Don Carlos

SCENE XI

PRINCESS, DOMINGO.

DOMINGO   At your command, princess.PRINCESS                  We are perhaps   Not quite alone?

[Looking inquisitively after the DUKE.

            You have, as I observe,   A witness still by you.DOMINGO                How?PRINCESS                   Who was he,   That left your side but now?DOMINGO                  It was Duke ALVA.   Most gracious princess, he requests you will   Admit him to an audience after me.PRINCESS   Duke Alva! How? What can he want with me?   You can, perhaps, inform me?DOMINGO                  I? – and that   Before I learn to what important chance   I owe the favor, long denied, to stand   Before the Princess Eboli once more?           [Pauses awaiting her answer.   Has any circumstance occurred at last   To favor the king's wishes? Have my hopes   Been not in vain, that more deliberate thought   Would reconcile you to an offer which   Caprice alone and waywardness could spurn?   I seek your presence full of expectation —PRINCESS   Was my last answer to the king conveyed?DOMINGO   I have delayed to inflict this mortal wound.   There still is time, it rests with you, princess,   To mitigate its rigor.PRINCESS               Tell the king   That I expect him.DOMINGO             May I, lovely princess,   Indeed accept this as your true reply?PRINCESS   I do not jest. By heaven, you make me tremble   What have I done to make e'en you grow pale?DOMINGO   Nay, lady, this surprise – so sudden – I   Can scarcely comprehend it.PRINCESS                  Reverend sir!   You shall not comprehend it. Not for all   The world would I you comprehended it.   Enough for you it is so – spare yourself   The trouble to investigate in thought,   Whose eloquence hath wrought this wondrous change.   But for your comfort let me add, you have   No hand in this misdeed, – nor has the church.   Although you've proved that cases might arise   Wherein the church, to gain some noble end,   Might use the persons of her youthful daughters!   Such reasonings move not me; such motives, pure,   Right reverend sir, are far too high for me.DOMINGO   When they become superfluous, your grace,   I willingly retract them.PRINCESS                 Seek the king,   And ask him as from me, that he will not   Mistake me in this business. What I have been   That am I still. 'Tis but the course of things   Has changed. When I in anger spurned his suit,   I deemed him truly happy in possessing   Earth's fairest queen. I thought his faithful wife   Deserved my sacrifice. I thought so then,   But now I'm undeceived.DOMINGO                Princess, go on!   I hear it all – we understand each other.PRINCESS   Enough. She is found out. I will not spare her.   The hypocrite's unmasked! – She has deceived   The king, all Spain, and me. She loves, I know   She loves! I can bring proofs that will make you tremble.   The king has been deceived – but he shall not,   By heaven, go unrevenged! The saintly mask   Of pure and superhuman self-denial   I'll tear from her deceitful brow, that all   May see the forehead of the shameless sinner.   'Twill cost me dear, but here my triumph lies,   That it will cost her infinitely more.DOMINGO   Now all is ripe, let me call in the duke.

[Goes out.

PRINCESS (astonished)   What means all this?

SCENE XII

The PRINCESS, DUKE ALVA, DOMINGO.

DOMINGO (leading the DUKE in)              Our tidings, good my lord,   Come somewhat late. The Princess Eboli   Reveals to us a secret we had meant   Ourselves to impart to her.ALVA                  My visit, then,   Will not so much surprise her, but I never   Trust my own eyes in these discoveries.   They need a woman's more discerning glance.PRINCESS   Discoveries! How mean you?DOMINGO                  Would we knew   What place and fitter season you —PRINCESS                     Just So!   To-morrow noon I will expect you both.   Reasons I have why this clandestine guilt   Should from the king no longer be concealed.ALVA   'Tis this that brings us here. The king must know it.   And he shall hear the news from you, princess,   From you alone: – for to what tongue would he   Afford such ready credence as to yours,   Friend and companion ever of his spouse?DOMINGO   As yours, who more than any one at will   Can o'er him exercise supreme command.ALVA   I am the prince's open enemy.DOMINGO   And that is what the world believes of me.   The Princess Eboli's above suspicion.   We are compelled to silence, but your duty,   The duty of your office, calls on you   To speak. The king shall not escape our hands.   Let your hints rouse him, we'll complete the work.ALVA   It must be done at once, without delay;   Each moment now is precious. In an hour   The order may arrive for my departure.DOMINGO (after a short pause, turns to the PRINCESS)   Cannot some letters be discovered? Truly,   An intercepted letter from the prince   Would work with rare effect. Ay! let me see —   Is it not so? You sleep, princess, I think,   In the same chamber with her majesty?PRINCESS   The next to hers. But of what use is that?DOMINGO   Oh, for some skill in locks! Have you observed   Where she is wont to keep her casket key?PRINCESS (in thought)   Yes, that might lead to something; yes, I think   The key is to be found.DOMINGO                Letters, you know,   Need messengers. Her retinue is large;   Who do you think could put us on the scent?   Gold can do much.ALVA             Can no one tell us whether   The prince has any trusty confidant?DOMINGO   Not one; in all Madrid not one.ALVA                    That's strange!DOMINGO   Rely on me in this. He holds in scorn   The universal court. I have my proofs.ALVA   Stay! It occurs to me, as I was leaving   The queen's apartments, I beheld the prince   In private conference with a page of hers.PRINCESS (suddenly interrupting)   O no! that must have been of something else.DOMINGO   Could we not ascertain the fact? It seems   Suspicious.

