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ACT TWOn7024
2.1
[Enter] LUCY [and] PHILLIS [disguised as] a chambermaidn6351.

212LucyY’are the first maid that e'er I entertainedgs128
        Upon so small acquaintance. Yet y’are welcome.
        I like your handgg2040 and carriagegg982.

213Phillis’Tis your favourgg201.
        But love, they say, sweet mistress, is received
        At the first sight, and why not service then,
        Which often brings more absolute returns
        Of the dear trust imposedgg2799, and firmer faith
        By servants than by lovers?

214LucyStay there, Phillis.
        I may, by that, conjecture you have been
        Deceived by some false lover.

215PhillisWho, I, mistress?
        I hope I look too merrilyn2381 for such a one;
        Somewhat too coarselyn2382 too, to be beloved;
        If I were sad and handsome, then it might
        Be thought I were a little love-sick. Pray,
        How long has this disease affected you?
        This melancholy, mistress? Not ever since
        You lost your father, I hope.

216LucyFor the most part.
        Thou saidst, methought, that love might be ta'en in
        At the first sight.

217Phillis   [Aside]   There ’tis. I find hern6355.
           [Aloud]   Love, mistress? yes, a maid may take in more
        Love at one look, or at a little loop-holegg2041,
        Then all the doddypollsn2384 in town can purge
        Out of her while she lives; she smothering it,
        And not make known her passionn2385. There’s the mischief!

218LucySuppose she loven2386 an enemy to her housegg2042.

219PhillisAn enemy! Put casegg2043 the casen2387 were yours.

220LucyBut ’tis no case of mine; put bygg2044, I pray thee.

221PhillisI’ll put it to you though I miss your case.
        Suppose it were your house, and Master Arthur,
        Whose father was your father's enemy,
        Were your beloved—

222LucyPray thee, no more.

223Phillis   [Aside]   Now I have struck the veinn2388.   [Aloud]   Suppose, I say,
        All this were true! would you confound yourself
        In smothering your love, which, in itself,
        Is pure and innocent, until it grow
        To a pernicious disease within you;
        And hide it in your bosom, till it workgs265
        Your kindled heart to ashes?

224LucyThou hast won
        My patience to attention. Therefore tell me
        If thou canst find or think it honourable
        In me to takegs878 such an affection?

225PhillisYes, and religious; most commendable,
        Could you but win his love into a marriage
        To beget peace between your families.
        How many, and what great examples have we
        From former ages, and of later times,
        Of strong dissentionsgg2045 between furious factions,
        That to their opposite houses have drawn in
        Either's allies and friends, whole provinces,
        Yea, kingdoms into deadly opposition;
        Till the wide wounds on both sides have sent forth
        Rivers of blood, which only have been stopped
        By the soft bands of love in marriages
        Of equal branches, sprung from the first roots
        Of all those hell-bred hatredsn6356!

226LucyMy good maid—

227Phillis   [Aside]   Yes, I have been a good onen2389, to my grief.

228LucyThou hast given me strength to tell thee, and I hope
        When it is told, I shall have yet more ease.

229PhillisI warrant you, mistress. Therefore out with it.

230LucyI love that worthy gentleman; and am confident
        That in the time of our two fathers' friendship
        He affectedgg2047 me no less: But since that time
        I have not seen him, nor dare mention him
        To wrongn2391 my brother's patience, who is so passionate,
        That could he but suspect I bred a thought
        That favoured him, I were forever lost.
        For this sad cause, as well as for the loss
        Of my dear father, I have sighed away
        Twelve moons in silent sorrow; and have heard
        That Arthur too (but for what cause I know not)
        Has not been seen abroad; but spends his time
        In pensive solitude.

231PhillisPerhaps he grieves
        As much for the supposed loss of you,
        As of his father too.

232LucyThe best construction
        I make of his retiredness, is the blessed
        Preventionn2392 (which I daily pray for) of
        A fatal meeting ’twixt him and my brother,
        Which would be sure the death of one or both.
        And now that fear invades me, as it does alwaysn3293
        My brother being abroad; and such an absence
        Has not been usual; I have not seen him
        Since yesterday—

233PhillisFear nothing, mistress. Now you have eased your mind,
        Let me alone to comfort you -
[PHILLIS comes close to comfort LUCY.] Enter THEOPHILUS. [PHILLIS starts backwards.]
           [Aloud]   - And see, your brother!

234TheophilusHow is it with you, sister?

235Lucyn3294Much better now than when you left me, brother,
        If no ill accident has happened you
        Since your departure; as I fear there hasn3295;
        Why look you else so sadly? Speak, dear brother.
        I hope you did not meet the man you hate.
        If you did, speak. If you have fought and slain him,
        I charge you tell, that I may know the worst
        Of fortune can befall me: I shall gain
        Perhaps a deathn2393 by’t.

236TheophilusYou speak as if you loved the man I hate,
        And that you fear I have killed him.

237PhillisNot for love
        Of him, I assure you, sir; but of yourself.
        Her fear in this case, sir, is that the law
        May take from her the comfort of her life
        In taking you from her, and so she were
        But a dead woman. We were speaking
        Of such a danger just as you came in;
        And truly, sir, my heart even tremble-tremble-tremblesn6357,
        To think upon it yet. Pray, sir, resolve her.

238TheophilusThen ’twas your frivolous fear that wrought ingg2808 her.
        Good sister, be at peace: for, by my love to you,
        An oath I will not violate, I neither saw
        Nor sought him, I. But other thoughts perplex me.

239LucyWhat, were you at the wedding, brother?

240TheophilusWhose wedding, sister?

241LucyYour lost love, Millicent's. Are you now sad
        After your last leave-taking?

242TheophilusWhat do you mean?

243LucyThere may be other matches, my good brother—

244TheophilusYou wrong me shamefully, to think that I
        Can think of other than her memory.
        Though she be lost and dead to me, can you
        Be so unnatural as to desire
        The separation of a thought of mine
        From her dear memory, which is all the comfort
        My heart is married to, or I can live by?

245PhillisSurely, good sir, in my opinion,
        Sharpgg2048, eager stomachs may be better fed
        With airy smell of meat, than the bare thought
        Of the most curious dainties—

246TheophilusWhat piece of impudence have you received
        Into my house?

247LucyPray, brother, pardon me.
        I took her, as I find her, for my comfort.
        She has by counselgg817 and discoursegg269 wrought much
        Ease and delight into my troubled thoughts.

