CLAUDIUS      Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty.

VOLTEMAND / CORNELIUS In that and all things will we show our duty.

CLAUDIUS      We doubt it nothing. Heartily farewell.

[ Exeunt Voltemand and Cornelius.]

And now, Laertes, what’s the news with you?

You told us of some suit – what is’t, Laertes?

You cannot speak of reason to the Dane

And lose your voice. What wouldst thou beg, Laertes,

That shall not be my offer, not thy asking?  (1.2.39-46)

Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty, concludes Claudius, sending off the ambassadors to Norway: demonstrate just how keen and loyal you are by undertaking this with all possible speed. Voltemand and Cornelius show that they know what’s at stake: in that and all things will we show duty. Yes sir, absolutely sir, you can count on us; in some productions they speak together, little diplomatic robots, but it’s not necessary and can be unhelpfully comic; one can speak, the other nod vigorously, for instance. Claudius has shown already that he’s got his team in place, all present and correct and ready to do his bidding. I know I can count on you, he says; we doubt it nothing. Heartily farewell. And off they go.

What’s next on the agenda? A flunky (not impossibly Polonius) might present a document, or Claudius might have his own (especially in a modern dress production) or else he’s pointedly in command of things without notes. He’s covered the death of the previous king and his marriage to Gertrude, the current political situation with Fortinbras, and acted decisively on the latter in particular: this is a king kinging. Will he now turn from geopolitics back to family, turn to Hamlet, who surely by now has been identified by everyone in the audience? Maybe even some among the courtiers are stealing glances at him, wondering when he’s going to be brought into the scene.

But no. And now, Laertes, what’s the news with you? It’s almost ostentatious that it’s NOT Hamlet: Laertes, who he? You told us of some suit—what is’t, Laertes? Come on, man, you cannot speak of reason to the Dane (that’s ME, I’m the Danish King, THE Dane) and lose your voice. Speak up, quickly now! You know I’m almost certainly going to grant your request, if it’s a reasonable one: what would’st thou beg, Laertes, that shall not be my offer, not thy asking? Claudius is laying it on thick, not letting Laertes (or indeed Hamlet) get a word in, emphasising his own magnanimity and generosity, and also his power. I can do anything, grant anything; ask away!