In her face excuse

Came prologue, and apology too prompt.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book ix. Line 853.

  Ham.  Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring?

  Oph.  'T is brief, my lord.

  Ham.  As woman's love.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act iii. Sc. 2.