In response to Sly's objections, the Lord and his men continue to sway Sly with their rhetoric. Lunacy, they allege, is the reason Sly mistakenly believes he is a beggar. The whole house, they claim, rejoices in his recovery but is saddened by the mad illusion Sly has awakened with. The servingmen continue to ply Sly with suggestions for entertainments and luxuries he might enjoy. When they suggest to Sly he has a wife "more beautiful/ Than any woman in this waning age" (62–63), he begins to show signs of believing them. Sly's confusion is revealed in his remark "Am I a lord? And have I such a lady? / Or do I dream? Or have I dreamed till now?" (68–69). Just as the Lord intends, Sly is being taken in by the illusion in which he finds himself.
Despite Sly's growing suspicion that he may, in fact, be a lord after all, we are in on the joke and see over and over how, although Sly may dress the part, there is no real risk of him being able successfully to pass himself off as gentry. In addition to the incredulous story of fifteen years' illness (which the gullible Sly swallows hook, line, and sinker), Sly's language and behavior suggest that there is more to being a gentleman than having fine clothes and being able to order servants around. When Bartholomew the page enters, feigning concern for Sly as his wife, Sly first wonders why his wife calls him "noble lord" rather than "husband" since he is her "goodman"(101–102). His terminology sets up interesting and telling distinctions.
In the class from which Sly originally comes, "Lord" is a term used by men for men. "Lord" is also a term a woman of the upper class would apply to her spouse more readily than a woman of the lower class, who would likely call her husband "goodman." Next, Sly questions what to call his wife. What he's seeking is, quite simply, her name. Because he was raised in a lesser social class, Sly must be informed by the real Lord that his "wife" is to be addressed as "Madam, and nothing else. So lords call ladies" (108).
