VIOLA enters with MALVOLIO following.

MALVOLIO
Weren't you with the Countess Olivia just now?
VIOLA
Yes, just now, sir. I've only made it this far, walking at a moderate pace.
MALVOLIO
She returns this ring to you, sir. You might have saved me the trouble and taken it with
you. She also adds that you should make it clear to your lord that there is no hope—she
wants nothing to do with him. And one thing more: you should never return here as
Orsino's messenger again, unless it is to report how he takes the bad news. Take the
ring now.
VIOLA
She took that ring from me. I don't want it.
MALVOLIO
Come, sir, you rudely threw it to her, and she wants it to be returned just as rudely. [he
throws down the ring] If it's worth stooping to pick up, there it is where you can see it. If
not, let whoever finds it first have it.
He exits.
VIOLA
I didn't leave any ring with her. What does this lady mean by this? God forbid that she's
smitten by my appearance! She did look intently at me, indeed so much that I thought
her eyes had caused her to lose her tongue, for she spoke wildly and distractedly. I
think she loves me! She is crafty in her passion, and has used this rude messenger to
subtly invite me back. So she doesn't want my lord's ring? Well, he never sent her one. I
am the man she wants. If this is true, which it is, then the poor lady would be better off
loving a dream. I now see that disguises are a tool to aid the resourceful devil. How
easy it is for attractive, deceitful men to mold women's hearts to their will! Alas, it's our
female frailty that's to blame—we can't help it. We turn out the way we're made. But
how will all this play out? My master loves her dearly, and I, poor androgynous fool,
love him just as much. And now she, mistaking me for a man, seems to have fallen in
love with me. What will become of all this? In my disguise as a man, I have no hope of
winning Orsino's love, but as I am really a woman, Olivia's love for me is hopeless
too! Oh time, you must untangle this mess—I can't do it myself. It is too hard a knot for
me to untie!
She exits.