Iseult.
Lord Tristram has kept true unto my name
At least—if not to me! 'Tis now the tenth
Year that I mourn for him! In countless nights
Of endless agony have I repaid
Those other nights of happiness and bliss.
Through age-long days now beggared of their joy
I have atoned for all the smiles of yore.
Unkindly have ye dealt with me, sweet friend!
Disloyal Tristram! God shall punish thee.
Not I.

[Brangaene kneels weeping beside her and
buries her face in Iseult's robes. Iseult
raises her up.]

And thou, dear one, sweet sister, come!
My sorrow's past enduring! Help me, help!
At Lubin here the very walls have tongues;
At Lubin here the sombre forest moans;
At Lubin here old Husdent whimpers day
And night unceasingly. 'Twas at Lubin
I parted from him last, my dearest friend,
And to his parting vows I answered thus:
"Take, friend, this golden ring with em'rald stone,
And if in thy name one shall bring it me,
No dungeon walls, no castle gates, no bolts
Shall keep me far from thee." And he: "I thank
Thee, dearest lady, and I swear that if,
At any time, in any place, one calls
On me by thy sweet name I'll stand and wait
And answer in thy name by day or night."
And then—and then—he rode away!

Brangaene.
Iseult!
Iseult, my dearest, might I die, for I,
Wretch that I am, am most at fault,
Too ready for deceits and secret ways!

Iseult.
Because I love a life, and better still
A death, that's great from savage unrestraint,
Such as I found in mighty Tristram's love,
'Tis not thy fault. And formerly when thou
Didst lend me thine own maiden smock to wear
Upon my bridal night with Mark, since mine
Was torn when I set foot on Cornish ground,
Thou didst fulfill what, as my guardian friend,
Thou hadst foreseen in earlier days. Weep not
Because I weep; Lord Tristram's treachery
Is his, not ours. For this it is I weep.

Brangaene.
Thou shouldst not say, he is not faithful still.
Dear sister. What know we of him or his?

Iseult.
That he has married!

Brangaene.
Ay, her name's Iseult.

Iseult.
My name! I shudder when I think thereon.
And lo, his perjured tongue rots not, nor cleaves
Unto his teeth, nor does the name he calls
Her by choke in his throat and strangle him.

Brangaene.
Mark me, Iseult, I had not meant to speak,
But now I must: a servant of King Mark's
Spoke lately of that ship we saw sail in
And then cast anchor 'neath Tintagel's walls.
A merchant ship it is, he said, and hails
Direct from Arundland. Now send
And bid these merchants leave their ship and come,
That they may tell what they have seen or heard
Of Tristram and his fate.

Paranis (runs in and leaps upon the window-sill).
Oh Queen, there come
Three Gaelic earls! Dinas of Lidan first.

Brangaene (hastening to his side).
Come then, Iseult, and from the casement here
Behold the faithful Dinas, Tristram's friend!

Paranis.
The one in coat of mail who rides behind
Who is the man, Brangaene, canst thou see?

Brangaene.
Oh God! Denovalin, ill-omened bird
Of grim Tintagel.

Iseult.
Arund? Didst thou say
A merchant ship sailed in from Arundland?
That great gold sail, Brangaene, came across
The ocean to Tintagel? What? A ship,
And merchant men from Arund? Speak, friend, speak!
Thou talk'st of Arund, and remain'st unmoved!
Brangaene, cruel, speak and say the men
Are on their way to me, or are now here!
Torture me not!

Brangaene.
Nay, hear me speak, Iseult;
I said a servant of King Mark's said this;
I know not whether it be true; to know
We must be back within Tintagel's walls.

Iseult (in rising agitation).
Wait till we're back within Tintagel's walls?
Not see the merchants till we are gone back,
And linger thus for three whole days, say'st thou?
Nay, nay, Brangaene, nay I will not wait.
'Twas not for this ten never-ending years
I sat upon Tintagel's tower and watched
With anxious eyes the many ships sail o'er
The green expanse from sky to sky. 'Twas not
For this; that day by day Paranis went,
At my behest, down to the port, while I
Sat counting every minute, one by one,
Until he should return, and tell me tales
Of ships and lands indifferent as a fly's
Short life to me!—And now thou tellest me
A ship is here; a great gold sail lies moor'd
Hard by Tintagel's walls, a ship in which
Men live, and speak, and say when asked:
"Where come ye from!" "From Arundland we sail."
Go quick, Brangaene; to Tintagel send, I pray,
At once some swift and faithful messenger,
And bid him with all haste lead here to me
These merchants over night. I need both silks
And laces, samite and the snowy fur
Of ermines, and whatever else they have.
All that they have I'll gladly buy! Let them
But ride with speed!

Brangaene.
Ay, ride as peddlers do!
Yet will I send Gawain, since 'tis thy wish,
And with him yet another.

Paranis.
Queen Iseult,
May I go with Gawain? I'll make them ride,
These merchant-men! I'll stick my dagger twixt
Their shoulder blades and prick them 'till from fear
They fairly fly to thee!

Iseult.
Nay, rather, child,
Stay here with me; but help Brangaene find Gawain.

[Brangaene and Paranis open the door at
the back of the stage but stand back on
either side to permit Mark and the three
Barons to enter.]

Brangaene.
The King!