"No longer see'st thou as through a glass darkly. Ordered," he agrees, "is the way of't. In my time, 'tis doctrine that all kings are kings by God's decree, not only the luckless King Galahad. Even in Denmark -- our kings are elected, but we still pretend for a day nobles vote by divine influence, not for their own lands and interests. Thy King must be two things at once: a human man, and the living Law, an earthly fragment of God's divine authority. Thou wert in love with a woman, a friend's wife. At worse, that's a source for heartache. 'Twas divine order that made it treason and blasphemy." Turning somewhat wistful, he asks, "What sort of man was thy King?"
no subject