The island is almost desert, one sees none but a few servants who move about in silence.... He can have for his subjects only the trees, the flowers and the happy birds with which the island seems filled....
He is good and kind; and he received me as my father himself could not have received me.... Yet I do not like him....
What!... He dares!... No, it is not possible, or else the years no longer have the weight they should have and reason escapes us when death draws near....
And yet I fear it.... He gave me to understand.... He is strange and sad.... They say he has a son who is very far from here, who is lost, perhaps.... He is always thinking of him.... When he thinks that he will see him again, his face lights up, he.... Here he is!...
I was looking for you, Joyzelle.... (_Turning to Lancéor, with a threatening glance._) As for you, I know who you are and I know the reasons that have brought you to this island, the trick of this pretended shipwreck and the name of the enemy who sent you....
Me?... But it was a mere accident that flung me on this coast....
He intended, alas, to do the basest thing that man can do: to betray kindness, deceive friendship and sell to the enemy the too generous host who was going to welcome him....
No, Joyzelle, and soon proofs and facts will show you that it is not enough and that an honest look, an innocent smile and ingenuous words often conceal more dangerous snares than those of thankless old age or of love that has but little hope....
I am waiting for the final certainty; and then I shall do what it is lawful and necessary to do to remove all fear of an enemy who would stop at nothing. The pitiless measures which I shall take concern your safety as much as my own; for the same plots surround us both and we are united by fate.... I can tell you no more to-day; have confidence in me; perhaps you already know that your happiness is mine....
You remember it without any kindliness: but I hope that one day you will do me justice.... (_To LANCÉOR._) As for you, go. The information which I have received is not open to doubt. When the facts which I fear have confirmed it, I shall act. Meanwhile, you are my prisoner. You will be shown the part of the palace reserved for you. If you go beyond the limits laid down, you become your own judge and pronounce your own sentence. There will be no appeal. Go, my orders are given....