[_A church-bell begins to chime the hour._ SALTABADIL: Midnight! MAGUELONNE: Hark, a knock! BLANCHE (_stumbling to the door_): My father hates him.... Perhaps it will not hurt, If they strike hard and kill me at a blow. Oh, if he only loved me! MAGUELONNE (_opening the door_): Who is there? BLANCHE: Give me a shelter for the night. MAGUELONNE: Come in. [_She enters. As she crosses the threshold_, SALTABADIL _raises his dagger, and the curtain falls._ ACT III SCENE.--_The same; but when the curtain rises, only the outside of the inn is now seen. It is unlighted; everything is in darkness._ TRIBOULET (_knocking at the door_): Make haste! SALTABADIL (_bringing out a sack_): Here is your man. TRIBOULET (_helping him carry it_): Give me a light. I want to see him--is he really dead? SALTABADIL: We must not use a light. We might be seen. Where is the money? TRIBOULET (_giving him a bag_): Here. (_Looking at the sack_) I have you at last! Long have I waited for this happy hour! SALTABADIL: Come, throw it in the Seine! TRIBOULET: I want no help. Your part is done. Leave me alone. SALTABADIL: Quick, then! Somebody may come by. Is the man mad? [TRIBOULET _has knelt down in the mud by the sack. The rain streams on him, and his face, convulsed with hideous joy, is illumined by the lightning._ SALTABADIL _enters the inn and shuts the door._ TRIBOULET (_feeling the sack_): Yes! I can feel his spurs. It is the King! Now let the heavens break above my head, And the earth rock and open at my feet! The vengeance of a clown shakes the whole world! François, the pivot on which Europe turns, Is broken. German, Spaniard, and Turk Can make a slaughterhouse of Christendom. The King of France is dead! [_Leaping up in a fury, he kicks the sack._ François the First, Do you remember how you treated me? Who is the dog now, eh?--the dog to kick And tumble about to make the courtiers laugh? You liked my daughter, did you? A clown's brat Found favour with a king! You stooped too low. This is the road that you must take. [_He drags the sack to the parapet. While he is doing so,_ MAGUELONNE _opens the door of the inn and lets out_ THE KING, _who goes off singing gaily in the opposite direction._ TRIBOULET (_lifting the sack on the parapet, to push it over_): Go down! THE KING: Oh, woman is fickle, and man is a fool To trust in her word!