Take and give back affairs and their dispatch As a countess, Olivia is probably a large landowner, and as a large landowner, she would have many "affairs": paying taxes, collecting rent, signing contracts, hiring and firing staff. She would "take . . . affairs" in the sense of taking them under consideration; she would "give back . . . their dispatch" when she issued an executive decision about the affairs that she had taken under consideration. Olivia does all of this business very well, so it's difficult for Sebastian to believe that she's mad, even though she's acting mad in regards to him; he has never seen her before, but she believes that she knows him, loves him, and wants to marry him.