bles from the shock, and so I pray
You to forgive the churlish greeting ye
Received; 'twas accident, not scorn. I bid
You welcome, one and all, most heartily.

3D BARON.
We greet thee, Mark.

GANELUN.
But tell us now what thing
So overclouds thy mind; thy welfare dwells
Close intertwined with ours.

DENOVALIN (unfolding the parchment).
And now, my Lords,
Are any of the witnesses not here
Who signed the contract and decree which Mark
Drew up with Tristram and with Queen Iseult!

1ST BARON.
'Tis then of this decree that thou wouldst speak?

3D BARON.
I signed.

4TH BARON.
And I.

5TH BARON.
And I.

MARK.
Three witnesses
There were, and ye are three. 'Tis good, my Lords,
That we are all assembled here.

[He speaks brokenly and with all the marks
of mental suffering and suppressed emotion.]

Ye know
How long I lived alone within these walls
With my good nephew Tristram and not once
Did any woman cross my threshold o'er.

5TH BARON.
And 'twas through us that things were changed; we cried
Upon thee for a son and heir.

2D BARON.
Iseult
Then came from Ireland to be thy Queen.

DENOVALIN (coldly, firmly, and in a loud voice).
Nobly escorted, in Lord Tristram's care!

MARK (softly).
I wooed Iseult, and much it pleased me then
To call this sweet and noble lady mine,
And so to honor her. But see, it was
But for a single day, then came this man

(Points to DENOVALIN.)

And spake to me and said: "Thy wife Iseult
And Tristram whisper in the dark!" And since
The speaking of that evil word, this world
Has turned to hell, and through my veins my blood
Has run like seething fire for her sake,
Who was my wife, and cried for her as though
She were not mine!

3D BARON.
But thou didst not believe
These evil words?

MARK.
No, never in my life
Did I fight off a foeman from myself
More fiercely than these words.

DENOVALIN (sternly).
But soon this man
Came back and said: "The hands of Queen