VAL. This admission is not very polite.

ASC. What, Valere? Supposing I were a woman and loved you tenderly,
would you be so cruel as to make me promise to aid you in your love for
another lady? I could not perform such a painful task.

VAL. But you are not a woman.

ASC. What I said to you I said in the character of a woman, and you
ought to take it so.

VAL. Thus I ought not to imagine you like me, Ascanio, unless Heaven
works a miracle in you. Therefore, as you are not a woman, I bid
farewell to your affection; you do not care in the least for me.

ASC. My feelings are far more nice than people imagine, and the smallest
misgiving shocks me when love is in the case. But I am sincere; I will
not promise to aid you, Valere, unless you assure me that you entertain
precisely the same sentiments for me; that you feel the same warmth of
friendship for me as I feel for you; and that if I were a woman you
would love no one better than me.

VAL. I never before heard of such a jealous scruple, but though quite
unexpected, this affection obliges me to make some return for it; I here
promise you all you require of me.

ASC. But sincerely?

VAL. Yes, sincerely.