MRS ART. So your demand may be no prejudice
To my chaste name, no wrong unto my husband,
No suit that may concern my wedlock's breach,
I yield unto it; but
To pass the bounds of modesty and chastity,
Sooner[19] will I bequeath myself again
Unto this grave, and never part from hence,
Than taint my soul with black impurity.
ANS. Take here my hand and faithful heart to gage.
That I will never tempt you more to sin:
This my request is—since your husband dotes
Upon a lewd, lascivious courtesan—
Since he hath broke the bonds of your chaste bed,
And, like a murd'rer, sent you to your grave,
Do but go with me to my mother's house;
There shall you live in secret for a space,
Only to see the end of such lewd lust,
And know the difference of a chaste wife's bed,
And one whose life is in all looseness led.
MRS ART. Your mother is a virtuous matron held:
Her counsel, conference, and company
May much avail me; there a space I'll stay,
Upon condition, as you said before,
You never will move your unchaste suit more.
ANS. My faith is pawn'd. O, never had chaste wife
A husband of so lewd and unchaste life!
[Exeunt.
SCENE II.
A Room in Mistress Mary's House.
Enter MISTRESS MARY, MISTRESS SPLAY, and BRABO.
BRA. Mistress, I long have serv'd you, even since
These bristled hairs upon my grave-like chin
Were all unborn; when I first came to you,
These infant feathers of these ravens' wings
Were not once begun.
MRS SPLAY. No, indeed, they were not.