Act 2, Scene 2 Summary

Ferneze and some of his men come onto the stage, where they meet Martin del Bosco, a vice-admiral of the Spanish navy. The vice-admiral says that his armada has recently done battle with some Turkish ships, and they have come to Malta to sell their Turkish prisoners. Ferneze is afraid of retribution by the Turks when they return, so he turns del Bosco down. Ferneze is happy to learn that the Spanish navy has weakened the Turks. He tells del Bosco of the conflict with the Turks. Del Bosco indicates that his king also considers the Turks to be enemies and that Spain would not want the Turks to control Malta. He offers to write to the king to obtain permission for his armada to stay there to fight off the Turks. He tells them that Spain would be their technical...