MALCOLM      [to Donalbain] Why do we hold our tongues,

That most may claim this argument for ours?

DONALBAIN  [aside to Malcolm] What should be spoken here where our fate,

Hid in an auger-hole, may rush and seize us?

Let’s away. Our tears are not yet brewed.

MALCOLM      [aside to Donalbain] Nor our strong sorrow

Upon the foot of motion.

BANQUO        Look to the lady…

[Exit Lady, attended] (2.3.113-119)

A hurried, elliptical exchange between the brothers, making their suspicions, but also their political astuteness, quite clear. They know something’s not right, the way that the death of their father is being portrayed, but also they fear being framed: Why do we hold our tongues, that most may claim this argument for ours? Why aren’t we speaking up? If we don’t say something soon, they’ll end up blaming us, saying we’re behind it. Donalbain’s more fearful, though, and perhaps more pragmatic: what should be spoken here where our fate, hid in an auger-hole, may rush and seize us? Nothing we say here and now will make any difference: they may already have planned to kill us too, in a plot that’s as difficult to detect as a tiny thing like an augur-hole, lurking, hidden, as yet unseen. We’re in terrible danger. Our tears are not yet brewed, nor our strong sorrow upon the foot of motion. We’re in shock, not even in any condition to mourn, to begin to express our grief. We need to get out of here, save our own skins, perhaps, and then there will be time to grieve. And Lady Macbeth does something else—swoons again? starts to come round, if she’s fainted already? Lots of options, for her and for Macbeth, and this time it’s Banquo who draws attention to her: Look to the lady, suggesting, perhaps, that someone needs to look after her, take her elsewhere, and most editions suggest an exit here, although there’s none marked in the Folio. Everyone’s watching everyone else, suspicions are rising, and the audience’s attention keeps being pulled in different directions; if you just look at who’s speaking, there’s lots, potentially, to miss. A gamble for Lady Macbeth: if she leaves, apparently too unwell, too shocked to remain, then Macbeth’s on his own, but it’s apparently a risk worth taking.