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Between you 'greed concerning her observance?
ISABELLA:
No, none, but only a repair i' the dark;
And that I have possess'd him my most stay
Can be but brief; for I have made him know
I have a servant comes with me along,
That stays upon me, whose persuasion is
I come about my brother.
DUKE VINCENTIO:
'Tis well borne up.
I have not yet made known to Mariana
A word of this. What, ho! within! come forth!
I pray you, be acquainted with this maid;
She comes to do you good.
ISABELLA:
I do desire the like.
DUKE VINCENTIO:
Do you persuade yourself that I respect you?
MARIANA:
Good friar, I know you do, and have found it.
DUKE VINCENTIO:
Take, then, this your companion by the hand,
Who hath a story ready for your ear.
I shall attend your leisure: but make haste;
The vaporous night approaches.
MARIANA:
Will't please you walk aside?
DUKE VINCENTIO:
O place and greatness! millions of false eyes
Are stuck upon thee: volumes of report
Run with these false and most contrarious quests
Upon thy doings: thousand escapes of wit
Make thee the father of their idle dreams
And rack thee in their fancies.
Welcome, how agreed?
ISABELLA:
She'll take the enterprise upon her, father,
If you advise it.
DUKE VINCENTIO:
It is not my consent,
But my entreaty too.
ISABELLA:
Little have you to say
When you depart from him, but, soft and low,
'Remember now my brother.'
MARIANA:
Fear me not.
DUKE VINCENTIO:
Nor, gentle daughter, fear you not at all.
He is your husband on a pre-contract:
To bring you thus together, 'tis no sin,
Sith that the justice of your title to him
Doth flourish the deceit. Come, let us go:
Our corn's to reap, for yet our tithe's to sow.
Provost:
Come hither, sirrah. Can you cut off a man's head?
POMPEY:
If the man be a bachelor, sir, I can; but if he be a
married man, he's his wife's head, and I can never
cut off a woman's head.
Provost:
Come, sir, leave me your snatches, and yield me a
direct answer. To-morrow morning are to die Claudio
and Barnardine. Here is in our prison a common
executioner, who in his office lacks a helper: if
you will take it on you to assist him, it shall
redeem you from your gyves; if not, you shall have
your full time of imprisonment and your deliverance
with an unpitied whipping, for you have been a
notorious bawd.
POMPEY:
Sir, I have been an unlawful bawd time out of mind;
but yet I will be content to be a lawful hangman. I
would be glad to receive some instruction from my
fellow partner.
Provost:
What, ho! Abhorson! Where's Abhorson, there?
ABHORSON:
Do you call, sir?
Provost: