Terrible as this alternative was, there was no evading it. The Duke of Venice himself had to admit that, if Shylock chose to exact the penalty, there was no law of Venice that could prevent him. In this extremity the Duke sent for the learned doctor, Bellario, at Padua, to come and help them with his counsel, but when the Court opened Bellario had not yet arrived. The Duke entered and took his seat. He looked round at the assembled people. “What! is Antonio here?” “Ready, so please your grace,” came back the quiet answer, and Antonio stepped forward from the place where he stood surrounded by a little band of friends. Bassanio was there, and Gratiano, and many others, who had come to show their sympathy with the merchant, though they could not help him in his dire extremity. The Duke spoke a few words to Antonio, saying how sorry he was to find him in the power of such a terrible adversary, to which Antonio replied, with quiet dignity, that since Shylock was relentless, and that no lawful means could save him, he was prepared to suffer patiently. Then Shylock was called into court, and the Duke began the trial by making an appeal to him for mercy. All the world, he said, thought that Shylock only intended to carry his apparent malice up to the hour of execution, and that then, at the last moment, he would show his mercy and remorse, and not only forego the forfeiture, but also forgive a portion of the loan, because of the enormous losses which had lately fallen on Antonio. “We all expect a gentle answer, Jew,” concluded the Duke. Grim, stony, immovable, Shylock had listened to the Duke’s appeal. The time for passionate frenzy was past; his venomed rage had settled down into a cold, calm hatred. One determination possessed him, and there was no power in the tongue of man to alter it--he would have his bond. He answered the Duke quietly, but with absolute decision. He was offered twice the amount of his loan. “If every ducat in six thousand ducats were in six parts, and every part a ducat, I would not draw them; I would have my bond,” was his answer to this offer. The Duke asked him how he could hope for mercy, since he rendered none. “What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?” was Shylock’s retort. “The pound of flesh which I demand of the merchant is dearly bought; it’s mine, and I will have it. I stand here for justice. Answer: shall I have it?” As far as the decrees of Venice were concerned, Shylock had the law on his side, and the Duke dared not go against them. He had power, however, to defer the trial, and he was thinking of doing this, when he was told that a messenger had arrived from Padua, with letters from Bellario. The Duke bade that the messenger should be called into court, and Nerissa entered, dressed like a lawyer’s clerk.