He treats him as a friend, as though his intuition pierced through the external disguise,[470] and when the recognition takes place he naturally remarks:

“Have I not just cause,

When I consider how I could be so stupid,

As not to see a friend through all disguises.”[471]

Again, we have an indication at the end of the slave-market scene that the slave who followed Paulo will be an important link in the plot:

Paulo. Follow me, then;

The knave may teach me something.

Slave. Something that

You dearly may repent; howe'er you scorn me,

The slave may prove your master.[472]