Philip.

Good morning, Margaret.

Mar. Good morning, duke: thou goest to the palace?

Ph. Ay.

Mar. May I ask thee, then, to bear this letter To Constance? I’d not trust it willingly Where it might wander.

Ph. ’Twill pass from my hands To hers.

Mar. Pray tell her, for my health I go To Monreale, or would have come myself.

Ph. I’ll tell her so. I pray the change restore thee,— And soon. Indeed thou look’st not well. Farewell.

Mar. Farewell. (Aside.) Look I then ill? I never felt So light and keen in spirit. [Exit.

Ph. (solus). This fits in, too. She is sent to Monreale, Lest she should make discovery. ’Tis thus I join the threads. Palicio climbed the wall, Came hither thro’ the garden: here he stayed And bound his wound. So far the track. There has been At least no care to hide it; and now he lies In the room across the courtyard: wherefore else Drawn curtains, and the lamp, which yesterday Burnt, as I saw, in the afternoon? All credit To the king’s commissioner. Yet must I dissemble, And not appear in the matter. ’Tis incredible Of Manuel. What will he allege? He is gone To the palace now: thither must I, and face him.

[Exit.