RACHEL (to ESTHER, who is busied with her).
And had my life been forfeit, I'd have stayed.
ESTHER (to GARCERAN).
I pray you now to bring us quickly home.
GARCERAN. First, let me ask the King his royal will.
(Knocking at the side door.)
Sire! What? No sign of life within? Perchance
An accident? Whate'er it be—I'll ope!
[The KING steps out and remains standing in the foreground as the others withdraw to the back of the stage.]
KING. So honor and repute in this our world
Are not an even path on which the pace,
Simple and forward, shows the tendency,
The goal, our worth. They're like a juggler's rope,
On which a misstep plunges from the heights,
And every stumbling makes a butt for jest.
Must I, but yesterday all virtues' model,
Today shun every slave's inquiring glance?
Begone then, eager wish to please the mob,
Henceforth determine we ourselves our path!
(Turning to the others.)