Alex. Then, my lord, fair hands alone
Are fit to tie it; she, who sent it can.

Vent. Hell, death! this eunuch pander ruins you.
You will not see her?

[Alexas whispers an Attendant, who goes out

Ant. But to take my leave.

Vent.Then I have washed an Æthiop. You’re undone;
Y’ are in the toils; y’ are taken; y’ are destroyed:
Her eyes do Cæsar’s work.

Ant. You fear too soon.
I’m constant to myself: I know my strength;
And yet she shall not think me barbarous neither,
Born in the depths of Afric: I am a Roman,
Bred in the rules of soft humanity.
A guest, and kindly used, should bid farewell.

Vent. You do not know
How weak you are to her, how much an infant:
You are not proof against a smile, or glance;
A sigh will quite disarm you.

Ant. See, she comes!
Now you shall find your error.—Gods, I thank you:
I formed the danger greater than it was,
And now ’tis near, ’tis lessened.

Vent. Mark the end yet.

Enter Cleopatra, Charmion, and Iras.

Ant. Well, madam, we are met.

Cleo. Is this a meeting?
Then, we must part?

Ant. We must.

Cleo. Who says we must?

Ant. Our own hard fates.

Cleo. We make those fates ourselves.

Ant. Yes, we have made them; we have loved each other.
Into our mutual ruin.

Cleo. The gods have seen my joys with envious eyes;
I have no friends in heaven; and all the world,
As ’twere the business of mankind to part us,
Is armed against my love: even you yourself
Join with the rest; you, you are armed against me.

Ant. I will be justified in all I do
To late posterity, and therefore hear me.
If I mix a lie
With any truth, reproach me freely with it;
Else, favour me with silence.

Cleo. You command me,
And I am dumb.

Vent. I like this well; he shows authority.

Ant. That I derive my ruin
From you alone—

Cleo. O heavens! I ruin you!

Ant. You promised me your silence, and you break it
Ere I have scarce begun.

Cleo. Well, I obey you.