At first Lady Macbeth tries to steady her husband, but she becomes enraged when she notices that Macbeth has forgotten to leave the daggers with the sleeping guards to frame them for Duncan’s murder. He refuses to go back into the room, so Lady Macbeth takes the daggers to the guards herself. As she leaves, Macbeth hears a mysterious knocking. The great sound scares him, and he asks desperately, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood - Clean from my hand?” (II,ii 58–59). As Lady Macbeth reenters the hall, the knocking comes again. She takes him back to the bedchamber, where they can wash off the blood. “A little water clears us of this deed,” she tells him. “How easy it is then!” (II,ii 65–66).
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