248TheophilusGood maid, forgive me; and my gentle sister,
        I pray thee, bear with my distractionsgg1366.

249Phillis   [Aside]   A good-natured gentleman, for all his hasty flashesgg2049.

250TheophilusAnd now I’ll tell you, sister — do not chide me —
        I have a new affliction.

251LucyWhat is it, brother?

252TheophilusI am engagedgs266 unto a gentleman,
        A noble, valiant gentleman, for my life,
        By hazarding his own, in my behalf.

253LucyIt was then against Arthurn2394.
        What villain was’t durst take your cause in hand
        Against that man?

254TheophilusYou wrong me beyond sufferance,
        And my dear father's blood within yourself,
        In seeming careful of that man's safety—

255PhillisHis safety, sir? Alas! she means, he is
        A villain that would take the honour of
        His death out of your hands, if he must falln2395
        By sword of man.

256TheophilusAgain, I ask you pardon. But I had
        A quarrel yesterday, that drew strong odds
        Upon my single person; three to one:
        When, at the instant, that brave gentleman
        With his sword, sidesgg2809 me, puts’em all to flight—

257LucyBut how can that afflict you?

258TheophilusHow quick you are!

259LucyGood brother, I ha’ donen3354.

260TheophilusMy affliction is,
        That I not know the man, to whom I am
        So much engaged, to give him thanks at least.
Enter NATHANIEL.
        O, sir, y’are welcome, though we parted somewhat
        Abruptly yesterday.

261NathanielI thank you, sir.

262TheophilusPray thee, Nat, tell me, for I hope thou knowst him;
        What gentleman was that came in betwixt us?

263NathanielIf the devil know him no bettern2397, he will lose
        A part of his due, I think. But to the purpose:
        I knew your wonted nature would be friends
        With me before I could come at you. However, I
        Have news for you that might deserve your love,
        Were you my deadly enemy.
[NATHANIEL sees LUCY.]

264TheophilusWhat is’t pray thee?

265NathanielSweet mistress Lucy, so long unsaluted?
[NATHANIEL greets LUCY with a] kiss. [NATHANIEL sees PHILLISn3355, who tries in vain to hide her face. He is surprised.]

266LucyMy brother attends your news, sir.

267Nathaniel   [Aside]   My wench become her chambermaid! Very pretty!
        How the jadegg532 mumpsgg2050 for fear I should discover her.

268TheophilusYour news, good Nat? What, is it ready made,
        Or are you now but coiningn2398 it?

269NathanielNo, it was coined last night, o’the right stamp,
        And passes currentn2399 for your good. Now know,
        That I, and Munn2400, and Vince, with diversgg406 others
        Of our comrades, were last night at the bride-housegg2051.

270TheophilusWhat mischief did you there?

271NathanielA masque, a masque lad, in which we presented
        The Miseries of Enforced Marriagesn2401
        So lively— Zooksgg1998, lay by your captious countenancen2402,
        And hear me handsomelyn6358.

272LucyGood brother, do, it has a fine beginning.

273NathanielBut mark what follows:
        This morning, early up we got again,
        And with our fiddlers made a fresh assault
        And battery ’gainst the bed-rid bridegroom's window
        With an old song, a very wondrous old one,
        Of all the cares, vexations, fears and torments
        That a decrepit, nasty, rotten husband
        Meets in a youthful, beauteous, sprightly wife:
        So as the weak wretch will shortly be afraid
        That his own feebler shadow makes him cuckoldn2415.
        Our masque o’er nightgg2054 begatgg2055 a separation
        Betwixt ’em before bedtime: for we found
        Him at one window, coughing and spitting at us;
        She at another, laughing, and throwing money
        Down to the fiddlers, while her Uncle Testy
        From a third portholegg1570 raves, denouncinggg2056 law,
        And thundering statutes ’gainst their minstrelsyn2416.

274LucyWould he refuse his bride-bed the first night?

275PhillisHang him.

276NathanielOur horn-masquen2417 put him off itgg2057, bless my invention,
        For which, I think, you’ll judge she’ll forsake him
        All nights and days hereafter. Here’s a blessingn2418
        Prepared now for you, if you have grace to follow it.

277TheophilusOut of my house, that I may kill thee! Go:
        For here it were inhospitablen2419. Hence,
        Thou busygg4245 villainn2420, that with sugared malice
        Hast poisoned all my hopesn2421, ruined my comforts
        In that sweet soul forever. Go, I say,
        That I may with the safety of my manhoodn2422
        Rightn2423 me upon that mischievous head of thine.

278NathanielIs this your way of thanks for courtesies?
        Or is’t our luck always to meet good friends,
        And never part so? Yet before I go,
        I will demand your reason (if you have any)
        Wherein our friendly caren2424 can prejudice you,
        Or poison any hopes of yours in Millicent?

279LucyPray, brother, tell him.

280TheophilusYes: that he may die
        Satisfied, that I did but justice on him,
        In killing him. That villain, old in mischief
        (Hell take him!) that has married her, conceives
        It was my plot (I know he does) and, for
        A sure revenge, will either work her death
        By poison, or some other cruelty,
        Or keep her locked up in such misery
        That I shall never see her more.

281NathanielI answer—

282TheophilusNot in a word, let me entreat you, go.

283NathanielFair Mistress Lucy—

284TheophilusNeither shall she hear you.

285NathanielHer maid shall then, or I’ll not outn2425 to night.

286PhillisOn what acquaintance, sir?
[NATHANIEL takes PHILLIS aside.]

287Nathaniel   [Aside to PHILLIS]   Be not afraidn2450: I take no notice o’thee,
        I like thy course, wench, and will keep thy counselgs274,
        And come sometimes, and bring thee a bitgg2077 and th’wiltn3356.

288Phillis   [Aside to NATHANIEL]   I’ll see you choked first.

289Nathaniel   [Aside to PHILLIS]   Thou art not the first
        Castgs209 wench that has made a good chamber-maid.

290Phillis   [Aside to NATHANIEL]   O, you are base, and I could claw your eyes out.

291Nathaniel   [Aloud to PHILLIS]   Pray tell your master now.n2451    [Aloud to THEOPHILUS]   So fare you well, sir.n2452[NATHANIEL] exits.

292LucyI thank you, brother, that you promise me
        You will not follow him now: some other time
        Will be more fit. What said he to you, Phillis?

293PhillisMarry he said -   [Aside]   help me, good apron strings!

