THURIO And thy advice this night I’ll put in practice.
Therefore, sweet Proteus, my direction-giver,
Let us into the city presently
To sort some gentlemen well-skilled in music.
I have a sonnet that will serve the turn
To give the onset to thy good advice.
DUKE About it, gentlemen.
PROTEUS We’ll wait upon your grace till after supper,
And afterward determine our proceedings.
DUKE Even now about it – I will pardon you.
Exeunt (3.2.88-97)
Thurio’s ecstatic, full of enthusiasm—or perhaps earnestly intrigued, never having contemplated such a thing before. But he’s in! And thy advice this night I’ll put in practice, on to it, right away. Therefore my sweet Proteus, my direction giver—yes, he’s grateful, effusively so, but there’s got to be a jarring pang at the possibility of Thurio being Proteus’s New Best Friend, after his betrayal of Valentine—and of course Proteus has no intention of seeing Thurio prosper either, it’s all an act. So let us into the city presently to sort some gentlemen well-skilled in music. We need to go downtown right away, to find some guys who can do the gig tonight. I have a sonnet that will serve the turn—shyly said, perhaps? or else triumphantly, here’s one I made earlier! I’ve already written a poem for Silvia! (lots of them!) and that will give the onset to thy good advice. That’ll be enough, in the first instance! We’ll do the show right here! About it, gentlemen, says the Duke—get on with it right away! Proteus is a little taken aback, it seems: we’ll wait upon your grace till after supper, and afterward determine our proceedings. We’ll stay with you until after dinner, of course, in case you need anything done, and then we’ll work out our next moves. Of course he wants to be with the Duke—to see Silvia, perhaps, but also to be able to continue to ingratiate himself with the Duke and impress him—but the Duke is adamant, he wants fast progress on this. Even now about it—I will pardon you. You’re excused from dinner: hurry! make it happen tonight!
And that’s the end of act 3.