MOR.  The Earl of Kent, mine honourable friend,
Hath to my daughter been a suitor long,
And much it would displease both her and him
To be prevented of their wished love. 
Ask what thou wilt beside, and I will grant it.

CAS.  Alas, my lord! what should the crazy earl
Do with so young a virgin as your daughter? 
I dare stand to her choice ’twixt him and me.

LACY.  And I will pawn mine earldom with my love,
And lose them both, if I lose Honorea.

CAS.  A match, my lords!  We’ll stand unto the choice.

MOR.  I am contented, if the earl be pleased.

LACY.  I were not worthy of her, did I doubt.

CAS.  Then there it goes.  Fetch me a bowl of wine: 
This is the match, my lord, before I work—­
If she refuse the earl, she must be mine.

MOR.  It is.

    [One brings him a cup of wine:  he strains the
    juice of the herb into it.

CAS.  Now shall your lordships see a Spaniard’s skill,
Who from the plains of new America[439]
Can find out sacred simples of esteem
To bind and unbind nature’s strongest powers. 
This herb, which mortal men have seldom found,
Can I with ease procure me, when I list,
And by this juice shall Honorea speak. 
Here, lady, drink the freedom of thy heart,
And may it teach thee long to call me love!
                              [She drinks. 
Now, lovely Honorea, thou art free,
Let thy celestial voice make choice of me.

HON.  Base alien! mercenary fugitive! 
Presumptuous Spaniard! that with shameless pride
Dar’st ask an English lady for thy wife,
I scorn my slave should honour thee so much: 
And, for myself, I like myself the worse,
That thou dar’st hope the gaining of my love. 
Go, get thee gone, the shame of my esteem,
And seek some drudge that may be like thyself! 
But as for you, good Earl of Kent,
Methinks your lordship, being of these years,
Should be past dreaming of a second wife. 
Fie, fie, my lord! ’tis lust in doting age: 
I will not patronise so foul a sin. 
An old man dote on youth? ’tis monstrous. 
Go home, go home, and rest your weary head! 
’Twere pity such a brow should learn to bud. 
And lastly unto you, my lord and father,
Your love to me is too much overseen,
That in your care and counsel should devise
To tie your daughter’s choice to two such grooms. 
You may elect for me, but I’ll dispose,
And fit myself far better than both those;
And so I will conclude; you[r], as you please.
                  [Exit HONOREA in a chafe.

AKER.  Call you this making of a woman speak? 
I think they all wish she were dumb again.

CAS.  How now, my lord? what, are you in a muse?

LACY.  I would to God her tongue were tied again.

CAS.  Ay, marry, sir, but that’s another thing,
The devil cannot tie a woman’s tongue:[440]
I would the friar could do that with his beads. 
But ’tis no matter:  you, my lord, have promis’d,
If she refuse the earl, she should be mine.