Act 3, Scene IV

SCENE IV. A room in PAGE'S house.

Enter FENTON and ANNE PAGE
FENTON
I see I cannot get thy father's love;
Therefore no more turn me to him, sweet Nan.

ANNE PAGE
Alas, how then?

FENTON
Why, thou must be thyself.
He doth object I am too great of birth--,
And that, my state being gall'd with my expense,
I seek to heal it only by his wealth:
Besides these, other bars he lays before me,
My riots past, my wild societies;
And tells me 'tis a thing impossible
I should love thee but as a property.

ANNE PAGE
May be he tells you true.

FENTON
No, heaven so speed me in my time to come!
Albeit I will confess thy father's wealth
Was the first motive that I woo'd thee, Anne:
Yet, wooing thee, I found thee of more value
Than stamps in gold or sums in sealed bags;
And 'tis the very riches of thyself
That now I aim at.

ANNE PAGE
Gentle Master Fenton,
Yet seek my father's love; still seek it, sir:
If opportunity and humblest suit
Cannot attain it, why, then,--hark you hither!

They converse apart

Enter SHALLOW, SLENDER, and MISTRESS QUICKLY

SHALLOW
Break their talk, Mistress Quickly: my kinsman shall
speak for himself.

SLENDER
I'll make a shaft or a bolt on't: 'slid, 'tis but
venturing.

SHALLOW
Be not dismayed.

SLENDER
No, she shall not dismay me: I care not for that,
but that I am afeard.

MISTRESS QUICKLY
Hark ye; Master Slender would speak a word with you.

ANNE PAGE
I come to him.

Aside

This is my father's choice.
O, what a world of vile ill-favor'd faults
Looks handsome in three hundred pounds a-year!

MISTRESS QUICKLY
And how does good Master Fenton? Pray you, a word with you.

SHALLOW
She's coming; to her, coz. O boy, thou hadst a father!

SLENDER
I had a father, Mistress Anne; my uncle can tell you
good jests of him. Pray you, uncle, tell Mistress
Anne the jest, how my father stole two geese out of
a pen, good uncle.

SHALLOW
Mistress Anne, my cousin loves you.

SLENDER
Ay, that I do; as well as I love any woman in
Gloucestershire.

SHALLOW
He will maintain you like a gentlewoman.

SLENDER
Ay, that I will, come cut and long-tail, under the
degree of a squire.

SHALLOW
He will make you a hundred and fifty pounds jointure.

ANNE PAGE
Good Master Shallow, let him woo for himself.

SHALLOW
Marry, I thank you for it; I thank you for that good
comfort. She calls you, coz: I'll leave you.

ANNE PAGE
Now, Master Slender,--

SLENDER
Now, good Mistress Anne,--