ee, and now anew I certify thee thereof, for that, an thou
persist in the rigour thou showedst the other day, thou mayst be
assured that she will not live long; wherefore I prithee be pleased to
satisfy her of her desire, and if thou yet abide fast in thine
obstinacy, whereas I have still accounted thee mighty discreet, I
shall hold thee a blockhead. What can be a greater glory for thee than
that such a lady, so fair and so noble, should love thee over all
else? Besides, how greatly shouldst thou acknowledge thyself beholden
unto Fortune, seeing that she proffereth thee a thing of such worth
and so conformable to the desires of thy youth and to boot, such a
resource for thy necessities! Which of thy peers knowest thou who
fareth better by way of delight than thou mayst fare, an thou be wise?
What other couldst thou find who may fare so well in the matter of
arms and horses and apparel and monies as thou mayst do, so thou wilt
but vouchsafe thy love to this lady? Open, then, thy mind to my words
and return to thy senses; bethink thee that once, and no oftener, it
is wont to betide that fortune cometh unto a man with smiling face and
open arms, who an he know not then to welcome, if after he find
himself poor and beggarly, he hath himself and not her to blame.
Besides, there is no call to use that loyalty between servants and
masters that behoveth between friends and kinsfolk; nay, servants
should use their masters, in so far as they may, like as themselves
are used of them. Thinkest thou, an thou hadst a fair wife or mother
or daughter or sister, who pleased Nicostratus, that he would go
questing after this loyalty that thou wouldst fain observe towards him
in respect of this lady? Thou are a fool, if thou think thus; for thou
mayst hold it for certain that, if blandishments and prayers sufficed
him not, he would not scruple to use force in the matter, whatsoever
thou mightest deem thereof. Let us, then, entreat them and their
affairs even as they entreat us and ours. Profit by the favour of
fortune and drive her not away, but welcome her with open arms and
meet her halfway, for assuredly, and thou do it not, thou wilt yet
(leave alone the death that will without fail ensue thereof to thy
lady) repent thee thereof so many a time thou wilt be fain to die
therefor.'

Pyrrhus, who had again and again pondered the words that Lusca had
said to him, had determined, and she should return to him, to make her
another guess answe