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Not as a petted darling. Art thou well?
How has it fared with thee since last we parted?
My father too—what dost thou know of him?

ROMIERO.

Thou need'st not fear for him; he has escaped;

He is in safety in a foreign land,
Where he, I hope, will end his days in peace.

ZORADA.

And shall I ne'er behold his face again?

(He shakes his head.)
O but I will! I'll go to comfort him,
And so wilt thou. Why dost thou turn from me?
May it not be?

ROMIERO.

Oh ask me not! I've sworn———

ZORADA.

What hast thou sworn?

ROMIERO.

I cannot tell thee now.

ZORADA.

Then it is true!—(Turning from him with violent gestures of distress and displeasure to the end of the chamber, then returning and looking in his face upbraidingly.)

How could'st thou? Oh! how could'st thou

Swear to deliver to the tyrant's vengeance,
Dead or alive, wherever thou shalt find him,
My father, thine old friend, the brave Sebastian?