Bartolo [reads quickly]--"Since you have told me your name and estate--" Ah, the little traitress! Yes, it's her writing.
Count [frightened]--Speak low yourself, won't you?
Bartolo--What for, if you please?
Count--When we've finished, you can do as you choose. But after all, Don Basilio's negotiation with a lawyer--
Bartolo--With a lawyer? About my marriage?
Count--Would I have stopped you for anything else? He told me to say that all can be ready to-morrow. Then, if she resists--
Bartolo--She will.
Count [wants to take back the letter; Bartolo clutches it]--I'll tell you what we'll do. We will show her her letter; and then, if necessary, [more mysteriously] I'll even tell her that it was given to me by a woman--to whom the Count is sacrificing her. Shame and rage may bring her to terms on the spot.
Bartolo [laughing]--Calumny, eh? My dear fellow, I see very well now that you come from Basilio. But lest we should seem to have planned this together, don't you think it would be better if she'd met you before?
Count [repressing a start of joy]--Don Basilio thought so, I know. But how can we manage it? It is late already. There's not much time left.