I'll to the Praetorians!

[Clamour.

                           To the camp!
  And there upon the one side they shall see
  Britannicus the child of Claudius,
  And me the daughter of Germanicus;
  And on the other side a harp-player,
  A withered pedant, and a maimèd sergeant,
  Disputing for the diadem of the earth.
  Come, Caesar, away to the Praetorians!

[Exit AGRIPPINA leading BRITANNICUS, followed by COURT in great excitement, all but BURRUS and SENECA, TIGELLINUS and NERO—a blank pause.

SENECA. Now what to do?

TIGELLINUS. Already can I hear
  The roar of the Praetorians and their march,
  This time to crown another. Burrus, you
  Command them.

BURRUS. They would tear me into pieces,
  As hounds a master entering in on them
  Unrecognised, if Agrippina once
  Hallooed to them the name 'Germanicus.'

TIGELLINUS. Surely Britannicus must be our aim:
  He gone, what threat, what counter-move hath she?
  Removing him, we take the sting from her;
  Then let her buzz at will.

BURRUS. But he is gone.

SENECA. Even as an eagle snatches up a babe,
  So Agrippina caught him up and flew.

TIGELLINUS. For once my wits are lost.

SENECA. Still, what to do?

[NERO has been sitting with his back to them, suddenly rises.

NERO. Leave this to me!

TIGELLINUS. O Caesar!

NERO. [To ANICETUS.] Go thou fast
  And intercept my mother on her way,
  And say thou thus: 'Nero thy son repents
  His former ire and cancels the decree
  For Antium; and prays thou may'st return
  To supper, as a sign of amity,
  And bring with thee the prince Britannicus.'

[ANICETUS is going, but NERO stops him.

And as you go, send in to me Locusta.

[Exit ANICETUS.

  I have conceived—not fully—but conceived
  The death-scene of the boy Britannicus.
  Leave this to me.

TIGELLINUS. O Caesar!

NERO. It shall be
  Performed to-night at supper: get you seats;
  It shall be something new and wonderful,
  Done after wine, and under falling roses;
  And there shall be suspense in it, and thrill:
  It shall be very sudden, very silent,
  And terrible in silence—I the while,
  Creator and arranger of the scene,
  Reclining with a jewel in my eye;
  And Agrippina shall be close to me,
  Aware, yet motionless: Octavia,
  Though but a child, yet too discreet for tears.
  This you may deem as yet a little crude,
  But other details I will add ere supper.

[SENECA withdraws in horror, as do the others, slowly.

SENECA. Here's what I feared!

TIGELLINUS. His eyes now! Yet how calm!
  So steals the panther, stirring not a leaf!

[Exeunt slowly SENECA, TIGELLINUS, and BURRUS. NERO walks to and fro, constructing the scene in pantomime to himself. LOCUSTA enters down, right.

NERO. You are Locusta, and your trade is poison.

[She makes obeisance.

  [Uneasily.] Is poison but a trade with you, or art?
  Surely to slay is the supreme of arts;
  And with no ugly wound or hideous blow,
  But beautifully to extinguish life.
  Have you some rare drug that kills suddenly?
  As I have planned it, I can have no pause—
  Death must be sudden—silent. And my guests
  Must not be wearied with a pang prolonged,
  And there must be no cry. That understand.