Queen [addressing the Prince]
Why are you so anxious that this message from the blind girl is delayed? Or are you just naturally upset about everything tonight, being so near the altar?
Duchess
Ah, yes, so near the altar. Tell me how have you spent these last free hours, Charles?
Queen
I hope you have spent them romantically, fingering a lute or something.
Duchess
Fingering something—was it a lute, Charles?
[Charles glances at the Duchess in alarm. The Queen intercepts the look and grows a little uneasy herself.]
Queen