Mark and Denovalin enter; behind them comes a man-at-arms who closes the door and stands against the wall beside it. Mark holds a parchment in his hand, and, without noticing the barons, walks agitatedly to the front of the stage. Denovalin goes behind the table and places himself between it and the throne. The barons rise.

1st Baron.
Does Mark no longer know us that he greets
Us not?

2d Baron.
And dost thou know, my Lord—?

Mark (turning angrily upon the baron).
Am I
A weak old man because my hair is gray,
Because my hands are wrinkled, ay, and hard,
Because at times my armor chafes my back?
Am I an old and sapless log? A man
Used up who shall forever keep his peace?

(Controlling himself.)

I crave your pardon, Lords, pray take your seats.

Dinas.
Thou badst me come to thee.

Dinas.
Yes, Dinas, yes,
So take thy place.

(He controls his emotion with great difficulty
and speaks heavily.)
And ye, my noble friends,
Give ear. A great and careful reckoning shall
Take place 'twixt you and me. Your sanctioning word
I wish, for what I am about to do,
For yonder man has, with an evil lance,
Attacked me and he has so lifted me
Out of my saddle that my head doth swim,
And trembles 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.

Dinas.
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?

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

Dinas.
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!

Dinas.
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—

3d Baron.
God forbid!

4th Baron.
Yet if
Lord Tristram should do this and break the bond,
And thus endanger both his life and Queen Iseult's—

5th Baron.
If such the case they lied to thee,
King Mark, and unto God!

Dinas.
They lied! They lied!
Ay, man, they lied to me and unto God!
And now I need no longer feel my way
Nor tap about me in the dark, nor bump
My soul against my blindness! Ay, they lied!
My bed was foul; my life a jest for knaves,
For they had lied. But then, behold, that man
There came,—Denovalin I hate thee!—came
And said Lord Tristram broke the bond—

[The Barons spring up.]

1st Baron.
How so?

2d Baron.
What knows he?

3d Baron.
Speak, Denovalin!

Ganelun.
Thou say'st
Lord Tristram broke the bond that holds his life?

5th Baron.
I'll not believe it!

4th Baron.
Tristram wed, ye know,
The daughter of King Kark of Arundland.

3d Baron.
Denovalin must bring us proofs!

Dinas.
Gently,
My Lords. Before the high tribunal shall
He speak. Go, call the Queen.

[The man-at-arms goes.]

Dinas.
King Mark,
Why dost thou hasten to believe this tale?
Remember, 'tis Denovalin who speaks.

Dinas.
'Tis not a matter of belief, my friend,
I wish to know if for her sake he came;
To see her once again—no more. The rest
I know, and I know, too, the end of this;
This game that's played about my life, my blood.
Mine honor!