--_The Hall of
Government
in the palace at Madrid, six months
after.
after.
World's Greatest Books - Volume 17 - Poetry and Drama
There is a letter I must send
Before I leave Madrid. Write it for me.
[RUY BLAS _sits down at the table, and_ DON SALLUST
_dictates to him:_
"My life is in great danger. You alone
Can save me. Come this evening to my house.
No one will recognise you if you use
The side-door by the corner. " Now sign it
"Cesar," the name I commonly employ
In love affairs.
RUY BLAS: Shall I address the note?
DON SALLUST: Ah, no! I must deliver it myself.
Hark! There is someone coming. 'Tis the Queen!
[_Dragging_ RUY BLAS _with him, he opens the door,
and says to the noblemen surrounding the_ QUEEN:
Allow me to present to you, my friends,
Don Cesar, Count of Garofa, my cousin.
ACT II
SCENE.
--_The Hall of Government in the palace at Madrid, six months
after. The Privy Counsellors are sitting,--among them_
DON MANUEL ARIAS _and the_ COUNT OF CAMPOREAL.
DON MANUEL: How quickly he has climbed to supreme power!
General Secretary, Minister,
And now Duke of Olmedo!
CAMPOREAL: It is strange,
A cousin of that fallen president,
Don Sallust, could have won to such a height
Within six months!
DON MANUEL: The queen reigns over us
And he reigns, over her.
CAMPOREAL: That is not so.
Don Cesar never sees the queen alone.
I know it. I have had them watched by spies.
They shun each other. Do you know, he lives
By Tormez mansion, in a shuttered house,
With two black mutes to wait on him?
DON MANUEL: Two mutes!
He is, indeed, a terrible, strange man.
And now to business! We must re-arrange
Some of the taxes and monopolies.
Before I leave Madrid. Write it for me.
[RUY BLAS _sits down at the table, and_ DON SALLUST
_dictates to him:_
"My life is in great danger. You alone
Can save me. Come this evening to my house.
No one will recognise you if you use
The side-door by the corner. " Now sign it
"Cesar," the name I commonly employ
In love affairs.
RUY BLAS: Shall I address the note?
DON SALLUST: Ah, no! I must deliver it myself.
Hark! There is someone coming. 'Tis the Queen!
[_Dragging_ RUY BLAS _with him, he opens the door,
and says to the noblemen surrounding the_ QUEEN:
Allow me to present to you, my friends,
Don Cesar, Count of Garofa, my cousin.
ACT II
SCENE.
--_The Hall of Government in the palace at Madrid, six months
after. The Privy Counsellors are sitting,--among them_
DON MANUEL ARIAS _and the_ COUNT OF CAMPOREAL.
DON MANUEL: How quickly he has climbed to supreme power!
General Secretary, Minister,
And now Duke of Olmedo!
CAMPOREAL: It is strange,
A cousin of that fallen president,
Don Sallust, could have won to such a height
Within six months!
DON MANUEL: The queen reigns over us
And he reigns, over her.
CAMPOREAL: That is not so.
Don Cesar never sees the queen alone.
I know it. I have had them watched by spies.
They shun each other. Do you know, he lives
By Tormez mansion, in a shuttered house,
With two black mutes to wait on him?
DON MANUEL: Two mutes!
He is, indeed, a terrible, strange man.
And now to business! We must re-arrange
Some of the taxes and monopolies.