294TheophilusWhat was it that he said?

295Phillis   [Aside]   I have it now.
           [Aloud]   It was in answer, sir, of your objections.
        First, that you feared the old man wickedly
        Would make away his wife: to which he saies,
        That is not to be feared, while she has so
        Much fear of heaven before her eyesn3428. And next,
        That he would lock her up from sight of man:
        To which he answers, she is so enduedgg2078
        With wit of womann2455, that, were she locked up
        Or had locks hung upon her, locks upon locks;
        Locks of prevention, or securityn2454;
        Yet being a woman, she would have her willn2456,
        And break those locks as easily as her wedlock.
        Lastly, for your access unto her sight:
        If you have land, he says, to sell or mortgage,
        He’ll undertaken2459 his doors, his wifen2461 and all,
        Shall fly wide open to you.

296TheophilusHen2467 could not say so.

297LucyTroth, but ’tis like his wild way of expression.

298Phillis   [Aside]   Yes; I knew that: my wit else had been puzzled.

299TheophilusAnd now I find my self instructed by him;
        And friends with him again.
Enter ARNOLD.
        Now, Arnold, any tidings?

300ArnoldNot of the gentleman that fought for you,
        But I have other news that’s worth your knowledge.
        Your enemy, young Arthur, that has not
        Been seen abroad this twelvemonth is got forth
        In a disguise I hear, and weaponed well.
        I have it from most sure intelligence.gg2087
        Look to yourself, sir.

301LucyMy blood chills again.

302TheophilusPseughgg2088, I’ll not think of him. To dinner, sister.[THEOPHILUS, LUCY, and PHILLIS exit.]

2.2
[Enter] QUICKSANDS, TESTY, [and] MILLICENT.

303QuicksandsHere was a good night, and good morrow too,
        Given by a crewgg807 of devils.

304Testy’Twas hern2468 plot,
        And let her smartgg2089 for’t.

305MillicentSmart, sir, did you say?
        I think ’twas smartgg1619 enough for a young bride
        To be made lie alone, and gnaw the sheetsn2469
        Upon her wedding.

306TestyRare impudence!

307MillicentBut for yourn2470 satisfaction, as I hope
        To gain your favour as you are my uncle,
        I know not any actorn3453 in this business.
Enter BUZZARD with a paper.

308BuzzardSir, here’s a letter, thrown into the entrygg2090.
QUICKSANDS reads [the paper].

309TestyIt is some villanous libel then, I warrant.
        Sawst thou not who conveyed it in?

310BuzzardNot I. I only found it, sir.

311QuicksandsPray read it you. Not my own house free from ’em!
        The devil owed me a spitegg2091; and when he has ploughedgg2092
        An old man’s lust up, he sits grinning at him.
        Nay, I that have so many gallantgg402 enemies
        On fire to do me mischief, or disgrace;
        That I must provide tinder for their sparks!
        The very thought bears weight enough to sink me.

312MillicentMay I be worthy, sir, to know your trouble?

313QuicksandsDo you know yourself?

314MillicentAm I your trouble then?

315Quicksands’Tis sworn and written in that letter there
        Thou shalt be wicked. Hundreds have ta’en oaths
        To make thee false, and me a hornedgg2093 monster.

316MillicentAnd does that trouble you?

317TestyDoes it not you?

318MillicentA dream has done much more. Pray, sir, your patience,
        And now I will be seriousn6365, and endeavour
        To mend your faith in me. Is’t in their power
        To destroy virtue, think you? or do you
        Suppose me false already? ’tis perhaps
        Their plot to drive you into that opinion.
        And so to make you cast me out amongst ’em:
        You may do so upon the words of strangers;
        And if they tell you alln2472 your gold is counterfeit,
        Throw that out after me.

319TestyNow she speaks womann2492.

320MillicentBut since these men pretend, and you suppose ’em
        To be my friends, that carry this presumptionn2493
        Overgg2122 my will, I’ll take charge of myself,
        And do fair justice, both on them and you:
        My honour is my own; and I’m no more
        Yours yet, on whom my uncle has bestowed me,
        Than all the world’s, the ceremony offn2494;
        And will remain so, free from them and you,
        Who, by the false light of their wildfire flashesn2496
        Have slighted and depraved me and your bride-bed;
        Till you recant your wilful ignorancen2498,
        And they their petulant folly.

321TestyThis sounds well.

322MillicentBoth they and you trench ongg2124 my peace and honour,
        Dearer than beauty, pleasure, wealth and fortune.
        I would stand under the fall of my estate
        Most cheerfully, and sing, for there be ways
        To raise up fortune’s ruins, were her towers
        Shattered in pieces, and the glorious balln2503
        She stands on cleft asunder: but for peace
        Once ruined, there’s no reparation;
        If honour fall, which is the soul of life,
        ’Tis like the damned, it ne’er lifts the head
        Up to the light again.

323TestyNiece, thou hast won me;
        And nephew, she’s too good for you. I charge you,
        Give her her will: I’ll have her home again else.

324QuicksandsI know not what I can deny her now.

325MillicentI ask but this, that you will give me leave
        To keep a vow I made, which was last night
        Because you slighted me.

326TestyStay there a little.
           [Aside to QUICKSANDS]   I’ll lay the price of twenty maidenheadsn2504
        Now, as the market goes, you get not hers
        This sennightgg132.

327MillicentMy vow is for a month; and for so long
        I crave your faithful promise not to attempt me.
        In the meantime, because I will be quitgs286
        With my trimgg990, forwardgg1398 gentlemen, and secure you
        From their assaults, let it be given out,
        That you have sent me down into the country
        Or back unto my uncle's; whither you please.

328QuicksandsOr, tarry, tarry—stay, stay here a while.

329MillicentSo I intend, sir, I’ll not leave your house,
        But be locked up in some convenient room
        Not to be seen by any, but yourself:
        Or else to have the liberty of your house
        In some disguise, if it were possible,
        Free from the least suspicion of your servants.

330TestyWhat needs all this?
        Do we not live in a well-governed city?
        And have not I authority? I’ll take
        The care and guard of you and of your house
        ’Gainst all outrageous attempts; and clapgg2959
        Those goatishgg2033 roarersgg478 up, fast as they come.

331QuicksandsI understand her driftgg1954, sir, and applaud
        Her quaintgg1761 devicegg1174. ’Twill put ’em to more trouble,
        And more expense in doubtful search of her.
        The best way to undo ’em is to foilgg2127 ’em
        At their own weapons. ’Tis not to be thought
        They’ll seek by violence to force her from me,
        But wit; in which we’ll overcome ’em.

