Lady. But hear you, my lord.
Hot. What say'st thou, my lady?
Lady. What is it carries you away?
Hot. Why, my horse, my love, my horse.
Lady. Out, you mad-headed ape!
A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen
As you are toss'd with. In faith,
I'll know your business, Harry, that I will.
I fear my brother Mortimer doth stir
About his title, and hath sent for you
To line his enterprize: but if you go—
Hot. So far afoot, I shall be weary, love.
Lady. Come, come, you paraquito, answer me
Directly unto this question that I ask:
In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,
An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.
Hot. Away,
Away, you trifler! Love! I love thee not,
I care not for thee, Kate: this is no world
To play with mammets and to tilt with lips:
We must have bloody noses and crack'd crowns,
And pass them current too. God's me, my horse!
What say'st thou, Kate? what wouldst thou have
with me?
Lady. Do you not love me? do you not, indeed?
Well, do not then; for since you love me not,'
I will not love myself. Do you not love me?
Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no.
Hot. Come, wilt thou see me ride?
And when I am o' horseback, I will swear
I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate;
I must not have you henceforth question me
Whither I go, nor reason whereabout:
Whither I must, I must; and, to conclude,
This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate.
I know you wise, but yet no farther wise
Than Harry Percy's wife: constant you are,
But yet a woman: and for secrecy,
No lady closer; for I well believe
Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know;
And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.
Hot. Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate:
Whither I go, thither shall you go too;
To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you.
Will this content you, Kate?
It must of force. [Exeunt. 120
The Boar's-Head Tavern in Eastcheap.
Enter the Prince, and Poins.
Prince. Ned, prithee, come out of that fat room, and lend me thy hand to laugh a little.
Poins. Where hast been, Hal?
Prince. With three or four loggerheads amongst three or fourscore hogsheads. I have sounded the very base-string of humility. Sirrah, I am sworn brother to a leash of drawers; and can call them all by their christen names, as Tom, Dick, and Francis. They take it already upon their salvation, that though I be but Prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy; and tell me flatly I am no proud Jack, like Falstaff, but a Corin
thian, a lad of mettle, a good boy, by the Lord,
so they call me, and when I am king of England,
I shall command all the good lads in Eastcheap.
They call drinking deep, dyeing scarlet; and
when you breathe in your watering, they cry,
'hem!' and bid you play it off. To con-
clude, I am so good a proficient in one quarter
of an hour, that I can drink with any tinker 20
in his own language during my life. I tell thee,
Ned, thou hast lost much honour, that thou wert
not with me in this action. But, sweet Ned,-
to sweeten which name of Ned, I give thee this
pennyworth of sugar, clapped even now into my
hand by an under-skinker, one that never spake
other English in his life than 'Eight shillings
and sixpence,' and 'You are welcome,' with this
shrill addition, 'Anon, anon, sir! Score a pint
of bastard in the Half-moon,' or so. But, Ned, 30
to drive away the time till Falstaff come, I
prithee, do thou stand in some by-room, while
I question my puny drawer to what end he gave
me the sugar; and do thou never leave calling
'Francis,' that his tale to me may be nothing
but Anon.' Step aside, and I'll show thee a
precedent.
Poins. Francis!
Prince. Thou art perfect.
Poins. Francis!
Fran. Anon, anon, sir. Look down into the Pom
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