Hieronimo.
Now do I applaud what I have acted.
Nunc mors; [nunc] cæde, manus.[328]
King.
Why speakest thou not?[329]
Hieronimo.
What lesser liberty can kings afford
Than harmless silence? then, afford it me:
Sufficeth, I may not, nor I will not tell thee.
King.
Fetch forth the tortures.
Traitor as thou art, I'll make thee tell.
Hieronimo.
Indeed, thou may'st torment me, as his wretched son
Hath done in murd'ring my Horatio;
But never shalt thou force me to reveal
The thing which I have vow'd inviolate:
And therefore, in despite of all thy threats,
Pleas'd with their deaths, and eas'd with their revenge,
First take my tongue, and afterwards my heart.