bear “in hand,” to
keep in expectation, to flatter one's hopes, to amuse with false pretences:
“bear her in hand,”
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, iv. 1.
301
;
“ she bears me fair in hand,”
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, iv. 2.
3
;
“bear a gentleman in hand,”
2 HENRY IV., i. 2. 34
;
“Bore many gentlemen . . . In hand,”
MEASURE FOR MEASURE, i. 4. 51
;
“Your daughter, whom she bore in hand to love”
CYMBELINE, v. 5. 43
; (whom she insidiously led to believe that she loved),
“How you were borne in hand,”
MACBETH, iii. 1. 80
;
“Was falsely borne in hand,”
HAMLET, ii. 2. 67.