Her grief was that her husband, despite all his show
of loving her, should be secretly striving to put her to so much shame
in her own household, and this when she believed herself far more
beautiful and graceful than the woman whom he sought in her stead.
But she rejoiced to think that she might surprise her husband in such
manifest error that he would no longer be able to reproach her with her
lovers, nor with her desire to dwell at Court; and, to bring this about,
she begged the girl gradually to grant her husband what he sought upon
certain conditions that she made known to her.
The girl was minded to make some difficulty, but when her mistress
warranted the safety both of her life and of her honour, she consented
to do whatever might be her pleasure.
The gentleman, on continuing his pursuit of the girl, found her
countenance quite changed towards him, and therefore urged his suit more
eagerly than had been his wont; but she, knowing by heart the part
she had to play, made objection of her poverty, and said that, if she
complied with his desire, she would be turned away by her mistress, in
whose service she looked to gain a good husband.
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