332TestyAgree on’t ’twixt yourselves. I see y’are friends.
        I’ll leave you to yourselves.
[TESTY takes MILLICENT to one side.]

           [Aside to MILLICENT]   Hark hither, niece—now I dare trust you with him.
        He is in yearsgg2128, ’tis true. But hear’st thou girl,
        Old foxes are best bladesn2505.

333Millicent   [Aside to TESTY]   I’m sure they stink most.

334Testy   [Aside to MILLICENT]   Good keeping makes him brightn2506 and young again.

335Millicent   [Aside to TESTY]   But for how long?
[TESTY and MILLICENT take a long, appraising look at QUICKSANDS.]n4240

336Testy   [Aside to MILLICENT]   A year or two, perhaps.
        Then, when he dies, his wealth makes thee a countess.

337Millicent   [Aside to TESTY]   You speak much comfort, sir.

338TestyThat’s my good girl!
           [Aloud to QUICKSANDS]   And nephew, love her, I find she deserves it;
        Be as benevolent to her as you can;
        Show your good will, at least. You do not know
        How the good will of an old man may work
        In a young wife. I must now take my journey
        Down to my country house. At your month’s end
        I’ll visit you again. No ceremony!
        Joy and content be with you.

339Quicksands and MillicentAnd a good journey to you.TESTY exits.

340QuicksandsYou are content, you say, to be locked up
        Or put in some disguise, and have it said
        Y’are gone unto your uncle's. I have heard
        Of some bridegrooms that shortly after marriage
        Have gone to see their unclesn2507, seldom brides.
        I have thought of another course.

341MillicentBe’t any way.

342QuicksandsWhat if it were given out y’are run away
        Out of a detestation of your match?

343Millicent’Twould pull a blot upon my reputation.

344QuicksandsWhen they consider my unworthiness,
        ’Twill give it credit. They’ll commend you for it.

345MillicentYou speak well for yourself.

346QuicksandsI speak as they’ll speak.

347MillicentWell; let it be so then; I am content.

348QuicksandsWe’ll put this instantly in act. The rest,
        As for disguise, or privacy in my house,
        You’ll leave to me.

349MillicentAll, sir, to your disposegg2130,
        Provided still you urge not to infringe
        My vow concerning my virginity.

350Quicksands’Tis the least thing I think on.
        I will not offer at it till your time.

351MillicentWhy, here’s a happiness in a husband now.[QUICKSANDS and MILLICENT exit.]

2.3
[Enter] DIONYSIA and RAFE.

352DionysiaThou tell’st me things that truth never came near.

353Rafe’Tis perfect truth: you may believe it, lady.

354DionysiaMaintain’t but in one syllable more, I’ll tear
        Thy mischievious tongue out.

355RafeFit reward for tell-trothsgg2135.
        But that’s not the reward you promised me.
        For watching of your brothers actions;
        You said forsooth (if’t please you to remember)
        That you would love me for it.

356DionysiaArrogant rascal!
        I bade thee bring account of what he did
        Against his enemy; and thou reportest
        He took his enemy's danger on himself,
        And helped to rescue him whose bloody father
        Killed ours. Can truth or common reason claim
        A part in this report? My brother do’t,
        Or draw a sword to help Theophilus!

357Rafe   [Aside]   ’Tis not for any spite I owe my master,
        But for my itchgg2136 at her that I do this.
        I am strangely taken. Such brave-spirited women
        Have cherished strong-backed servingmenn2510 ere now.

358DionysiaWhy dost not get thee from my sight, false fellow?

359RafeI’ll be believed first. Therefore pray have patience
        To peruse that.
[RAFE] gives her a paper.

360DionysiaMy brother’s charactergg2137!
        Theophilus’ sister’s name—'The brighter Lucy'
        So often written? nothing but her name,
        But change of attributesgg2138—one serves not twice.
        'Blessed', 'divine', 'illustrious', 'all perfection',
        And—so heaven bless me!—'powerful' in one place.
        The worst thing I read yet, 'heap of all virtues',
        'Bright shining', and all these ascribed to Lucy.
        O! I could curse thee now for being so just.
        Would thou hadst beliedgg4251 him still.

361RafeI ne’er belied him, I.

362DionysiaO mischief of affection! Monstrous! Horrid!
        It shall not pass so quietly.
[As she rages, RAFE starts to leave.]
        Nay, stay.

363Rafe   [Aside]   She’ll cut my throat, I fear.

364DionysiaThou art a faithful servant.

365Rafe   [Aside]   It may do yet.n2511
           [Aloud]   To you I am, sweet lady, and to my master
        In true constructionn2512: he is his friend I think
        That finds his follies out to have them cured,
        Which you have onlyn2513 the true spirit to do.

366DionysiaHow I do love thee now!

367RafeAnd your love, mistress,
        Brave, sprightlygg2139 mistress, is the steeple top,
        Or rather weathercock o’top of that,
        To which aspires my life’s ambition.

368DionysiaHow didst thou get this paper?

369RafeAmongst many
        Of his rare twelve-months-melancholyn2514 works
        That lie in’s study. Mistress, ’tis apparent
        His melancholy all this while has been
        More for her love, than for his father’s death.

370DionysiaThou hast my love for ever.

371RafeSome small token
        In earnestgg504 of it, mistress, would be felt.
[RAFE] offers to kiss [DIONYSIA]. She strikes him.n6417

372DionysiaTake that in earnest then.

373Rafe   [Aside]   It is a sure one.
        And the most feeling pledge she could have given:
        For she is a viragogg2140. And I have read
        That your viragoes use to strike all those
        They mean to lie with: And from thence ’tis taken
        That your brave active women are called strikersn2515.

374DionysiaSet me that chair.

375Rafe   [Aside]   The warm touch of my flesh
        Already works in her. I shall be set
        To better work immediately.
[RAFE places a chair for her.] Enter ARTHUR.

        I am prevented!

376DionysiaAway and be not seen. Be sure I love thee.

377Rafe   [Aside]   Aha! This clinchesn2516. Another time I’m sure on’t.[RAFE] exits.
[DIONYSIA] sits [on the chair, and feigns sickness].

378ArthurSister! Where are you? How now! Not well? Or sleepy?

