Part 323 (1/2)

'Tis only for the last extremity.

KING (laying his hand on the shoulder of the MARQUIS).

Go! Go, dear marquis! Give this bosom peace, And bring back slumber to my sleepless pillow.

[Exeunt at different sides.

SCENE XIII.

A Gallery.

CARLOS entering in extreme agitation, COUNT LERMA meeting him.

CARLOS.

I have been seeking you.

LERMA.

And I your highness.

CARLOS.

For heaven's sake is it true?

LERMA.

What do you mean?

CARLOS.

That the king drew his dagger, and that she Was borne, all bathed in blood, from the apartment?

Now answer me, by all that's sacred; say, What am I to believe? What truth is in it?

LERMA.

She fainted, and so grazed her skin in falling That is the whole.

CARLOS.

Is there no further danger?

Count, answer on your honor.

LERMA.

For the queen No further danger; for yourself, there's much!

CARLOS.

None for my mother. Then, kind Heaven, I thank thee.

A dreadful rumor reached me that the king Raved against child and mother, and that some Dire secret was discovered.

LERMA.

And the last May possibly be true.

CARLOS.

Be true! What mean you?

LERMA.

One warning have I given you, prince, already, And that to-day, but you despised it; now Perhaps you'll profit better by a second.