"I will sing to the best of my skill," replied Albert, "which has been magnified beyond my deservings. With your leave, I will try a canzonet I learned in London. It was much liked by the gallants there, and I confess a favour for it because it hath a stirring relish. It runs thus:
'Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.
'True, a new mistress, now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.
'Yet this inconstancy is such