Anto. True:
And look how well my garments sit upon me;
Much feater[407-67] than before: my brother’s servants
Were then my fellows; now they are my men.
Sebas. But, for your conscience—
Anto. Ay, sir; and where lies that? if ’twere a kibe,[408-68]
’Twould put me to my slipper: but I feel not
This deity in my bosom: twenty consciences,
That stand ’twixt me and Milan, candied[408-69] be they,
And melt, ere they molest! Here lies your brother,
No better than the earth he lies upon,
If he were that which now he’s like; whom I,
With this obedient steel, three inches of it,
Can lay to bed for ever; whiles you, doing thus,
To the perpetual wink[408-70] for aye might put
This ancient morsel, this Sir Prudence, who
Should not upbraid our course. For all the rest,
They’ll take suggestion[408-71] as a cat laps milk;
They’ll tell the clock to any business that
We say befits the hour.[408-72]
Sebas. Thy case, dear friend,
Shall be my precedent; as thou gott’st Milan,
I’ll come by Naples. Draw thy sword: one stroke
Shall free thee from the tribute which thou pay’st;
And I the King shall love thee.
Anto. Draw together;[408-73]
And when I rear my hand, do you the like,
To fall it on Gonzalo.
Sebas. O, but one word.
[They converse apart.
Music. Re-enter Ariel, invisible.
Ari. My master through his art foresees the danger
That you, his friend, are in; and sends me forth—
For else his project dies—to keep thee living.
[Sings in Gonzalo’s ear.