Fauconbridge nor hermit help,
And what I do I'll answer well enough.

LADY F. Why, then, my lord.

JOHN. Nay, do not stand on them:[508]
But tell me, when my lord shall have you, Lady;
It's presently I venture for a baby.

LADY F. This night at Stepney, by my summer-house,
There is a tavern which I sometimes use,
When we from London come a-gossiping;
It is the Hind.

JOHN. Give me thy pretty hand:
Thou'lt meet me at the Hind? I'll be thy roe.

LADY F. One word's enough.

JOHN. Suffice; then be it so.

LADY F. I'll fit my old adulterer and your grace,
I'll send the Princess thither in my place. [_Aside_.

FAU. Prince John, Prince John, the hermit tells me wonders;
He says it was Skink that 'scap'd us at the tavern:
Skink had my chain--nay, sure, that Skink did all.

SKINK. I say, go but to yonder corner,
And ere the sun be half an hour higher,
There will the thief attempt a robbery.

JOHN. Who? Skink?

FAU. Will Skink?

SKINK. Ay, Skink, upon my word.

FAU. Shall we go seize upon him, good Prince John?

JOHN. Nay, we will have him, that's no question.
And yet not hurt the honest rogue.
He'll help us well in quest of changing Gloster.
Hermit, farewell; Lady, keep your hour.

FAU. Adieu, old hermit: soon in the evening, lass.

LADY F. I'll meet you both, and meet with[509] both of you.
Father, what answer do you give to me?

SKINK. Lady, start down; I must into my cell,
Where I am curing of a man late hurt;
He dress'd, I must unto my orisons;
In half an hour all will be despatch'd,
And then I will attend your ladyship.
[_Exit_.

LADY F. At your best leisure, father. O, the life,
That this thrice-reverend hermit leadeth here.
How far remote from mortal vanities,
Baits to the soul, enticements to the eye!
How far is he unlike my lustful lord?
Who being given himself to be unchaste,
Thinks all men like himself in their effects,
And injures me, that never had a thought
To wrong the sacred rights of spotless faith.

_Enter_ SKINK _with a patch on his face, and a
falconer's lure in his hand_.[510]

SKINK. Hermit, farewell, I'll pay ye or speak with ye next time I see
ye. Sweet mouse, the hermit bids you stay here; he'll visit you anon.
Now, John and Fauconbridge, I'll match ye, and I do not say Skink's a
wretch, a wren, a worm. When I have trick'd them, madam, I will trim
you. Commodity is to be preferr'd before pleasure. About profit, Skink;
for c