Mrs. Page. By your leave, sir;-I am sick, till I see her. [Exeunt MRS. PAGE and ROBIN. Ford. Has Page any brains? hath he any eyes? hath he any thinking? sure, they sleep; he hath no use of them. Why, this boy will carry a letter twenty miles, as easy as a cannon will shoot point blank twelve score. He pieces out his wife's inclination; he gives her folly motion, and advantage; and now she's going to my wife, and Falstaff's boy with her. A man may hear this shower sing in the wind :—and Falstaff's boy with her!-Good plots!-they are laid; and our revolted wives share damnation together. Well I will take him, then torture my wife; pluck the borrow'd veil of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page; divulge Page himself for a secure and wilful Actæon,-[The Clock strikes.] The clock gives me my cue, and my assurance bids me search; there I shall find Falstaff: I shall be rather prais'd for this, than mock'd; for it is as positive as the earth is firm, that Falstaff is there.

Enter PAGE, SHALLOW, SLENDER, HOST, EVANS, CAIUS, RUGBY, and SIMPLE.

Shal. Page, &c. Well met, Master Ford.

Ford. Trust me, a good knot: I have good cheer at home; and, I pray you all, go with me. Shal. I must excuse myself, Master Ford.

Slen. And so must I, sir; we have appointed to dine with Mistress Anne, and I would not break with her, for more money than I'll speak of.

Shal. We have linger'd about a match between Anne Page and my cousin Slender, and this day we shall have our answer.

Slen. I hope, I have your good-will, Father Page. Page. You have, Master Slender; I stand wholly you:-but my wife, Master Doctor, is for you altogether.

for

Caius. Ay, by gar; and de maid is love-a me; my nursh-a Quickly tell me so mush.

Host. What say you to young Master Fenton? he capers, he dances, he has eyes of youth; he writes verses, he speaks holyday; he smells April and May: he will carry't, he will carry't; 'tis in his buttons; he will carry't.

Page. Not by my consent, I promise you. The gentleman is of no having: he kept company with the wild Prince and Poins; he is of too high a region, he knows too much; my consent goes not that way. Ford. I beseech you, heartily, some of you go home with me to dinner: besides your cheer, you shall have sport; I'll show you a monster.-Master Doctor, you shall go ;-so shall you, Master Page; and you, Sir Hugh.

Shal. Well, fare you well.-We shall have the freer wooing at Master Page's.

[Exeunt SHALLOW, SLENDER, and SIMPLE. Host. Farewell, my hearts: I will to my honest Knight Falstaff, and drink canary with him.

[Exit HOST. Ford. I think, I shall drink in pipe-wine first with him; I'll make him dance.-Will you go, gentles? [Exeunt FORD, PAGE, and EVANS.

Caius. Go home, John Rugby; I come anon. [Exeunt CAIUS, and RUGBY.

SCENE III.

FORD'S House.

Enter MRS. FORD, and MRS. PAGE.

Mrs. Ford. What, John! what, Robert!

Mrs. Page. Quickly, quickly:-is the buck basket

Mrs. Ford. I warrant :- -What, Robin, I say.

Enter JOHN and ROBERT, with a Basket.

Mrs. Page. Come, come, come.

Mrs. Ford. Here, set it down.

Mrs. Page. Give your men the charge; we must be brief.

Mrs. Ford. Marry, as I told you before, John, and Robert, be ready here hard-by in the brewhouse; and when I suddenly call on you, come forth, and (without any pause, or staggering,) take this basket on your shoulders that done, trudge with it in all haste, and carry it among the whitsters in Datchet-mead, and there empty it in the muddy ditch, close by the Thames' side.

Mrs. Page. You will do it?

you are

Mrs. Ford. I have told them over and over; they lack no direction: Be gone, and come when [Exeunt JOHN, and ROBERT. Mrs. Page. Here comes little Robin.

call'd.

Enter ROBIN.

Mrs. Ford. How now, my eyas-musket? what news with you?

Rob. My master Sir John is come in at the backdoor, Mistress Ford; and requests your company. Mrs. Page. You little Jack-a-lent, have you been

true to us?

Rob. Ay, I'll be sworn: My master knows not of your being here; and hath threaten'd to put me into everlasting liberty, if I tell you of it; for he swears, he'll turn me away.

Mrs. Page. Thou'rt a good boy; this secrecy of thine shall be a tailor to thee, and shall make thee a new doublet and hose.—I'll go hide me.

Mrs. Ford. Do so:-Go, tell thy master, I am

alone. [Exit ROBIN.] Mistress Page, remember you

your cue.

me.

Mrs. Page. I warrant thee; if I do not act it, hiss [Exit MRS. PAge. Mrs. Ford. Go to then ;--we'll use this gross pumpion; we'll teach him to know turtles from jays.

Enter FALSTAFF.

Fal. Have I caught thee, my heavenly jewel? Why, this is the period of my ambition: O this blessed hour!

Mrs. Ford. O, sweet Sir John!

Fal. Mistress Ford, I cannot cog, I cannot prate, Mistress Ford. Now shall I sin in my wish: I would thy husband were dead; I'll speak it before the best lord, I would make thee my lady.

Mrs. Ford. I your lady, Sir John! alas, I should be a pitiful lady.

Fal. Let the court of France show me such another; I see how thine eye would emulate the diamond: Thou hast the right arch'd bent of the brow, that be comes, the ship-tire, the tire-valiant, or any tire of Venetian admittance.

Mrs. Ford. A plain kerchief Sir John :-my brows become nothing else; nor that well neither.

Fal. Thou art a traitor to say so thou would'st make an absolute courtier: I see what thou wert, if fortune thy foe were not; nature is thy friend; Come, thou canst not hide it.

me.

Mrs. Ford. Believe me, there's no such thing in

Fal. What made me love thee? let that persuade, thee, there's something extraordinary in thee. Come, I cannot cog, and say, thou art this and that, like a many of these lisping hawthorn buds, that come like women in men's apparel, and smell like Bucklersbury in simple-time; I cannot but I love thee; none but thee; and thou deservest it.

F

Mrs. Ford. Do not betray me, sir; I fear, you love Mistress Page.

Fal. Thou might'st as well say, I love to walk by the Counter-gate; which is as hateful to me as the reek of a lime-kiln.

Mrs. Ford. Well, Heavens knows how I love you; and you shall one day find it.

Fal. Keep in that mind; I'll deserve it.

Mrs. Ford. Nay, I must tell you, so you do; or else I could not be in that mind.

Enter ROBIN.

Rob. Mistress Ford, Mistress Ford ! here's Mistress Page at the door, looking wildly, and would needs speak with you presently. [Exit ROBIN. Fal. She shall not see me; I will ensconce me behind the arras.

Mrs. Ford. 'Pray you, do so; she's a very tattling [Exit FALSTAFF.

woman.

Enter MISTRESS PAGE and ROBIN.

What's the matter? how now? Mrs. Page. O Mistress Ford, what have you done? you're shamed, you are overthrown, you are undone for ever.

Mrs. Ford. What's the matter, good Mistress Page? Mrs. Page. O well-a-day, Mistress Ford! having an honest man to your husband, to give him such cause of suspicion!

Mrs. Ford. What cause of suspicion?

Mrs. Page. What cause of suspicion ?-Out upon you!-how am I mistook in you!

Mrs. Ford. Why, alas! what's the matter?

Mrs. Page. Your husband's coming hither, woman, with all the officers in Windsor, to search for a gentleman that, he says, is here now in the house, by your consent, to take an ill advantage of his absence: You are undone.