And these, as well thou knowest, forbid my ladies
To hide their love affairs from me. Dark meetings,
Intrigue, sly correspondence, and the rest,
Are treason here; nay, they are so well forbidden,
That to conceal them is a breach of trust.
Give me thy word then, Frederick, that this portrait
Is not of any lady in my court,
I’ll ask no more.—But if she is of the court,
I’ll know who it is. Now speak, and quit thyself.
F. I will not say whether it is so or no.