[To the DUKE.

          Did you know the page, my lord!PRINCESS   Some trifle; what else could it be?   Enough, I'm sure of that. So we shall meet again   Before I see the king; and by that time   We may discover much.DOMINGO (leading her aside)               What of the king?   Say, may he hope? May I assure him so?   And the entrancing hour which shall fulfil   His fond desires, what shall I say of that?PRINCESS   In a few days I will feign sickness, and   Shall be excused from waiting on the queen.   Such is, you know, the custom of the court,   And I may then remain in my apartment.DOMINGO   'Tis well devised! Now the great game is won,   And we may bid defiance to all queens!PRINCESS   Hark! I am called. I must attend the queen,   So fare you well.[Exit

SCENE XIII

ALVA and DOMINGO.

DOMINGO (after a pause, during which he has watched the PRINCESS)           My lord! these roses, and —   Your battles —ALVA           And your god! – why, even so   Thus we'll await the lightning that will scathe us!                    [Exeunt.

SCENE XIV

A Carthusian Convent.

DON CARLOS and the PRIOR.

CARLOS (to the PRIOR, as he comes in)   Been here already? I am sorry for it.PRIOR   Yes, thrice since morning. 'Tis about an hour   Since he went hence.CARLOS              But he will sure return.   Has he not left some message?PRIOR                   Yes; he promised   To come again at noon.CARLOS (going to a window, and looking round the country)               Your convent lies   Far from the public road. Yonder are seen   The turrets of Madrid – just so – and there   The Mansanares flows. The scenery is   Exactly to my wish, and all around   Is calm and still as secrecy itself.PRIOR   Or as the entrance to another world.CARLOS   Most worthy sir, to your fidelity   And honor, have I now intrusted all   I hold most dear and sacred in the world.   No mortal man must know, or even suspect,   With whom I here hold secret assignation.   Most weighty reasons prompt me to deny,   To all the world, the friend whom I expect,   Therefore I choose this convent. Are we safe   From traitors and surprise? You recollect   What you have sworn.PRIOR              Good sir, rely on us.   A king's suspicion cannot pierce the grave,   And curious ears haunts only those resorts   Where wealth and passion dwell – but from these walls   The world's forever banished.CARLOS                   You may think,   Perhaps, beneath this seeming fear and caution   There lies a guilty conscience?PRIOR                    I think nothing.CARLOS   If you imagine this, most holy father,   You err – indeed you err. My secret shuns   The sight of man – but not the eye of God.PRIOR   Such things concern us little. This retreat   To guilt, and innocence alike, is open,   And whether thy designs be good or ill,   Thy purpose criminal or virtuous, – that   We leave to thee to settle with thy heart.CARLOS (with warmth)   Our purpose never can disgrace your God.   'Tis his own noblest work. To you indeed,   I may reveal it.PRIOR            To what end, I pray?   Forego, dear prince, this needless explanation.   The world and all its troubles have been long   Shut from my thoughts – in preparation for   My last long journey. Why recall them to me   For the brief space that must precede my death?   'Tis little for salvation that we need —   But the bell rings, and summons me to prayer.

[Exit PRIOR.

SCENE XV

DON CARLOS; the MARQUIS POSA enters.

