ANTONIO. These words should be mine,
And all the parts you have spoke, if some part of it
Would not have savour'd flattery.
DUCHESS. Kneel.
[Cariola comes from behind the arras.]
ANTONIO. Ha!
DUCHESS. Be not amaz'd; this woman 's of my counsel:
I have heard lawyers say, a contract in a chamber
Per verba [de] presenti<26> is absolute marriage.
[She and ANTONIO kneel.]
Bless, heaven, this sacred gordian<27> which let violence
Never untwine!
ANTONIO. And may our sweet affections, like the spheres,
Be still in motion!
DUCHESS. Quickening, and make
The like soft music!
ANTONIO. That we may imitate the loving palms,
Best emblem of a peaceful marriage,
That never bore fruit, divided!
DUCHESS. What can the church force more?
ANTONIO. That fortune may not know an accident,
Either of joy or sorrow, to divide
Our fixed wishes!
DUCHESS. How can the church build faster?<28>
We now are man and wife, and 'tis the church
That must but echo this.--Maid, stand apart:
I now am blind.
ANTONIO. What 's your conceit in this?
DUCHESS.
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