JUDITH. I will speak to my lord alone.
BAGOAS (aside to Holofernes). It is a device.
HOLOFERNES (angrily). Speak out all thy heart, and quickly!
JUDITH. I will speak to my lord in my lord's tent.
HOLOFERNES (furious). In my tent! Who art thou who defiest me, and what is thy licence, heathen slave, to defile the tent of Holofernes? Bind her. Take her away, and twist the cords about her neck, and strangle her, and cast her insolence into the lake.
(Judith is seized and bound in an instant.)
HOLOFERNES (in two minds). Wait!
BAGOAS. She is bound, illustrious prince.
HOLOFERNES. Wait!
BAGOAS (aside to Holofernes). Prince, let not the benevolence of your heart be your undoing, for in the loveliness of her face is cunning and great peril. I have lived all my days amid the craftiness of women, and my lord also knows somewhat of their strange tricks, which bring ruin to the carnal.