CESARE.

We cannot:
For his physicians said he would not die,
But live, as pertinacious as a weed.
It cannot and it shall not be a secret
Why he was killed.

ALEXANDER.

[Turning sharply back on Cesare.] By whom?

CESARE.

By me.

[Alexander covers his face. A strange sound, half-moan, half-sob, breaks from him. There is long silence; then the Pope looks at Cesare with a pale, aged face.

ALEXANDER.

The boy
Was young and fair; but scarcely crossed your path.

CESARE.