CARLOS   At length once more, – at length —MARQUIS                     Oh, what a trial   For the impatience of a friend! The sun   Has risen twice – twice set – since Carlos' fate   Has been resolved, and am I only now   To learn it: speak, – you're reconciled!CARLOS                        With whom?MARQUIS   The king! And Flanders, too, – its fate is settled!CARLOS   The duke sets out to-morrow. That is fixed.MARQUIS   That cannot be – it is not surely so.   Can all Madrid be so deceived? 'Tis said   You had a private audience, and the king —CARLOS   Remained inflexible, and we are now   Divided more than ever.MARQUIS                Do you go   To Flanders?CARLOS          No!MARQUIS             Alas! my blighted hopes!CARLOS   Of this hereafter. Oh, Roderigo! since   We parted last, what have I not endured?   But first thy counsel? I must speak with her!MARQUIS   Your mother? No! But wherefore?CARLOS                     I have hopes —   But you turn pale! Be calm – I should be happy.   And I shall be so: but of this anon —   Advise me now, how I may speak with her.MARQUIS   What mean you? What new feverish dream is this?CARLOS   By the great God of wonders 'tis no dream!   'Tis truth, reality —

[Taking out the KING's letter to the PRINCESS EBOLI.

               Contained in this   Important paper – yes, the queen is free, —   Free before men and in the eyes of heaven;   There read, and cease to wonder at my words.MARQUIS (opening the letter)   What do I here behold? The king's own hand!             [After he has read it.   To whom addressed?CARLOS             To Princess Eboli.   Two days ago, a page who serves the queen,   Brought me, from unknown hands, a key and letter,   Which said that in the left wing of the palace,   Where the queen lodges, lay a cabinet, —   That there a lady whom I long had loved   Awaited me. I straight obeyed the summons.MARQUIS   Fool! madman! you obeyed it —CARLOS                   Not that I   The writing knew; but there was only one   Such woman, who could think herself adored   By Carlos. With delight intoxicate   I hastened to the spot. A heavenly song,   Re-echoing from the innermost apartment,   Served me for guide. I reached the cabinet —   I entered and beheld – conceive my wonder!MARQUIS   I guess it all —CARLOS            I had been lost forever,   But that I fell into an angel's hands!   She, hapless chance, by my imprudent looks,   Deceived, had yielded to the sweet delusion   And deemed herself the idol of my soul.   Moved by the silent anguish of my breast,   With thoughtless generosity, her heart   Nobly determined to return my love;   Deeming respectful fear had caused my silence,   She dared to speak, and all her lovely soul   Laid bare before me.MARQUIS              And with calm composure,   You tell this tale! The Princess Eboli   Saw through your heart; and doubtless she has pierced   The inmost secret of your hidden love.   You've wronged her deeply, and she rules the king.CARLOS (confidently)   But she is virtuous!MARQUIS              She may be so   From love's mere selfishness. But much I fear   Such virtue – well I know it: know how little   It hath the power to soar to that ideal,   Which, first conceived in sweet and stately grace,   From the pure soul's maternal soil, puts forth   Spontaneous shoots, nor asks the gardener's aid   To nurse its lavish blossoms into life.   'Tis but a foreign plant, with labor reared,   And warmth that poorly imitates the south,   In a cold soil and an unfriendly clime.   Call it what name you will – or education,   Or principle, or artificial virtue   Won from the heat of youth by art and cunning,   In conflicts manifold – all noted down   With scrupulous reckoning to that heaven's account,   Which is its aim, and will requite its pains.   Ask your own heart! Can she forgive the queen   That you should scorn her dearly-purchased virtue,   To pine in hopeless love for Philip's wife.CARLOS   Knowest thou the princess, then, so well?MARQUIS                         Not I —   I've scarcely seen her twice. And yet thus much   I may remark. To me she still appears   To shun alone the nakedness of vice,   Too weakly proud of her imagined virtue.   And then I mark the queen. How different, Carlos,   Is everything that I behold in her!   In native dignity, serene and calm,   Wearing a careless cheerfulness – unschooled   In all the trained restraints of conduct, far   Removed from boldness and timidity,   With firm, heroic step, she walks along   The narrow middle path of rectitude,   Unconscious of the worship she compels,   Where she of self-approval never dreamed.   Say, does my Carlos in this mirror trace   The features of his Eboli? The princess   Was constant while she loved; love was the price,   The understood condition of her virtue.   You failed to pay that price – 'twill therefore fall.CARLOS (with warmth)   No, no!

