Page:Miscellaneous Plays 1.pdf/94

74

He is but half persuaded; go thyself And use thy arts—hush, here's a stranger near us. What read'st thou there, I pray thee, that thy brows Knit thus ungraciously at ev'ry line?

Know'st thou that I must doff my silken robes, Despoil my hair of its fair ornaments, And clothe me in a gown of palmer's grey, With clouted shoon and pilgrim's staff in hand To bear me o'er rude glens and dreary wastes To share a stony couch and empty board, All for the proving of my right true love For one in great distress. Ha! ha! ha! ha! So doth this letter modestly request: I pray thee read it.

"A deadly wound rankles in my side, and I have no skilful hand to dress it, and no kind friend to comfort me. I am laid upon the cold earth, and feel many wants I never knew before. If thou hast any love for me, and as thou hast often wish'd to prove that love, come to me quickly: but conceal thyself in the coarse weeds of a Pilgrim; my life is a forfeit to the law if any one should discover where