Agnes Howe, a London heiress, promised marriage to three men, but then married a fourth. John Flaskett, one of her scorned suitors, commissioned George Chapman to write a scurrilois play about the scandal as a means of pressuring Howe into honouring her promise to him. The play was bought for and produced at St Paul's; its performance sparked a series of lawsuits. Thomas Woodford answers the bill of complaint. He agrees that the play was licensed to George Chapman, but claims he had no knowledge that it touched on contemporary subjects. The playbook has been kept at the playhouse for a long time, and the play often performed. Dr Whyte, one of the Masters of St Paul's, requested on Dr Milward's behalf that the play should be pulled from the repertory. Edward Pearce gave a copy of the playbook to Dr Milward, who read it through and agreed in the presence of witnesses that there was nothing in the play that touched on his story.