379DionysiaSick, brothern2522—sick at heart, oh—

380ArthurPassion of heartn4245! Where are our servants now
        To run for doctors? Ho!gg3217

381DionysiaPray stay and hear me.
        Here’s no work for themn2517. They’ll find a master here
        Too powerful for the strength of all their knowledge.

382ArthurWhat, at thy heart?

383DionysiaYes, brother, at my heart,
        Too scornful to be dispossessed by them.

384ArthurWhat may that proudgg2141 grief be? Good sister, name it.

385DionysiaIt grieves me more to name it, than to suffer’t.
        Since I have endured the worst on’t, and proved constant
        To sufferance and silencen2518, ’twere a weakness
        Now to betray a sorrow, by a name,
        More fit to be severely felt than known.

386ArthurIndeed I’ll know it.

387DionysiaRather let me die,
        Than so afflict your understanding, sir.

388ArthurIt shall not afflict me.

389DionysiaI know you’ll chide me for’t.

390ArthurIndeed you wrong me now. Can I chide you?

391DionysiaIf you be true and honest you must do’t,
        And heartily.

392Arthur   [Aside]   You taxgg1085 me nearly there.

393DionysiaAnd that’s the physic must help me, or nothing.

394ArthurWith grief I go about to cure a grief then.
        Now speak it boldly, sister.

395DionysiaNoble physician! It is—

396ArthurIt is! What is it? If you love me, speak.

397Dionysia’Tis—love, and I beseech thee, spare me not.

398ArthurAlas dear sister, canst thou think that love
        Deserves a chiding in a gentle breast?

399DionysiaDo you pity me already? O faint man
        That tremblest but at opening of a wound!
        What hope is there of thee to searchgs583 and dress it?
        But I am in thy hands, and forced to try thee.
        I love—Theophilus—

400ArthurHa!gg2643

401DionysiaTheophilus, brother;
        His son that slew our father. There’s a love!
        O more than time ’twere lookedn2519, for fear it festers.

402Arthur   Asiden9205   She has put me to’t indeedn2520. What must I do?
        She has a violent spirit; so has hen2521;
        And though I wish most seriously the match,
        Whereby to work mine own with his fair sister,
        The danger yet, in the negotiation
        May quite destroy my course, spoil all my hopes.
        I’ll therefore put her off on’tn4246 if I can.

403DionysiaCan you be tender now?

404ArthurWhat! To undo you?
        I love you not so slightly. Pardon me.
        A rough hand must be used, for here’s a wound
        Must not be gently touchedgs289; you perish thenn4247,
        Under a brother’s pity. Pray sit quiet,
        For you must suffer all.

405DionysiaI’ll strive to do it.

406ArthurTo love the son of him that slew your father!
        To say it shews unlovingness of nature,
        Forgetfulness in blood, were all but shallow
        To the great depth of danger your fault stands in.
        It rather justifies the act itselfn2523,
        And commends that down to posterity
        By your blood-cherishing embraces. Children,
        Born of your body, will, instead of tears,
        By your example, offer a thankful joy
        To the sad memory of their grandsire's slaughter.
        Quite contrary! How fearful ’tis to think on’t!
        What may the world say too? There goes a daughter,
        Whose strange desire leaped from her father’s ruin;
        Death gave her to the bridegroom; and the marriage
        Knit fast and cemented with bloodn2524. O sister—

407DionysiaO brother!
[DIONYSIA] risesn6352.

408ArthurHow! Well? And so quickly cured?

409DionysiaDissembler, foul dissembler!

410ArthurThis is plain.

411DionysiaTh’hast played with fire; and like a cunning fellow
        Bit ingg2142 thy pain o’purpose to deceive
        Another’s tender touch. I know thy heart weeps
        For what’t has spoke against. Thou that darest love
        The daughter of that fiend that slew thy father,
        And plead against thy cause! unfeeling man,
        Can not thy own words melt thee? To that end
        I wrought and raised ’em. ’Twas to win thy health
        That I was sick; I played thy disease to thee,
        That thou mightst see the loathed complexion on't,
        Far truer in another than one's self.
        And, if thou canst, after all this, tread wickedly,
        Thou art a rebel to all natural love
        And filial duty; dead to all just counsel;
        And every word thou mockedst with vehemence
        Will rise a wounded father in thy conscience,
        To scourge thy judgement.
She tears and throws the paper to him.

        There’s thy saint crossed outn2526,
        And all thy memory with her. I’ll ne’er trust
        Revenge again with thee, so false is manhood,
        But take it now into mine own power fully,
        And see what I can do with my life’s hazard;gs880
        Your purpose shall ne’er thrive. There I’ll make sure work.[DIONYSIA] exit[s].

412ArthurHow wise and cunning is a womans malice!
        I never was so cozened.[ARTHUR] exit[s].

Edited by Matthew Steggle


n7024   ACT TWO Act 2 takes place the day after the wedding. Its three scenes are set in three domestic, interior locations: the houses of Rashley, Quicksands, and Meanwell respectively. In turn, each of the three female leads - Phillis (2.1), Millicent (2.2), and Dionysia (2.3) - is given a bravura scene in which the boy-actor can shine. First Phillis displays her quickness of understanding in discovering Lucy's secret and deceiving Theophilus; then Millicent demonstrates her moral maturity in her dealings with Quicksands, exemplified by her impassioned speech about honour; finally, Dionysia gets to display both her anger and the vulnerability which it exposes in her. Each scene, also, serves the rapidly thickening plot, as we learn for the first time of Arthur and Lucy's love affair; as Quicksands hatches his plan to disguise Millicent; and as Dionysia edges a little further into a Changeling-like dependence upon her lustful servant Rafe. [go to text]

n6351   a chambermaid ] Phillis like a Chambermayd MS. No equivalent SD in O, but it is implicit in the dialogue. This is the first of Phillis's three disguises in the course of the play. [go to text]

gs128   entertained took into service [go to text]

gg2040   hand handwriting (OED n. 16) [go to text]

gg982   carriage deportment, bearing [go to text]

gg201   favour goodwill, kindness; partiality, approval, encouragement [go to text]

gg2799   imposed placed (in someone) [go to text]

n2381   look too merrily That is: look too merry ('look' at this date customarily takes an adverb in this construction, rather than an adjective as in modern usage). [go to text]

n2382   coarsely Coarse here carries the sense of ordinary-looking. The use of an adverb where today one would use an adjective is characteristic of the grammar of Brome's period. [go to text]