[Hastily pacing the apartment.

        I tell thee, no! And, Roderigo,   Ill it becomes thee thus to rob thy Carlos   Of his high trust in human excellence,   His chief, his dearest joy!MARQUIS                  Deserve I this?   Friend of my soul, this would I never do —   By heaven I would not. Oh, this Eboli!   She were an angel to me, and before   Her glory would I bend me prostrate down,   In reverence deep as thine, if she were not   The mistress of thy secret.CARLOS                  See how vain,   How idle are thy fears! What proofs has she   That will not stamp her maiden brow with shame?   Say, will she purchase with her own dishonor   The wretched satisfaction of revenge?MARQUIS   Ay! to recall a blush, full many a one   Has doomed herself to infamy.CARLOS (with increased vehemence)                   Nay, that   Is far too harsh – and cruel! She is proud   And noble; well I know her, and fear nothing.   Vain are your efforts to alarm my hopes.   I must speak to my mother.MARQUIS                  Now? for what?CARLOS   Because I've nothing more to care for now.   And I must know my fate. Only contrive   That I may speak with her.MARQUIS                 And wilt thou show   This letter to her?CARLOS              Question me no more,   But quickly find the means that I may see her.MARQUIS (significantly)   Didst thou not tell me that thou lov'st thy mother?   And wouldst thou really show this letter to her?

[CARLOS fixes his eyes on the ground, and remains silent.

   I read a something, Carlos, in thy looks   Unknown to me before. Thou turn'st thine eyes   Away from me. Then it is true, and have I   Judged thee aright? Here, let me see that paper.

[CARLOS gives him the letter, and the MARQUIS tears it.

CARLOS   What! art thou mad?

[Moderating his warmth.

              In truth – I must confess it,   That letter was of deepest moment to me.MARQUIS   So it appeared: on that account I tore it.

[The MARQUIS casts a penetrating look on the PRINCE,

      who surveys him with doubt and surprise. A long silence.   Now speak to me with candor, Carlos. What   Have desecrations of the royal bed   To do with thee – thy love? Dost thou fear Philip?   How are a husband's violated duties   Allied with thee and thy audacious hopes?   Has he sinned there, where thou hast placed thy love?   Now then, in truth, I learn to comprehend thee —   How ill till now I've understood thy love!CARLOS   What dost thou think, Roderigo?MARQUIS                    Oh, I feel   From what it is that I must wean myself.   Once it was otherwise! Yes, once thy soul   Was bounteous, rich, and warm, and there was room   For a whole world in thy expanded heart.   Those feelings are extinct – all swallowed up   In one poor, petty, selfish passion. Now   Thy heart is withered, dead! No tears last thou   For the unhappy fate of wretched Flanders —   No, not another tear. Oh, Carlos! see   How poor, how beggarly, thou hast become,   Since all thy love has centered in thyself!CARLOS (flings himself into a chair. After a pause, with scarcely suppressed tears)   Too well I know thou lovest me no more!MARQUIS   Not so, my Carlos. Well I understand   This fiery passion: 'tis the misdirection   Of feelings pure and noble in themselves.   The queen belonged to thee: the king, thy father,   Despoiled thee of her – yet till now thou hast   Been modestly distrustful of thy claims.   Philip, perhaps, was worthy of her! Thou   Scarce dared to breathe his sentence in a whisper —   This letter has resolved thy doubts, and proved   Thou art the worthier man. With haughty joy   Thou saw'st before thee rise the doom that waits   On tyranny convicted of a theft,   But thou wert proud to be the injured one:   Wrongs undeserved great souls can calmly suffer,   Yet here thy fancy played thee false: thy pride   Was touched with satisfaction, and thy heart   Allowed itself to hope: I plainly saw   This time, at least, thou didst not know thyself.CARLOS (with emotion)   Thou'rt wrong, Roderigo; for my thoughts were far   Less noble than thy goodness would persuade me.MARQUIS   And am I then e'en here so little known?   See, Carlos, when thou errest, 'tis my way,   Amid a hundred virtues, still to find   That one to which I may impute thy fall.   Now, then, we understand each other better,   And thou shalt have an audience of the queen.CARLOS (falling on his neck)   Oh, how I blush beside thee!MARQUIS                  Take my word,   And leave the rest to me. A wild, bold thought,   A happy thought is dawning in my mind;   And thou shalt hear it from a fairer mouth,   I hasten to the queen. Perhaps to-morrow   Thy wish may be achieved. Till then, my Carlos,   Forget not this – "That a design conceived   Of lofty reason, which involves the fate,   The sufferings of mankind, though it be baffled   Ten thousand times, should never be abandoned."   Dost hear? Remember Flanders.CARLOS                   Yes! all, all   That thou and virtue bid me not forget.MARQUIS (going to a window)   The time is up – I hear thy suite approaching.

