Spend. It does.
Wid. Then speak it, and be brief.
Spend. Nay, gentle widow, be more pliant to me:
My suit is soft and courteous; full of love.
Wid. Of love?
Spend. Of love.
Wid. Why, sure, the man is mad! bethink thyself;
Thou hast forgot thy errand.
Spend. I have indeed, fair lady; for my errand
Should first have been deliver'd on your lips.
Wid. Why, thou impudent fellow, unthrift of shame,
As well as of thy purse. What has mov'd thee
To prosecute thy ruin? hath my bounty,
For which thy master was an orator,
Importun'd thee to pay me with abuse?
Sirrah, retire, or I will, to your shame,
With clamours raise the house, and make your master
For this attempt return you to the dungeon,
From whence you came.
Spend. Nay, then I must be desperate:
Widow, hold your clapdish,[215] fasten your tongue
Unto your roof, and do not dare to call;
But give me audience with fear and silence.
Come, kiss me—No?
This dagger has a point, do you see it?
And be unto my suit obedient,
Or you shall feel it too:
For I will rather totter, hang in clean linen,
Than live to scrub it out in lousy linings.
Go to, kiss: you will! why, so: again, the third time;
Good; 'tis a sufficient charm: now hear me.
You are rich in money, lands, and lordships,
Manors and fair possessions, and I have not so much
As one poor copyhold to thrust my head in.
Why should you not then have compassion
Upon a reasonable handsome fellow,
That has both youth and liveliness upon him,
And can at midnight quicken and refresh
Pleasures decay'd in you? You want children;
And I am strong, lusty, and have a back
Like Hercules; able to get them
Without the help of muscadine and eggs,
And will you then, that have enough,
Take to your bed a bundle of diseases,
Wrapp'd up in threescore years, to lie a-hawking,
Spitting and coughing backwards and forwards,
That you shall not sleep; but, thrusting forth
Your face out of the bed, be glad to draw
The curtains, such a steam shall reek
Out of this dunghill? Now, what say you?
Shall we, without farther wrangling, clap it up,
And go to bed together?
Wid. Will you hear me?