n6355   I find her I find her out (by discovering her secret). [go to text]

gg2041   loop-hole a small opening (with obvious double entendre) [go to text]

n2384   doddypolls Blockheads: but also, specifically, doctors, with reference to the eponymous doctor in the anonymous comedy The Wisdom of Dr Dodypoll (1600). [go to text]

n2385   And not make known her passion Ungrammatical in both O and MS; strict grammar would require 'making'. The sense is, that no doctors are any good, as long as a woman continues to conceal her passionate feelings. [go to text]

n2386   she love Subjunctive: 'that she should love'. [go to text]

gg2042   house family [go to text]

gg2043   Put case suppose that (a legal metaphor) [go to text]

n2387   case Two meanings are current here: a) state of affairs; b) vagina. This punning continues in subsequent lines. [go to text]

gg2044   put by give over [go to text]

n2388   struck the vein That is: found the vulnerable spot (OED vein n, 2c). [go to text]

gs265   work wear out by friction (OED v. 12e) [go to text]

gs878   take undertake, begin [go to text]

gg2045   dissentions disagreements [go to text]

n6356   Of all those hell-bred hatreds The 'examples' of which Phillis is thinking could include the Wars of the Roses, where the uniting of York and Lancaster through the marriage of the future Henry VII helped end the civil wars; or, in fiction, the feuding clans of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. [go to text]

n2389   a good one This refers to her previous 'service' to Nathaniel as his lover. [go to text]

gg2047   affected had affection for [go to text]

n2391   To wrong For fear of wronging. The 'brother' is Theophilus, whose passionate nature has been amply demonstrated in Act One. [go to text]

n2392   Prevention To paraphrase: 'The best construction I can make of his behaviour is to think that he has stayed inside so as to prevent...' [go to text]

n3293   And now that fear invades me, as it does always Up till this point, Lucy has been speaking in regular blank verse. As she reveals at last all her anxieties, the last few lines of this speech are entirely disjointed and unmetrical. One can be sure that this is not the result of a printing-house mishap: MS, while offering a different version of the words in these lines, is also obviously and pointedly unmetrical. [go to text]

n3294   Lucy ] MS; Phi. O, 1873. O (followed by the 1873 edition) is clearly incorrect in assigning this speech to Phillis rather than Lucy. [go to text]

n3295   as I fear there has Lucy notices that Theophilus has been fighting. [go to text]

n2393   Perhaps a death I may die from grief, if that is the case. [go to text]

n6357   tremble-tremble-trembles Phillis is acting flustered, and this repetition is mimetic of stammering speech. It may also be an established phrase, since EEBO reveals various examples of the word 'tremble' being reduplicated, all in the context of fire-and-brimstone preaching: see for instance, David Lindsay, The Godly Man's Journey to Heaven (1625) 529-530, 'Tremble, tremble, o thou blasphemer of the blessed word of the most high God'. [go to text]

gg2808   wrought in affected [go to text]

gg2048   Sharp hungry (OED adj. 4f) [go to text]

gg817   counsel advice, direction [go to text]

gg269   discourse (n) conversation; or topic of conversation [go to text]

gg1366   distractions madness, confusion caused by dissension and conflict [go to text]

gg2049   flashes outburst of anger [go to text]

gs266   engaged obliged [go to text]

n2394   against Arthur Irony at Lucy's expense: the audience know that in fact it was Arthur, coming to Theophilus's rescue. [go to text]

n2395   if he must fall To paraphrase: 'Assuming that Arthur must die by a man's sword, then anyone who kills him other than you is a villain, because they will have deprived you of the honour of killing Arthur yourself'. [go to text]

gg2809   sides stands by the side of [go to text]

n3354   I ha’ done I have done: I have nothing more to say. [go to text]

n2397   If the devil know him no better 'The devil knows who he is; particularly since, in my opinion, the man in question deserves to go to hell'. [go to text]

n3355   NATHANIEL sees PHILLIS This is a reconstructed stage direction. Phillis does not welcome the penetration of her disguise, so we may reasonably imagine her trying to turn her head or make herself otherwise inconspicuous; Nathaniel's double-take is inferred from Lucy having to prompt him to speak. [go to text]

gg532   jade on the analogy with an exhausted horse, a jade is an overused prostitute (or more crudely: a clapped-out tart) [go to text]

gg2050   mumps grimaces [go to text]

n2398   coining That is, thinking up. Nathaniel picks up on the coinage metaphor in his reply. [go to text]

n2399   passes current Like a genuine coin (one of the 'right stamp'), his news is real and valuable. [go to text]

n2400   Mun Nickname for Edmund, as 'Vince' is for Vincent. [go to text]

gg406   divers several (OED 3) [go to text]

gg2051   bride-house house where a wedding is held (OED) [go to text]

n2401   The Miseries of Enforced Marriages A reference to George Wilkins, The Miseries of Enforced Marriage (1607). Wilkins's play must have been successful on the Renaissance stage, since its fourth quarto was printed in 1637. [go to text]

gg1998   Zooks a shortened version of 'gadzooks', a strong oath [go to text]

n2402   lay by your captious countenance Stop looking at me with that disapproving expression. Nat has once again forgotten Theophilus's extreme touchiness on the subject of Millicent's marriage. [go to text]

n6358   handsomely Two meanings are current: a) properly; b) without pulling a face. A pun by Nathaniel. [go to text]

n2415   his own feebler shadow makes him cuckold A variant of the phrase 'afraid of one's own shadow' (OED shadow n. 4b). 'Feebler' is a reference to the fact that Quicksands is already old and feeble. [go to text]

gg2054   o’er night in the course of the previous night (OED, over prep, 20) [go to text]

gg2055   begat caused [go to text]

gg1570   porthole small windows, usually circular, originally made for cannons on ships, but subsequently used of any similar apertures in a building [go to text]

gg2056   denouncing declaring: 'laying down the law' [go to text]

n2416   minstrelsy The music they were playing. [go to text]

n2417   horn-masque The masque of horned creatures seen in Act 1. [go to text]

gg2057   it the act of sex [go to text]

n2418   a blessing That is, the fact that she will be sexually unsatisfied in her marriage. Theophilus, according to the debauched Nathaniel, will thus be able to seduce her more easily. [go to text]

n2419   inhospitable Theophilus would kill Nathaniel on the spot (for his assumption that Millicent would be easily seduced), except that Nathaniel is currently a guest in Theophilus's house. [go to text]

