The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 3 of 9]Shakespeare, William
General
The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 3 of 9]
Shakespeare, William
English drama
My lord, so please you, these things further thought on,
To think me as well a sister as a wife,
One day shall crown the alliance on't, so please you, 305
Here at my house and at my proper cost.
_Duke._ Madam, I am most apt to embrace your offer.
[_To Viola_] Your master quits you; and for your service done him,
So much against the mettle of your sex,
So far beneath your soft and tender breeding, 310
And since you call'd me master for so long,
Here is my hand: you shall from this time be
Your master's mistress.
_Oli._ A sister! you are she.
_Re-enter_ FABIAN, _with_ MALVOLIO.
_Duke._ Is this the madman?
_Oli._ Ay, my lord, this same.
How now, Malvolio!
_Mal._ Madam, you have done me wrong, 315
Notorious wrong.
_Oli._ Have I, Malvolio? no.
_Mal._ Lady, you have. Pray you, peruse that letter.
You must not now deny it is your hand:
Write from it, if you can, in hand or phrase;
Or say 'tis not your seal, not your invention: 320
You can say none of this: well, grant it then
And tell me, in the modesty of honour,
Why you have given me such clear lights of favour,
Bade me come smiling and cross-garter'd to you,
To put on yellow stockings and to frown 325
Upon Sir Toby and the lighter people;
And, acting this in an obedient hope,
Why have you suffer'd me to be imprison'd,
Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
And made the most notorious geek and gull 330
That e'er invention play'd on? tell me why.
_Oli._ Alas, Malvolio, this is not my writing,
Though, I confess, much like the character:
But out of question 'tis Maria's hand.
And now I do bethink me, it was she 335
First told me thou wast mad; then camest in smiling,
And in such forms which here were presupposed
Upon thee in the letter. Prithee, be content:
This practice hath most shrewdly pass'd upon thee;
But when we know the grounds and authors of it, 340
Thou shalt be both the plaintiff and the judge
Of thine own cause.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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