"But you naturally take part by your very presence. It is a question of the man you love whose life or death is being debated; it seems to me that the situation is sufficiently moving and strong to enable you to wait in patient silence to the close."
"All the same ... it is long!"
"I do not feel it so, madame."
"Very good! then we will say no more about it.... But the public are certain to ask, 'What is Mademoiselle Mars supposed to be doing with her hand upon her breast? It was not necessary to give her a part just to remain standing still, with a veil over her eyes, without saying a word for half an act!'"
"The public will say that under the hand of Doña Sol—not of Mademoiselle Mars—her heart is beating; that, beneath the veil of Doña Sol—not of Mademoiselle Mars—her face is crimsoning with hope or turning pale with terror; that, during the silence—not of Mademoiselle Mars but—of Doña Sol, Hernani's lover, the tempest is gathering in her heart which bursts forth in these words, none too respectful from a subject to her sovereign—
'Roi don Carlos, vous êtes
Un mauvais roi!...'
And, believe me, madame, it will be sufficient for the public."
"If that is your idea, well and good. It is not on my account I am troubling myself about it: if they hiss during the scene it will not be at me they are hissing, as I do not speak one word.... Come on, Michelot; come on, Joanny; let us proceed.
'Roi don Carlos, vous êtes
Un mauvais roi!..