To this strange bargain Antonio consents. It is but a jest, he
thinks.
"Content in faith, I'll seal to such a bond,
And say, there is much kindness in the Jew."
But Bassanio is uneasy. "I like not fair terms," he says, "and a
villain mind. You shall not seal to such a bond for me." But
Antonio insists and the bond is sealed.
All being settled, Bassanio receives the money, and before he
sets off to woo his lady he gives a supper to all his friends, to
which he also invites Shylock. Shylock goes to this supper
although to his daughter Jessica he says,
"But wherefore should I go?
I am not bid for love; they flatter me:
But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon
The prodigal Christian."
But Jessica does not join her father in his hatred of all
Christians. She indeed has given her heart to one of the hated
race, and well knowing that her father will never allow her to
marry him, she, that night while he is at supper with Bassanio,
dresses herself in boy's clothes and steals away, taking with her
a great quantity of jewels and money.
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