DÊ. Ah me! Where am I? Whither am I fallen?
What hidden woe have I unwarily
Taken beneath my roof? O misery!
Was she unknown, as he that brought her sware?

MESS. Nay, most distinguished both in birth and mien;
Called in her day of freedom Iolè,
Eurytus' daughter,--of whose parentage,
Forsooth as ignorant, he ne'er would speak.

CH. I curse not all the wicked, but the man
Whose secret practices deform his life.

DÊ. Say, maidens, how must I proceed? The words
Now spoken have bewildered all my mind.

CH. Go in and question Lichas, who perchance
Will tell the truth if you but tax him home.

DÊ. I will; you counsel reasonably.

MESS. And I,
Shall I bide here till thou com'st forth? Or how?

DÊ. Remain. For see, without my sending for him,
He issueth from the palace of himself.

_Enter_ LICHAS.