Page 2119 - Shakespeare - Vol. 3

That I would set my life on any chance
To mend it or be rid on’t.

MACBETH
Both of you
Know Banquo was your enemy.

MURDERERS
True, my lord.

MACBETH
So is he mine, and in such bloody distance

That every minute of his being thrusts
Against my near’st of life; and though I could
With bare-faced power sweep him from my sight

And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine, [120]
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Who I myself struck down. And thence it is
That I to your assistance do make love,

Masking the business from the common eye
For sundry weighty reasons.

SECOND MURDERER
We shall, my lord,
Perform what you command us.

FIRST MURDERER

Though our lives −

MACBETH

Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour, at most,
I will advise you where to plant yourselves,
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o’the time,
The moment on’t; for’t must be done tonight; [130]

And something from the palace; always thought
That I require a clearness; and with him,