Phil. It seems some other had laid the plot to kill him.
This paper I found with him speaks as much,
And, sent to the intended murderer,
Happen'd (it seems) to his hands. It concurs;
For they say, there is one taken for the fact,
And will do me the courtesy to be hang'd for me.
There's comfort yet in that. So, so: I am fitted;
And will set forward. [Antonio takes up the pistol.
Ant. Goose, there's a fox in your way.
Phil. Betrayed!
Ant. Come, I have another business afoot: I have no time to discover 'em now, sir. See, I can enforce you; but by this hand, go but with me, and keep your own counsel. Garden-houses[171] are not truer bawds to cuckold-making, than I will be to thee and thy stratagem.
Phil. Th' art a mad knave: art serious?
Ant. As a usurer when he's telling interestmoney.
Phil. Whate'er thou art, thy bluntness begets belief. Go on, I trust thee.
Ant. But I have more wit than to trust you behind me, sir; pray, get you before. I have a friend shall keep you in custody till I have passed a project; and if you can keep your own counsel, I will not injure you. And this for your comfort—the prince lives.
Phil. Living! Thou mak'st my blood dance.
But prythee, let's be honest one to another.
Ant. O sir, as the justices' clerk and the constable, when they share the crowns that drunkards pay to the poor. Pray, keep fair distance, and take no great strides. [Exeunt.