His lordship, Pantaloon,
Prime-Minister!
[The courtiers repeat. Pantaloon shuffles nervously]
And Signore Punchinello,
Prime-Minister!
[The courtiers repeat. Punchinello, tapping his nose, bows sagely. The four Maskers assume toploftical airs and gather about Capocomico]
And now, Prime-Minister, are your four heads
All dumb? Your emperor awaits advice.
SCARAMOUCHE
By the belly of Baal, your majesty, I move