Context: As a soldier with the forces of Henry IV, Falstaff, by cowardice which he chooses to call discretion, has managed to survive the first phase of the rebellion at Shrewsbury. So successfully has he carried off his false claim to have defeated Hotspur in single combat that he has been dispatched for further martial service at Gaultree Forest. Given a sum of money–which he has every intention of using for himself–for the impressment of foot soldiers, he travels through Gloucestershire where his old acquaintance Justice Shallow has summoned a group of men to be examined for possible service. Shallow, with his cousin Silence, is living out the senile dregs of his life in the memories of youth. Consequently, he is delighted at the opportunity of conversing with his old crony about activities–both fictional and actual–which recall his London days at the Inns of Court fifty-five years ago. With the dry rattle of old age he lecherously recounts the night when he and Sir John "lay all night in the windmill in St. George's field." And, with fond memory he recalls their old acquaintance in fun, Jane Nightwork, who has fallen victim to age if not the grave: