SCENE III. Cyprus. The Garden of the Castle.
[Enter Desdemona, Cassio, and Emilia.]
DESDEMONA.
Be thou assured, good Cassio, I will do
All my abilities in thy behalf.
EMILIA.
Good madam, do: I warrant it grieves my husband
As if the cause were his.
DESDEMONA.
O, that's an honest fellow. — Do not doubt, Cassio,
But I will have my lord and you again
As friendly as you were.
CASSIO.
Bounteous madam,
Whatever shall become of Michael Cassio,
He's never anything but your true servant.
DESDEMONA.
I know't, — I thank you. You do love my lord:
You have known him long; and be you well assur'd
He shall in strangeness stand no farther off
Than in a politic distance.
CASSIO.
Ay, but, lady,
That policy may either last so long,
Or feed upon such nice and waterish diet,
Or breed itself so out of circumstance,
That, I being absent, and my place supplied,
My general will forget my love and service.
DESDEMONA.
Do not doubt that; before Emilia here
I give thee warrant of thy place: assure thee,
If I do vow a friendship, I'll perform it
To the last article: my lord shall never rest;
I'll watch him tame, and talk him out of patience;
His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift;
I'll intermingle everything he does
With Cassio's suit: therefore be merry, Cassio;
For thy solicitor shall rather die
Than give thy cause away.
