Quinola (in the front of the stage) It is not sufficient to possess genius and to employ it, for there are plenty of people who make a false show to have it and meet excellent success. There is need also of opportunity and favoring circumstances; a picked up letter which puts a favorite in danger, in order to obtain an interceding tongue, and the loss of the mightiest of flotillas, in order to open the ears of a prince. Chance is an infamous wretch! And now, in the duel of Fontanares with his century, the hour has come for his poor second to appear. (Bells are heard; guard is mounted.) Is yon sound an omen of success? (To the Captain of the Guards) How ought the king to be spoken to? The Captain Step forward, bow your knee, and say: "Sire"--and pray God to guide your tongue aright. (The royal procession appears.) Quinola I shall have no trouble falling upon my knees; they are giving way already; for it is not only the fate of a man, but of a world, that is at stake. A page The queen! A page The king! (Tableau.) SCENE EIGHTH The same persons, the King, the Queen, the Marchioness of Mondejar, the Grand Inquisitor and the whole Court. Philip II. Gentlemen, we are about to pray God and honor Him who had dealt a deadly blow to Spain. England has escaped us, the Armada is lost, and we desire no more to talk of that flotilla. Admiral (he turns to the admiral), you were not sent to give battle to the storms. Quinola Sire! (He falls on one knee.) Philip II. Who are you? Quinola The most insignificant and the most devoted of your subjects; the servant of a man who pines in the prisons of the Holy Office, accused of magic, because he desires to give to your Majesty the power of escaping from similar disasters-- Philip II. If you are really a servant, rise to your feet. Only grandees are wont to kneel here, in presence of the king. Quinola My master, then, shall kneel at your feet. Philip II. Explain yourself in brief; the moments of the king's whole life are not so numerous as are his subjects. Quinola You must have, then, but one hour for each of your empires. My master, Senor Alfonso Fontanares, is in the prison of the Holy Office-- Philip II. (to the Grand Inquisitor) Father (the Grand Inquisitor approaches), what can you tell us of a certain Alfonso Fontanares? The Grand Inquisitor He is a pupil of Galileo. He professes the heretical doctrine of his master and boasts the power to do wonders while he refuses to explain the means. He is accused of being rather a Moor than a Spaniard.