PROTEUS       Come, come, open the matter in brief. What said she?

SPEED            Open your purse, that the money and the matter may be both at once delivered.

PROTEUS [giving money] Well, sir, here is for your pains. What said she?

SPEED Truly, sir, I think you’ll hardly win her.

PROTEUS Why? Couldst thou perceive so much from her?

SPEED Sir, I could perceive nothing at all from her, no, not so much as a ducat for delivering your letter. And being so hard to me, that brought your mind, I fear she’ll prove as hard to you in telling your mind. Give her no token but stones, for she’s as hard as steel.       (1.1.116-125)

Come, come, open the matter in brief. Spit it out, give me the gist: just tell me! What said she? Speed’s stubborn: no way. First, open your purse, that the money and the matter may be both at once delivered. You pay me, then I tell you. Pay up, or I’ll keep it to myself! Proteus has to give in: well, sir—and that can be biting—here is for your pains. Satisfied? OK now? What said she?

But Speed still has some power, and he’s playing with it. Truly, sir, I think you’ll hardly win her. This could be partly an expression of disgust at a small tip… Hardly here is either barely, or else, it’s going to be difficult, especially if you aren’t prepared to invest some proper time and effort and MONEY into it. But Proteus is baffled as to how Speed can come to this conclusion simply by having delivered a letter: why? couldst thou perceive so much from her? Really? Sir, I could perceive—with a sarcastic emphasis—nothing at all from her—he’s quibbling on receive, as he did previously. She didn’t pay me properly either, no, not so much as a ducat for delivering your letter. (A ducat would be a very large amount for delivering a letter; Speed is trying it on, trying to get Proteus to pay him more, suggesting that the going rate is high.) And being so hard to me, that brought your mind—seeing as I was your messenger, your go-between, delivering all your deepest thoughts and feelings and intentions to her, seeing that she didn’t do me any favours, repay my effort in any way—well, I fear she’ll prove as hard to you in telling your mind, when she actually speaks to you directly (rather than all this messing around with letters). Give her no token but stones, for she’s as hard as steel. Partly Speed is setting up the expectation (whether accurately or not) that Julia is disdainful, an archetypal chilly Petrarchan mistress. You’ll have to woo her with some pretty big stones—gemstones—because she’s a tough customer, unbending and harsh, but also, stones as testicles; Speed’s saying (to be vulgar) grow a pair… (There’s some ironic foreshadowing here: Julia will—spoiler—acquire some stones of her own, sort of, when she disguises herself as a boy; she is also as true as steel, another proverb, unlike the slippery, changeable Proteus.)