ELIZABETH. It may prove so. But of this I am certain (for I know my countrymen) that until every other country in the Christian world, even to barbarian Muscovy and the hamlets of the boorish Germans, have its playhouse at the public charge, England will never adventure. And she will adventure then only because it is her desire to be ever in the fashion, and to do humbly and dutifully whatso she seeth everybody else doing. In the meantime you must content yourself as best you can by the playing of those two pieces which you give out as the most damnable ever writ, but which your countrymen, I warn you, will swear are the best you have ever done. But this I will say, that if I could speak across the ages to our descendants, I should heartily recommend them to fulfil your wish; for the Scottish minstrel hath well said that he that maketh the songs of a nation is mightier than he that maketh its laws; and the same may well be true of plays and interludes. _[The clock chimes the first quarter. The warder returns on his round]._ And now, sir, we are upon the hour when it better beseems a virgin queen to be abed than to converse alone with the naughtiest of her subjects. Ho there! Who keeps ward on the queen's lodgings tonight? THE WARDER. I do, an't please your majesty. ELIZABETH. See that you keep it better in future. You have let pass a most dangerous gallant even to the very door of our royal chamber. Lead him forth; and bring me word when he is safely locked out; for I shall scarce dare disrobe until the palace gates are between us. SHAKESPEAR. _[kissing her hand]_ My body goes through the gate into the darkness, madam; but my thoughts follow you. ELIZABETH. How! to my bed! SHAKESPEAR. No, madam, to your prayers, in which I beg you to remember my theatre. ELIZABETH. That is my prayer to posterity. Forget not your own to God; and so goodnight, Master Will. SHAKESPEAR. Goodnight, great Elizabeth. God save the Queen! ELIZABETH. Amen. _Exeunt severally: she to her chamber: he, in custody of the warder, to the gate nearest Blackfriars._ AYOT, ST. LAWRENCE, _20th June_ 1910. Notes on the editing: Italicized text is delimited with underlines. Punctuation and spelling retained as in the printed text. Shaw intentionally spelled many words according to a non-standard system. For example, "don't" is given as "dont" (without apostrophe), "Dr." is given as "Dr" (without a period at the end), and "Shakespeare" is given as "Shakespear" (no "e" at the end). Where several characters in the play are speaking at once, I have indicated it with vertical bars ("|"). The pound (currency) symbol has been replaced by the word "pounds". End of Project Gutenberg's Dark Lady of the Sonnets, by George Bernard Shaw