BERTHOLD (_who has been looking through the keyhole of the door on right_). There they are! There they are! They're coming in here. DI NOLLI. Are they? BERTHOLD. He wants to come with them.... Yes!... He's coming too! DI NOLLI. Let's get away, then! Let's get away, at once! (_To Berthold_): You stop here! BERTHOLD. Must I? (_Without answering him, Di Nolli, Frida, and Belcredi go out by the main exit, leaving Berthold surprised. The door on the right opens, and Landolph enters first, bowing. Then Donna Matilda comes in, with mantle and ducal crown as in the first act; also the doctor as the abbot of Cluny. Henry IV. is among them in royal dress. Ordulph and Harold enter last of all_). HENRY IV. (_following up what he has been saying in the other room_). And now I will ask you a question: how can I be astute, if you think me obstinate? DOCTOR. No, no, not obstinate! HENRY IV. (_smiling, pleased_). Then you think me really astute? DOCTOR. No, no, neither obstinate, nor astute. HENRY IV. (_with benevolent irony_). Monsignor, if obstinacy is not a vice which can go with astuteness, I hoped that in denying me the former, you would at least allow me a little of the latter. I can assure you I have great need of it. But if you want to keep it all for yourself.... DOCTOR. I? I? Do I seem astute to you? HENRY IV. No. Monsignor! What do you say? Not in the least! Perhaps in this case, I may seem a little obstinate to you (_cutting short to speak to Donna Matilda_). With your permission: a word in confidence to the Duchess. (_Leads her aside and asks her very earnestly_): Is your daughter really dear to you? DONNA MATILDA (_dismayed_). Why, yes, certainly.... HENRY IV. Do you wish me to compensate her with all my love, with all my devotion, for the grave wrongs I have done her--though you must not believe all the stories my enemies tell about my dissoluteness! DONNA MATILDA. No, no, I don't believe them. I never have believed such stories. HENRY IV. Well, then are you willing? DONNA MATILDA (_confused_). What? HENRY IV. That I return to love your daughter again? (_Looks at her and adds, in a mysterious tone of warning_). You mustn't be a friend of the Marchioness of Tuscany! DONNA MATILDA. I tell you again that she has begged and tried not less than ourselves to obtain your pardon.... HENRY IV. (_softly, but excitedly_). Don't tell me that! Don't say that to me! Don't you see the effect it has on me, my Lady? DONNA MATILDA (_looks at him; then very softly as if in confidence_). You love her still? HENRY IV. (_puzzled_). Still? Still, you say? You know, then? But nobody knows! Nobody must know!