Lear. O! let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven;
Keep me in temper; I would not be mad! 52
[Enter Gentleman.]
How now! Are the horses ready?
Gent. Ready, my lord.
Lear. Come, boy.
Fool. She that's a maid now, and laughs at my departure, 56
Shall not be a maid long, unless things be cut shorter.
ACT SECOND
Scene One
[Earl of Gloucester's Castle]
Enter Bastard [Edmund] and Curan, severally.
Edm. Save thee, Curan.
Cur. And you, sir. I have been with your
father, and given him notice that the Duke of
Cornwall and Regan his duchess will be here
with him to-night. 5
Edm. How comes that?
Cur. Nay, I know not. You have heard of
the news abroad? I mean the whispered ones,
for they are yet but ear-kissing arguments? 9
Edm. Not I: pray you, what are they?
Cur. Have you heard of no likely wars toward,
'twixt the Dukes of Cornwall and Albany? 12
Edm. Not a word.
Cur. You may do then, in time. Fare you
well, sir. Exit.
52 temper: mental sanity
11 toward: in prospect
