SILVIA I thank you, gentle servant. ’Tis very clerkly done.

VALENTINE    Now trust me, madam, it came hardly off;

For being ignorant to whom it goes

I writ at random, very doubtfully.

SILVIA Perchance you think too much of so much pains?

VALENTINE No, madam, so it stead you, I will write–

Please you command–a thousand times as much.

And yet …       (2.1.89-96)

So, Silvia has the letter: I thank you, gentle servant, she says, politely, slightly flirtatiously? A pause, to ramp up Valentine’s anxiety, and Speed’s amusement, while she reads the letter. ’Tis very clerkly done. Is this a compliment or not? Is she commenting on the neat handwriting, the conventional, formal phrasing? You write like a boring secretary, efficient and colourless. There can be a laugh if she looks taken-aback by the dullness of it—and Valentine is anxious to explain: now trust me, madam, it came hardly off. It was very difficult, believe me! (I didn’t want to do it!) Moreover, being ignorant to whom it goes, I writ at random, very doubtfully. I mean, you didn’t tell me the name of the recipient—I didn’t know to whom I was writing! And that made it difficult; I had to write in general terms, no specifics. It all felt very uncertain and unsatisfactory! Silvia’s apparently displeased by this (or is it just flirtatious?): perchance you think too much of too much pains? Well, if it was all too much effort then, I don’t know why you bothered, undertaking such an unpleasant task. Valentine has to backtrack, he realizes he’s made an error here, oh no no no, it was no trouble at all! I’d do it all over again! I’d do anything for you! No madam, so it stead you, I will write—please you command—a thousand times as much. Anything! Your wish is my command!

And yet… but seeing as you’re asking… (This is his opportunity. But will he have the courage to tell Silvia How He Feels?)

(Silvia knows already. She’s several steps ahead of him.)