Iseult
And Tristram's hands are locked when it is dark."

MARK.
And then I slunk about them like a wretch,
My lords; I spied upon their lips, their hands,
Their eyes! I watched them like a murderer;
I listened underneath their window-sills
At night to catch their dreaming words, until
I scorned myself for this wild wretchedness!
Nothing, nothing I found, and yet Iseult
From that time on was dearer than my God
And his Salvation!

GANELUN.
Yet thou ever held'st
Iseult in honor and esteem!

MARK.
Ay, that I did,
Friend Ganelun, but soon that man there came
And whispered in mine ear: "Art thou stone blind?
Thy nephew Tristram and thy Queen Iseult
Are sleeping in each other's arms by day
And night!" Oh God! Oh God! My Lords, I set
To work--and thought I'd caught the pair!--Poor fool!

(He hides his face.)

DINAS.
'Tis so; and thou badst build a mighty pyre
Of seasoned wood and well dried peat. But God
Almighty blew the fire out. They fled,
The twain together, to the Morois land.

MARK.
And then one night I stole upon them both.
(Lord Dinas knew of this alone, my Lords.)
Iseult was sleeping, and Lord Tristram slept
An arm's length scarce before me in the moss
All pale and wan, and breathed so heavily,
So wearily, like some hard hunted beasts.

(Groaning.)

Oh God, how easy was it then!--See what
Befell! There, 'twixt their bodies lay a sword,
All naked, ay, and sharp--
'Twas Morholl's sword!
--Then silently I took it, and I left
Mine own, and, like a fool, I wept at their
Great purity!

2D BARON.
Was Tristram so much moved
By this exchange of swords that he gave back
Thy wife Iseult?

MARK (violently).
And, God! I took her! See
His cunning counsel circumvented then
The red hot steel and made her innocence
Seem more apparent, and her hands shone white,
Unburned, and all unscarred like ivory
After the test! My nephew Tristram fled,
Exiled, and the decree that ye all know
Was sealed. So harken now, ye witnesses
Of the decree: if Tristram were to break
The bond and secretly, and in disguise
Return to Cornwall--