[Two Cardinals land from the opposite bank; they pause, then shuffle into the night.
[The Mask shifts his posture.
THE MASK.
My lusts are heavy in me,
Heavy and idle. I have poisoned Rome;
It gasps and wriggles: not an ounce of flesh
In all this Rome but quivers in my shadow.
And what is next to do? And who will fall?
They dream all fixed
Within this brain—and I am but an eagle
Moving subservient to the ranker air.
[Another masked figure advances stealthily.
Eigh, Michelotto!
MICHELOTTO.
[In a whisper.] Caught, gagged—those false Albanians!
CESARE.
Shall I sentence
A troop of tetchy mercenaries? Ho,
Boon fellow, have I brought you here to-night,
By this dim waterside, to give me tidings
Of a few minnows trapped, that should be landed
Unconscious in the haul?
I have seen burthen
Of princes on this back; I have seen their jewels
Dangling from belt and chains. What sights
I have beheld....