[The Friar starts for the wicket gate. Chaucer, absent-minded, passes on to the inn door. As he does so, the Friar, treading tip-toe behind him, steals another parchment, which is sticking from his pouch.]

CHAUCER

“April, May,

Cannot stay;

We be pilgrims—so are they.”

[Exit.]

FRIAR

[Stands holding the second parchment, from which he reads.]

“There was also a nun, a prioress,

That of her smiling was full simple and coy;