He was found with her. Why came he not to speak in his own cause? GAWAINE I am not of your counsel. ARTHUR Then call me Gaheris and Gareth here, Your brothers. They shall do this. GAWAINE Ah, my lord, They will be as loth as I, but they are young And cannot say you nay. Yet I beseech you---- ARTHUR Fetch them. They lodge with you. GAWAINE If it must be. ARTHUR It must. (GAWAINE _goes out_. ARTHUR _pulls back the curtains at the window_.) Dawn. Is it dawn so soon? The birds sang soft so when I wooed her, soft And thrilling with low pipe. Smell of the grass, Dew, and her face, wonderful, coming towards me.... Ah, God, that it were night again, the night, The dark, where I knew nothing, where I loved And trusted, where I had a wife, a friend. (_He falls on his knees._) Saviour of men, dear Christ, though my flesh bleed, Lift me to see, distinguish, and be just. The King must needs be just. Let me not fail, Now when thou seest me humbled. I have lost her. Have mercy upon us both. (_He rises._) I am the King, And therefore justice. If I fail, that fails Which is of costlier essence than a King, Which salts corruption. (_Goes towards table._) GARETH _and_ GAHERIS _enter, and stand by the door_. ARTHUR _turns_. Gareth and Gaheris, enter! Fear not; come hither. GARETH We fear, my liege, what errand This midnight summons, hailing us from sleep, May mean. ARTHUR (_signing and giving them a warrant_) Fear not; go, seek Queen Guenevere, And take her into ward, as one that must Be judged. Then find Sir Launcelot, and take Him too. Be armed. Have force with you. Go quickly. GARETH The King commands, and we must do his will. GAHERIS Yet it is sore against our own will, sir. GARETH And therefore we will take a guard of force, But for ourselves, we pray you pardon us, But we will not be armed, for we but do The King’s commandment. _Re-enter_ GAWAINE. GAHERIS Which ourselves would not. ARTHUR Are you all so stubborn? Get you gone, then; do What I command; be it done instantly. [GARETH _and his brother retire_. GAWAINE This is ill done, and no good comes of it. ARTHUR That which I do my will does; I am borne Onward, and cannot stay. The graves are dug For all mortality; our woes have been Wept for from the beginning of the world. I feel the creeping of the rust that dims. Excalibur, and those lamenting Queens That come to take me draw like shadows near Upon the shores of time. GAWAINE This is ill done, and no good comes of it. ARTHUR What comes has come already.