PEPIN.
Plague take you!
CARLOMAN.
Own it!
PEPIN.
Give a fellow breath,
Don’t ...
You have your father’s temper, that’s the test!
I loved you as a boy and set my teeth
Against a rare, sweet craziness that takes you
In certain moods—you need a keeper then:
You need one now. Hold fast your birthright, man;
Don’t trust me with temptation. Geneviva
Will relish this new folly less than I—
Chuck her beneath the chin and threaten her
With your design! She is too young a widow
For me to govern.
CARLOMAN.
[apart] Deaf down to the soul!
PEPIN.
That flush across your forehead like a scar
At mention of your wife! Her lovers!—Think
If you withdrew protection....