[They embrace.

   Crown prince again, and the vassal.CARLOS                      Dost thou go   Straight to Madrid?MARQUIS   Yes, straight.CARLOS           Hold! one word more.   How nearly it escaped me! Yet 'twas news   Of deep importance. "Every letter now   Sent to Brabant is opened by the king!"   So be upon thy guard. The royal post   Has secret orders.MARQUIS             How have you learned this?CARLOSDon Raymond Taxis is my trusty friend.MARQUIS (after a pause)   Well! then they may be sent through Germany.

[Exeunt on different sides.

ACT III

SCENE I

The king's bedchamber. On the toilet two burning lights. In the background several pages asleep resting on their knees. The KING, in half undress, stands before the table, with one arm bent over the chair, in a reflecting posture. Before him is a medallion and papers.

KING   Of a warm fancy she has ever been!   Who can deny it? I could never love her,   Yet has she never seemed to miss my love.   And so 'tis plain – she's false!      [Makes a movement which brings him to himself.      He looks round with surprise.                    Where have I been?   Is no one watching here, then, save the king?   The light's burnt out, and yet it is not day.   I must forego my slumbers for to-night.   Take it, kind nature, for enjoyed! No time   Have monarchs to retrieve the nights they lose.   I'm now awake, and day it shall be.

[He puts out the candles, and draws aside the window-curtain.

He observes the sleeping pages – remains for some time standing before them – then rings a bell.

                      All   Asleep within the antechamber, too?

SCENE II

The KING, COUNT LERMA.

LERMA (surprised at seeing the KING)   Does not your majesty feel well?KING   The left Pavilion of the palace was in flames:   Did you not hear the alarum?LERMA                  No, my liege.KING   No! What? And did I only dream it then?   'Twas surely real! Does not the queen sleep there?LERMA   She does, your majesty.KING                This dream affrights me!   In future let the guards be doubled there   As soon as it grows dark. Dost hear? And yet   Let it be done in secret. I would not —   Why do you gaze on me?LERMA               Your bloodshot eyes,   I mark, that beg repose. Dare I remind   My liege of an inestimable life,   And of your subjects, who with pale dismay   Would in such features read of restless nights?   But two brief hours of morning sleep would —KING (with troubled look)   Shall I find sleep within the Escurial?   Let the king sleep, and he may lose his crown,   The husband, his wife's heart. But no! not so;   This is but slander. Was it not a woman   Whispered the crime to me? Woman, thy name   Is calumny? The deed I'll hold unproved,   Until a man confirms the fatal truth!

[To the pages, who in the meanwhile have awaked.

   Summon Duke Alva!

[Pages go.

   Count, come nearer to me.

[Fixes a searching look on the COUNT.

   Is all this true? Oh for omniscience now,   Though but so long as a man's pulse might beat.   Is it true? Upon your oath! Am I deceived?LERMA   My great, my best of kings!KING (drawing back)                  King! naught but king!   And king again! No better answer than   Mere hollow echo! When I strike this rock   For water, to assuage my burning thirst,   It gives me molten gold.LERMA                What true, my liege?KING   Oh, nothing, nothing! Leave me! Get thee gone!

[The COUNT going, the KING calls him back again.

   Say, are you married? and are you a father?LERMA   I am, your majesty.KING              What! married – yet   You dare to watch a night here with your king!   Your hair is gray, and yet you do not blush   To think your wife is honest. Get thee home;   You'll find her locked, this moment, in your son's   Incestuous embrace. Believe your king.   Now go; you stand amazed; you stare at me   With searching eye, because of my gray hairs.   Unhappy man, reflect. Queens never taint   Their virtue thus: doubt it, and you shall die!LERMA (with warmth)   Who dare do so? In all my monarch's realms   Who has the daring hardihood to breathe   Suspicion on her angel purity?   To slander thus the best of queens —KING                      The best!   The best, from you, too! She has ardent friends,   I find, around. It must have cost her much —   More than methinks she could afford to give.   You are dismissed; now send the duke to me.LERMA   I hear him in the antechamber.