gg4245   busy acting like a busybody [go to text]

n2420   villain ] MS; vaillain O. O's meaningless reading seems to be merely a misprint. [go to text]

n2421   poisoned all my hopes It is not immediately clear to the audience what this means, and Theophilus only explains it in his next speech. [go to text]

n2422   with the safety of my manhood That is: without compromising my manly honour. (Referring back to the start of the speech: it would be dishonourable to kill a guest, so he requests Nathaniel to step outside to be killed). [go to text]

n2423   Right That is: right the wrong that has been done against me. [go to text]

n2424   our friendly care That is by organizing the horn-music for Quicksands. [go to text]

n2425   I’ll not out I'll not go out (of the house I'm currently standing in). [go to text]

n2450   Be not afraid Afraid, that is, of Nathaniel bringing shame on her, by exposing her as his former mistress. In the next lines, Nathaniel's fertile mind sees in the situation an opportunity for further sexual blackmail. [go to text]

gs274   counsel secret [go to text]

gg2077   a bit a) a small piece of food; b) with sexual overtones [go to text]

n3356   and th’wilt If you want. [go to text]

gs209   Cast rejected (here used of a person) [go to text]

n2451   Pray tell your master now. Nathaniel's parting shot is delivered aloud for Theophilus and Lucy to hear. It challenges Phillis to think up, instantly, a lie to explain away the conversation she has just had. [go to text]

n2452   sir. i.e. Theophilus. Humorous, because Theophilus has previously announced his intention to follow Nathaniel out and kill him. [go to text]

n3428   fear of heaven before her eyes 'In Millicent's virtue lies her safety' (Steen). [go to text]

gg2078   endued archaic form of 'endowed' [go to text]

n2455   wit of woman Perhaps a reference to a play-title: the anonymous The Wit of a Woman (1604). [go to text]

n2454   prevention, or security Not clear; perhaps the line implies firstly metaphorical 'locks', i.e. precautions, and then real locks, such as a chastity belt (Steen). Alternatively, it might differentiate between locks to keep gallants out, and locks to keep her in. [go to text]

n2456   she would have her will Another play-title; William Haughton's Englishmen for my Money, or A Woman Will Have Her Will (1616). [go to text]

n2459   He’ll undertake The pronouns are by now quite complicated. Nathaniel (according to Phillis) will undertake (that is, guarantee) that Quicksands' doors will fly open if Theophilus goes to him with land to sell. [go to text]

n2461   his doors, his wife Zeugma leading to an obscene comparison: Millicent's body will open like a door to let Theophilus in. [go to text]

n2467   He i.e. Nathaniel (because Theophilus thinks that Phillis is reporting Nathaniel's parting words). [go to text]

gg2087   intelligence. information [go to text]

gg2088   Pseugh an interjection, equivalent to 'pah' or 'pshaw' (used by Brome in both O and MS versions of The English Moor) [go to text]

gg807   crew 'crew' could be neutral, meaning a gathering or group, but here the pejorative meaning is clear: 'a number of persons classed together (by the speaker) from actual connexion or common characteristics; often with derogatory qualification or connotation; lot, set, gang, mob, herd' (OED n1. 4) [go to text]

n2468   her Millicent's. (Quicksands is, of course, wrong). [go to text]

gg2089   smart (v) suffer pain [go to text]

gg1619   smart (n) sharp physical pain [go to text]

n2469   gnaw the sheets That is: in frustration at not being able to have sex. An idiomatic expression: cf. Congreve, Love for Love (1695) 53;
...she no more intended,
To lick her lips at men, Sir,
And gnaw the sheets in vain, Sir,
And lie o' nights alone.
[go to text]

n2470   your Testy's (as the next line makes clear). By implication, Millicent has no respect for Quicksands. [go to text]

n3453   actor anyone who was active [go to text]

gg2090   entry entrance-hall (OED n. 7) [go to text]

gg2091   spite injury (OED n. 1) [go to text]

gg2092   ploughed hard to parallel exactly from OED in this metaphorical sense, but clearly meaning 'stimulated' [go to text]

gg402   gallant fashionable young man [go to text]

gg2093   horned with reference to the belief that cuckolded husbands grew horns [go to text]

n6365   I will be serious Millicent's long, eloquent, and serious speech about the difference between reputation and true honour performs a number of dramatic functions. It offers a tour de force, a change of register within a scene comparable to Fitchow's impressive speech on law and marriage in [NL 1.2.speech164]; by showing Millicent making a serious attempt to rebut Quicksands's suspicions, it exculpates her from any overtone of being complicit in the undoing of her marriage; and, in the short term, it gives her the leverage to make Quicksands accept her vow of a month's virginity. [go to text]

n2472   all ] MS; all, O. O's comma is clearly erroneous. [go to text]

n2492   speaks woman The general meaning is clear - 'now she sounds like a woman' - but the precise sense is hazy: perhaps OED v. 30, 'To manifest or show (a person, thing, etc.) to be or do a certain thing'. [go to text]

n2493   carry this presumption That is: carry out this arrogant action. [go to text]

gg2122   Over against [go to text]

n2494   the ceremony off That is: apart from the ceremony. (This sets up an important plot element: in early modern comedies, and to an extent in early modern Britain, marriages could still be annulled if they had not been consummated). [go to text]

n2496   wildfire flashes Two meanings are current here: a) in a literal sense, implying the gallants have had fireworks of some sort as part of their assault on the windows; b) metaphorically, indicating their ill-disciplined desire. [go to text]

n2498   ignorance She means of her own worth. [go to text]

gg2124   trench on infringe upon (OED v. 7b) [go to text]

n2503   ball Traditionally, Fortune was pictured standing on a ball, an emblem of the instability of the world. For numerous illustrations, see Thomson, ed., Fortune: 'All is but Fortune' (2000). See, alternatively, George Wither's illustration of Fortune in A Collection of Emblemes (1635), online at the English Emblem Book Project, http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/withe174.htm. [go to text]

n2504   maidenheads Virginities. That is, Testy is willing to bet a large sum of money (the sum required to corrupt twenty virgins) that Quicksands will not get to take Millicent's virginity in the next week. [go to text]

gg132   sennight week (archaic); abbreviation of 'seven nights' [go to text]

gs286   quit paid back [go to text]

gg990   trim fine, neat, smart (clever) [go to text]

gg1398   forward bold, presumptuous, immodest (OED 8) [go to text]

