DUKE Welcome him then according to his worth.
Silvia, I speak to you, and you, Sir Thurio;
For Valentine, I need not cite him to it.
I will send him hither to you presently.
[Exit]
VALENTINE This is the gentleman I told your ladyship
Had come along with me, but that his mistress
Did hold his eyes locked in her crystal looks.
SILVIA Belike that now she hath enfranchised them
Upon some other pawn for fealty.
VALENTINE Nay, sure, I think she holds them prisoners still. (2.4.75-84)
Well, you’ll welcome him then according to his worth, won’t you? says the Duke. You’d better give him a great welcome! And, bit of business, Silvia I speak to you, and you, Sir Thurio—getting them out of the way so that Valentine and Proteus can meet, just the two of them—for Valentine, I need not cite him to it; he’s not going to need any urging either; I’ll send Proteus hither to you presently, right away!
Valentine’s excitedly filling Silvia in: oh, this is the gentleman I told your ladyship had come along with me—you remember, I told you all about him, how he would have come to Milan too, except, well, he has a steady girlfriend, and his mistress did hold his eyes locked in her crystal looks. It’s Serious, he’s totally obsessed with her, I couldn’t tear him away; he has no eyes for anyone else. Silvia’s a bit more sophisticated: belike that now she hath enfranchised them—that is, Proteus’s eyes—upon some other pawn for fealty. Maybe things have changed, perhaps she’s released his eyes and taken something else as a token of his love and loyalty? (It’s pawn not as in chess but as in pawn shop: she’s made him give her something else as a pledge of his love. A suggestion that Proteus’s girlfriend has emasculated him? Not impossibly.) Nay, sure I think she holds them prisoners still: they’re absolutely still together, his eyes haven’t wandered elsewhere (Valentine misinterprets, thinks that Proteus has been ‘set free’ by Julia). He’s a faithful lover alright, a model of constancy; it’s a really serious, committed relationship!
(Not only is this setting Proteus up for a fall, it’s also Valentine protesting that he understands what true love and constancy look like. Hmmmm.)