[Going.

KING (with a milder tone)                   Count,   What you observed is very true. My head   Burns with the fever of this sleepless night!   What I have uttered in this waking dream,   Mark you, forget! I am your gracious king!

[Presents his hand to kiss. Exit LERMA, opening

      the door at the same time to DUKE ALVA.

SCENE III

The KING and DUKE ALVA.

ALVA (approaching the KING with an air of doubt)   This unexpected order, at so strange   An hour!

[Starts on looking closer at the KING.

        And then those looks!KING (has seated himself, and taken hold of the medallion on the table. Looks at the DUKE for some time in silence)                   Is it true   I have no faithful servant!ALVA                  How?KING                     A blow   Aimed at my life in its most vital part!   Full well 'twas known, yet no one warned me of it.ALVA (with a look of astonishment)   A blow aimed at your majesty! and yet   Escape your Alva's eye?KING (showing him letters)                Know you this writing?ALVA   It is the prince's hand.KING (a pause – watches the DUKE closely)                Do you suspect   Then nothing? Often have you cautioned me   Gainst his ambition. Was there nothing more   Than his ambition should have made me tremble?ALVA   Ambition is a word of largest import,   And much it may comprise.KING                 And had you naught   Of special purport to disclose?ALVA (after a pause, mysteriously)                    Your majesty   Hath given the kingdom's welfare to my charge:   On this my inmost, secret thoughts are bent,   And my best vigilance. Beyond this charge   What I may think, suspect, or know belongs   To me alone. These are the sacred treasures   Which not the vassal only, but the slave,   The very slave, may from a king withhold.   Not all that to my mind seems plain is yet   Mature enough to meet the monarch's ear.   Would he be answered – then must I implore   He will not question as a king.   KING (handing the letters).                    Read these.ALVA (reads them, and turns to the KING with a look of terror)   Who was the madman placed these fatal papers   In my king's hands?KING              You know, then, who is meant?   No name you see is mentioned in the paper.ALVA (stepping back confused)   I was too hasty!KING            But you know!ALVA (after some consideration)                    'Tis spoken!   The king commands, – I dare not now conceal.   I'll not deny it – I do know the person.KING (starting up in violent emotion)   God of revenge! inspire me to invent   Some new, unheard-of torture! Is their crime   So clear, so plain, so public to the world,   That without e'en the trouble of inquiry   The veriest hint suffices to reveal it?   This is too much! I did not dream of this!   I am the last of all, then, to discern it —   The last in all my realm?ALVA (throwing himself at the KING'S feet)                 Yes, I confess   My guilt, most gracious monarch. I'm ashamed   A coward prudence should have tied my tongue   When truth, and justice, and my sovereign's honor   Urged me to speak. But since all else are silent   And since the magic spell of beauty binds   All other tongues, I dare to give it voice;   Though well I know a son's warm protestations,   A wife's seductive charms and winning tears —KING (suddenly with warmth)   Rise, Alva! thou hast now my royal promise;   Rise, and speak fearlessly!ALVA (rising)                  Your majesty,   Perchance, may bear in your remembrance still   What happened in the garden at Aranjuez.   You found the queen deserted by her ladies,   With looks confused – alone, within a bower, —KING   Proceed. What further have I yet to hear?ALVA   The Marchioness of Mondecar was banished   Because she boldly sacrificed herself   To save the queen! It has been since discovered   She did no more than she had been commanded.   Prince Carlos had been there.KING (starting)                   The prince! What more?ALVA   Upon the ground the footsteps of a man   Were traced, till finally they disappeared   Close to a grotto, leftward of the bower,   Where lay a handkerchief the prince had dropped.   This wakened our suspicions. But besides,   The gardener met the prince upon the spot, —   Just at the time, as near as we can guess,   Your majesty appeared within the walk.KING (recovering from gloomy thought)   And yet she wept when I but seemed to doubt!   She made me blush before the assembled court,   Blush to my very self! By heaven! I stood   In presence of her virtue, like a culprit.

[A long and deep silence. He sits down and hides his face.