body, limb—
Breathing the gentle sex we value most,
When most ’tis at antipodes with ours!
Wild. You mean that neighbour Constance is a woman.
Why, yes; she is a woman, certainly.