OX. Ha' done, good queen: for God's good love, ha' done: This raging humour will no doubt be stay'd. Virtuous Matilda is profess'd a nun; Within a mile (at Dunmow) lives the maid. God will not suffer anything so vile; He will not, sure, that he should her defile. QUEEN. No church nor chapel, abbey, nunnery, Are privileg'd from his intemperance. But leave we him, and let us, I entreat, Go visit fair Matilda: much I am In debt unto the maid. OX. You are indeed; You wrong'd her, when with blows you made her bleed. But if you please to visit her, fair dame, Our coach is ready: we will soon be there. QUEEN. Thanks, Oxford; and with us I mean to bear The beauteous garland sent me out of Spain, Which I will offer in the abbey chapel, As witness of Matilda's chastity; Whom, while I live, I ever vow to love, In recompense of rash and causeless wrong. ACT V., SCENE I. _Enter_ BRAND _solus; with cup, bottle of poison_. BRAND. Good, by this hand! exceeding, passing good! The dog no sooner drank it, but yugh! yugh! quoth he: So grins me with his teeth, lies down and dies: Yugh! quoth I: by God's blood, go thy ways. Of all thy line and generation, Was never dog so worshipp'd as thou art, For, ere thou died'st, thou wert an officer, I lie not, by these[348] nails: a squire's place; For the vile cur became a countess's taster: So died the dog. Now in our next account The countess comes; let's see, a countess and a nun: Why so, why so! What, would she have the whole world quite undone? We'll mete[349] her for that trick. What, not a king? Hanging's too good for her. I am but a plain knave. And yet should any of these "no forsooths," These pray-aways, these trip-and-goes, these tits, Deny me, now by these-- A plague upon this bottle and this cup, I cannot act mine oath! but to't again-- By these ten ends of flesh and blood[350] I swear, First with this hand, wound thus about her hair, And with this dagger lustily lambeak'd[351]-- I would, i' faith, ay, by my villainy, I would.--But here, but here she comes, Led by two doctors in sweet lechery. If they speed, with my poison I go by; If not, have at you, maid: then step in I. _Enter_ MATILDA, _between the_ MONK _and the_ ABBESS.[352] MONK. And as I said, fair maid, you have done well, In your distress, to seek this holy place. But tell me truly, how do you expel The rage of lust-arising heat in you? MAT. By prayer, by fasting, by considering The shame of ill, and meed of doing well. ABB. But daughter, daughter, tell me in my ear, Have you no fleshly fightings now and then? [_Whisper_. BRAND. Fleshly, quoth you, a maid of three-score years? And fleshly fightings sticking in her teeth? Well, wench, thou'rt match'd, i' faith. [_Aside_.] ABB. You do confess the king has tempted you, And thinking now and then on gifts and state, A glowing heat hath proudly puff'd you up: But, thanks to God, his grace hath done you good. MONK. Who? the king's grace? MAT. No; God's grace, holy monk.