Under as good a man. Oh, we'll dispense
With seeing Strafford for a month or two!

_STRAFFORD enters._

_Queen._ You here!

_Strafford._ The King sends for me, madam.

_Queen._ Sir,
The King....

_Strafford._ An urgent matter that imports the King!
[_To +Lady+ CARLISLE._] Why, Lucy, what's in agitation now,
That all this muttering and shrugging, see,
Begins at me? They do not speak!

_Lady Carlisle._ 'Tis welcome!
For we are proud of you--happy and proud
To have you with us, Strafford! You were staunch
At Durham: you did well there! Had you not
Been stayed, you might have ... we said, even now,
Our hope's in you!

_Vane_ [_to +Lady+ CARLISLE_]. The Queen would speak with you.

_Strafford._ Will one of you, his servants here, vouchsafe
To signify my presence to the King?

_Savile._ An urgent matter?

_Strafford._ None that touches you,
Lord Savile! Say, it were some treacherous
Sly pitiful intriguing with the Scots--
You would go free, at least! (They half divine
My purpose!) Madam, shall I see the King?
The service I would render, much concerns
His welfare.

_Queen._ But his Majesty, my lord,
May not be here, may....

_Strafford._ Its importance, then,
Must plead excuse for this withdrawal, madam,
And for the grief it gives Lord Savile here.

_Queen_ [_who has been conversing with VANE and HOLLAND_].
The King will see you, sir!
[_To +Lady+ CARLISLE._] Mark me: Pym's worst
Is done by now: he has impeached the Earl,
Or found the Earl too strong for him, by now.
Let us not seem instructed! We should work
No good to Strafford, but deform ourselves
With shame in the world's eye. [_To STRAFFORD._] His Majesty
Has much to say with you.

_Strafford._ Time fleeting, too!
[_To +Lady+ CARLISLE._] No means of getting them away? And She--
What does she whisper? Does she know my purpose?
What does she think of it? Get them away!

_Queen_ [_to +Lady+ CARLISLE_]. He comes to baffle Pym--he thinks
the danger
Far off: tell him no word of it! a time
For help will come; we'll not be wanting then.
Keep him in play, Lucy--you, self-possessed
And calm! [_To STRAFFORD._] To spare your lordship some delay
I will myself acquaint the King. [_To +Lady+ CARLISLE._] Beware!

[_The QUEEN, VANE