gg2959   clap imprison [go to text]

gg2033   goatish a) like a goat; b) lustful (because goats were proverbially so) [go to text]

gg478   roarers a noisy, riotous bully or reveller; a wild roisterer; the term was particularly associated with tavern culture in the Caroline period (OED, 1b) [go to text]

gg1954   drift purpose, meaning [go to text]

gg1761   quaint skilful, clever [go to text]

gg1174   device scheme, project, often one of an underhand or evil character; a plot, stratagem, trick [go to text]

gg2127   foil defeat (a metaphor from fencing) [go to text]

gg2128   in years old [go to text]

n2505   Old foxes are best blades Two meanings are current here: a) old swords are the best swords, because a 'fox' is a type of sword (OED n, 6); and b) (metaphorically, and because 'blade' can denote a dashing, active man) old men are the best lovers. [go to text]

n2506   bright Two meanings again obtain: a) continuing the metaphor of Quicksands as an old sword; b) with sexual overtones. [go to text]

n4240   [TESTY and MILLICENT take a long, appraising look at QUICKSANDS.] This stage direction is implied by the dialogue. Quicksands, unaware he is being watched, is distracted in some other activity: perhaps revelling in his plans to trick the gallants. [go to text]

n2507   Have gone to see their uncles OED quotes Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785): ''He is gone to visit his uncle', saying of one who leaves his wife soon after marriage' (OED uncle n, 1c). [go to text]

gg2130   dispose management [go to text]

gg2135   tell-troths people who tell the truth [go to text]

gg2136   itch lust for [go to text]

n2510   strong-backed servingmen Rafe may be thinking particularly of Middleton and Rowley's The Changeling, in which the servant De Flores gains sexual power over his mistress by drawing her into crime. But, as Levin (2005) notes, the idea of noble ladies falling in love with their virile servingmen is a recurrent trope in early modern drama. [go to text]

gg2137   character handwriting [go to text]

gg2138   attributes descriptive terms [go to text]

gg4251   belied told lies about [go to text]

n2511   It may do yet. This may yet be my opportunity (to seduce Dionysia). [go to text]

n2512   In true construction If one thinks about it correctly. [go to text]

n2513   you have only In modern word-order: 'only you have'. [go to text]

gg2139   sprightly spirited [go to text]

n2514   twelve-months-melancholy The melancholy has lasted twelve months, corresponding to the time since the disappearance of Arthur's father (and since the start of his and Lucy's lovesickness). The phrase has overtones of the 'twelvemonth's mind' (OED twelvemonth n. 2), a ceremony marking a year since someone's death. [go to text]

gg504   earnest money or sum of money paid as an instalment (OED n. 2) [go to text]

n6417   [RAFE] offers to kiss [DIONYSIA]. She strikes him. He offers to kiss her, she strikes him O; She strikes him MS. O is more explicit than MS. The moment exemplifies the slowly changing power relations between the two characters, especially since it is claimed by Rafe as a victory: he has managed to make bodily contact with her, even if that contact takes the form of her hitting him. Rafe could be played as a sinister sexual predator, but workshopping revealed the potential for broad comedy in the sequence: see clip . The workshopping also raised other questions of performance and interpretation. Dionysia, as performed in this clip, shows no sense that she has crossed a line with Rafe in physically touching him, and that lack of awareness is an important element of a purely comic interpretation of the scene. An alternative interpretation would be to stage it more as it appears in Rafe's imagination, and to give Dionysia some inkling that she has started to compromise herself with Rafe in reacting at all to his demands for a reward. In a sense, the strength of the scene lies in the fact that it is both things at once: the intimacy between them is both a comic self-delusion on Rafe's part, and also and at the same time the early stages of the potentially life-threatening disaster which nearly comes to pass in Act Five. [go to text]

gg2140   virago 'a man-like, vigorous, and heroic woman; a female warrior; an amazon' (OED n. 2) [go to text]

n2515   strikers Two meanings obtain: a) one who strikes blows (OED n, 2b); b) a perjorative term for a sexually active woman (OED n, 2d). [go to text]

n2516   clinches Not recorded by OED in this intransitive sense, but clearly equivalent to 'this clinches it'. [go to text]

n2522   Sick, brother Dionysia feigns love-sickness, in order to expose her brother's love-sickness which she has just found out about. [go to text]

n4245   Passion of heart Heart palpitations: a loosely-used medical term (cf. OED cardiac a, 1). [go to text]

gg3217   Ho! a shout to summon help [go to text]

n2517   them Dionysia means the doctors. [go to text]

gg2141   proud vigorous (OED adj. 6) [go to text]

n2518   To sufferance and silence Since I have up to now not wavered from suffering in silence. [go to text]

gg1085   tax censure, accuse [go to text]

gs583   search investigate, examine (OED v. 5a) [go to text]

gg2643   Ha! a versatile exclamation which can express surprise, wonder, joy, suspicion, indignation, etc., depending on the speaker’s intonation (OED int, 1) [go to text]

n2519   looked To 'look' a wound is to inspect it, looking for foreign matter in it (OED v, 6). [go to text]

n9205   Aside ] MS. The only line in this scene specially marked as an aside in MS or O (although many others are clearly, by modern definitions, asides). [go to text]

n2520   She has put me to’t indeed She has put me in a quandary. Arthur is entirely taken in by her story, and instantly thinks how it would impact his proposed match with Theophilus's sister Lucy. [go to text]

n2521   he Theophilus. [go to text]

n4246   put her off on’t Put her off from it. [go to text]

gs289   touched (of a wound) medically examine by feeling (OED v. 2d) [go to text]

n4247   you perish then If I pity you, and treat you gently, you will perish from the disease. [go to text]

n2523   the act itself That is, the killing of their father. [go to text]

n2524   blood ] MS; blood. O. In either case, the phrase is grammatically incomplete, but the MS makes it an aposiopesis, a deliberate trailing off, rather than the uncharacteristic Latinate-sounding ellipsis implied by O's punctuation. [go to text]

n6352   [DIONYSIA] rises ] She rises MS; no SD in O. MS gives a vivid clue to the movement of the characters. [go to text]

gg2142   Bit in restrained (OED bite v, 7) [go to text]

n2526   crossed out Dionysia imagines Lucy as a saint whose saint's day is being deleted from the calendar. [go to text]

gs880   hazard; risk (that is: I will see what I can achieve, although I risk my life in doing so) [go to text]

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