DUKE Nay then, no matter. Stay with me awhile.
I am to break with thee of some affairs
That touch me near, wherein thou must be secret.
’Tis not unknown to thee that I have sought
To match my friend, Sir Thurio, to my daughter?
VALENTINE I know it well, my lord, and sure the match
Were rich and honourable. Besides, the gentleman
Is full of virtue, bounty, worth, and qualities
Beseeming such a wife as your fair daughter.
Cannot your grace win her to fancy him? (3.1.58-67)
Nay then, no matter, says the Duke; if that’s all, you can stay with me awhile. Give me a few moments of your time? (He is cleverly flattering Valentine into letting his guard down, by pretending to ask his advice, take him into his confidence.) I am to break with thee of some affairs that touch me near, wherein thou must be secret. Look, what I’m about to tell you—it’s a bit sensitive, confidential, you know? I hope I can rely on your discretion? I wouldn’t discuss this with just anyone. But, of course, you’ll have already worked out a bit of what’s going on; ’tis not unknown to thee that I have sought to match my friend, Sir Thurio, to my daughter? You’ll have noticed that I’ve been trying to broker a marriage between them, yes? Thurio is, after all, one of my closest associates.
Valentine has to tread carefully, especially as he’s given ample evidence in a previous scene of how much he dislikes and despises Thurio. I know it well, my lord, and sure the match were rich and honourable. Great idea! Eminently suitable, a very advantageous marriage! And he lays it on thick, with self-serving hypocrisy: besides, the gentleman is full of virtue, bounty, worth, and qualities beseeming such a wife as your fair daughter. Thurio, he’s a terrific chap, and a great catch, he’s virtuous, generous, an all-round gentleman in fact, the perfect husband for the beautiful Silvia. She’s a lucky girl! (Keeping his hysteria under control, smooth, smooth.) But—cannot your grace win her to fancy him? Is she—not keen? Is she not entirely persuaded that Thurio’s the husband for her? A little bit of smug self-satisfaction might just begin to creep in here…