am, in truth, the foe. I have come hither to seek your father, in order
to dispossess myself of my sovereign's gift. I have come but with one
desire,--to restore Alphonso to his native land, and to surrender the
heritage that was forced upon me."

VIOLANTE.--"My father, my dear father! His grand heart will have room
once more. Oh, this is noble enmity, true revenge! I understand it,
signor, and so will my father, for such would have been his revenge on
you. You have seen him?"

PESCHIERA.--"No, not yet. I would not see him till I had seen yourself;
for you, in truth, are the arbiter of his destinies, as of mine."

VIOLANTE.--"I, Count? I--arbiter of my father's destinies? Is it
possible?"

PESCHIERA (with a look of compassionate admiration, and in a tone yet
more emphatically parental).--"How lovely is that innocent joy! But do
not indulge it yet. Perhaps it is a sacrifice which is asked from you,--
a sacrifice too hard to bear. Do not interrupt me. Listen still, and
you will see why I could not speak to your father until I had obtained an
interview with yourself. See why a word from you may continue still to
banish me from his presence. You know, doubtless, that your father was
one of the chiefs of a party that sought to free Northern Italy from the
Austrians. I myself was at the onset a warm participator in that scheme.
In a sudden moment I discovered that some of its more active projectors
had coupled with a patriotic enterprise plots of a dark nature, and that
the conspiracy itself was about to be betrayed to the government. I
wished to consult with your father; but he was at a distance. I learned
that his life was condemned. Not an hour was to be lost. I took a bold