Darnley: I? Swear? Oh, yes, I swear.
Mary (softly): No, Riccio, I will go. (She moves, across to the door. Then, loudly—) Go, Riccio. See what they want. Your cloak—it's cold beyond.
- (She takes up Riccio's cloak, and throws it round her. Darnley, watching her almost in a dreadful hope, creeps away from the door. She is about to move out when Mary Beaton stops her)
Beaton: Madam, this is wildness. Either it is nothing, or you take on a danger that you must not. (To Darnley) Why may they not come in here?
Darnley (indifferently): I know nothing, I tell you. If the Queen wills.
Mary: Very well. Go, Riccio.
Riccio: Is it safe?
Beaton: They would not dare, at the Queen's door.
Mary: Go. There can be nothing to fear. And we do not govern fate.
- (Riccio goes out. Darnley moves across to the door. He locks it and takes the key)
