THE NEIGHBOUR'S HOUSE
MARTHA (alone)
God pardon my dear husband, he
Doth not in truth act well by me!
Forth in the world abroad to roam,
And leave me on the straw at home.
And yet his will I ne'er did thwart,
God knows, I lov'd him from my heart.
(She weeps.)
Perchance he's dead!—oh wretched state!—
Had I but a certificate!
(MARGARET comes)
MARGARET
Dame Martha!
MARTHA
Gretchen?
MARGARET
Only think!
My knees beneath me well-nigh sink!
Within my press I've found to-day,
Another case, of ebony.
And things—magnificent they are,
More costly than the first, by far.