well played, master crab, i commend you.
stand up straight, girl.
i have seen you. you are the one who comes to all the plays--at whitehall, at richmond.
what do you love so much?
speak out! i know who i am. do you love stories of kings and queens? feats of arms? or is it courtly love?
they are not acted for you, they are acted for me.
and--?
above lord wessex?
my lord--when you cannot find your wife you had better look for her at the playhouse.
but playwrights teach nothing about love, they make it pretty, they make it comical, or they make it lust. they cannot make it true.
i thought you were here because you had none.
well, no one will take your wager, it seems.
fifty pounds! a very worthy sum on a very worthy question. can a play show us the very truth and nature of love? i bear witness to the wager, and will be the judge of it as occasion arises. i have not seen anything to settle it yet. so--the fireworks will be soothing after the excitements of lady viola's audience. have her then, but you are a lordly fool. she has been plucked since i saw her last, and not by you. it takes a woman to know it.
have a care with my name, you will wear it out.
the queen of england does not attend exhibitions of public lewdness so something is out of joint. come here, master kent. let me look at you.
yes, the illusion is remarkable and your error, mr. tilney, easily forgiven, but i know something of a woman in a man's profession, yes, by god, i do know about that. that is enough from you, maser kent. if only lord wessex were here.
there was a wager, i remember…as to whether a play can show the very truth and nature of love. i think you lost it today. you are an eager boy. did you like the play?
master shakespeare. next time to you come to greenwich, come as yourself and we will speak some more. will bows deeply. the queen turns to leave. the waves part for her.
why, lord wessex! lost your wife so soon?
as stories must when love's denied--with tears and a journey. those whom god has joined in marriage, not even i can put asunder.
lord wessex, as i foretold, has lost his wife in the play- house--go make your farewell and send her out. it's time to settle accounts. how much was the wager?
give it to master kent. he will see it rightfully home. wessex gives his purse to viola.
and tell shakespeare something more cheerful next time for twelfth night.
too late, too late.