Arden. Sirrah, fetch me a cup of wine, I’ll make them friends.
And, gentle Mistress Alice, seeing you are so stout,
You shall begin! frown not, I’ll have it so.
Alice. I pray you meddle with that you have to do.
Arden. Why, Alice! how can I do too much for him
Whose life I have endangered without cause? 210
Alice. ’Tis true; and, seeing ’twas partly through my means,
I am content to drink to him for this once.
Here, Master Mosbie! and I pray you, henceforth
Be you as strange to me as I to you.
Your company hath purchased me ill friends,
And I for you, God knows, have undeserved
Been ill spoken of in every place;
Therefore henceforth frequent my house no more.
Mosbie. I’ll see your husband in despite of you.
Yet, Arden, I protest to thee by heaven, 220
Thou ne’er shalt see me more after this night,
I’ll go to Rome rather than be forsworn.
Arden. Tush, I’ll have no such vows made in my house.
Alice. Yes, I pray you, husband, let him swear;
And, on that condition, Mosbie, pledge me here.
Mosbie. Ay, as willingly as I mean to live.
Arden. Come, Alice, is our supper ready yet?
Alice. It will by then you have played a game at tables.