]
Gormflaith:
Wait, wait--I might be seen. The Queen may waken yet.
[Stepping lightly to the led, she noiselessly slips the curtain on that
side as far forward as it will come. Then she returns to LEAR, who draws
her to him and seats her on his knee.]
Lear:
You have been long in coming:
Was Merryn long in finding you?
Gormflaith (playing with Lear's emerald):
Did Merryn ...
Has Merryn been ... She loitered long before she came,
For I was at the women's bathing-place ere dawn ...
No jewel in all the land excites me and enthralls
Like this strong source of light that lives upon your breast.
Lear (taking the jewel chain from his neck and slipping it over
Gormflaith's head while she still holds the emerald):
Wear it within your breast to fill the gentle place
That cherished the poor letter lately torn from you.
Gormflaith:
Did Merryn at your bidding, then, forsake her Queen?
[LEAR nods.]
You must not, ah, you must not do these masterful things,
Even to grasp a precious meeting for us two;
For the reproach and chiding are so hard to me,
And even you can never fight the silent women
In hidden league against me, all this house of women.
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