I beseech you, sir, pardon me. It is a letter from my brother, that I have not all o’er-read; and for so much as I have perused, I find it not fit for your o’er-looking.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2. Edmund sets out to deceive Gloucester by pretending to hide a letter that he claims is from his brother Edgar. Gloucester’s curiosity is around, he takes the bait, and demands to see the letter. It is actually written by Edmund to incriminate Edgar. Edmund pretends to have conflicting loyalties his brother and father, when he puts on a show of first hiding the letter, then letting Gloucester discover it. But he is loyal to neither.