QUEEN
He's fat and scant of breath.—
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin; rub thy brows.
The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
[She lifts the cup.]
HAMLET
Good madam.
KING
Gertrude, do not drink.
QUEEN
I will, my lord; I pray you pardon me. [She drinks.]
KING [aside]
It is the poisoned cup. It is too late.
HAMLET
I dare not drink yet, madam—by and by.
QUEEN
Come, let me wipe thy face.
(5.2.313-321)
After Gertrude drinks the poisoned wine that Claudius has prepared for Hamlet (does she know it's poisoned?), she tenderly wipes the sweat from her son's brow. This is a rather motherly thing to do, especially if she drinks the wine in order to save her son's life. After all of Hamlet's accusations that Gertrude is a selfish mother, Hamlet finally gets the thing that he seems to want the most —a doting mom who will pay more attention to her son than she does her husband. Aw. We love happy endings.