Take him to our lodging, daughter. Go with them, Ireton. I'll follow.

(BRIDGET, AMOS, and IRETON go.)

_Cromwell:_
John, you are my best-beloved friend.

_Hampden:_
I praise myself in that more than in most.

_Cromwell:_
I call you to witness. That is a symbol. Before God, I will not rest
until all that it stands for in this unhappy England is less than the
dust. Amen.

_Hampden:_
Amen.

(A linkman is heard calling in the street. CROMWELL and HAMPDEN go
out.)

THE SCENE CLOSES




SCENE III


_CROMWELL'S house at Ely. A year later, 1642. It is afternoon in winter.