Antonio put his hand on the door latch before he answered. “Because the imp of your ire couldn’t have thought of a better way to bollix up our entire venture than by killing the essential partner? I tell you, Iago, the little fool is alive, and he works, even now, against us. My good sense tells me that your tale of a creature is a false vision, a hallucination brought on by handling that infernal sticky potion of Brabantio’s, but a false vision did not put ragged pieces of my friends in the canal. A hallucination did not put a fool’s head in the casket at Belmont to thwart Bassanio’s marriage to Portia. Your grand and powerful hatred did not send a note ticking off my dead friends like so many sausages on a shopping list. I tell you, Iago, the fool lives, and he works his revenge against us.”

Iago sighed. “Well, we shall just have to kill him again.”

“His will is done now. Tomorrow I have to stand before the court and answer Shylock’s bond with a pound of my flesh.”

“Then Shylock shall have to be removed as well.”

“But you have no men, no forces, and neither have I. I cannot send Bassanio to do such dread deeds. It is not in his nature. He is already distraught at the deaths of his friends.”

“Calm yourself, merchant. This is my business. I still have some of Rodrigo’s fortune cached away at Arsenal, and between his gold and my will, forces will come to our aid before morning.”

“Oh, Nerissa, I am beside myself with worry.” Portia fussed at her dressing table while Nerissa arranged her shoes into mismatched pairs in the closet. “I sent Father’s lawyer, Balthassar, to Padua a week ago with a letter to our cousin, Bellario, who is a doctor of law, and I fear he will not return with the response before the morning. If he does not, I know not how we will aid Bassanio in saving his friend Antonio.”

“How would we aid anyway? All the funds of the estate are out of your reach, lady. And even the funds by all the suitors have stopped coming with rumors that there could be no winner among the players.”

“We shall help them by pleading the case, Nerissa. As a doctor and clerk of law.”

“But, lady, only men may be doctors of law.”

“That is so, and so shall we be men. We shall dress as men, with jeweled daggers at our waists to show our authority, and great empty codpieces, where the court thinks our brains and abilities reside. I will turn feminine mincing steps into a manly stride, and speak with a voice that breaks like one passing from boy to man. And I’ll wager, when we appear as men, I’ll be said to be the prettier of the two.” She giggled.