itude, do
not accuse me of cruelty. I thought, by my departure, to do you an act
of kindness. If I am wrong, pardon me. If you command it, I will remain.

_Gian._ No; my commands shall never control your inclination; follow the
dictates of your own heart.

_De la Cot._ My heart tells me to remain.

_Gian._ Then obey it without fear, and, if your courage does not fail,
rely on my constancy.

_De la Cot._ What will your father say to my change of mind?

_Gian._ He is almost as much grieved at your departure as I am; he is
not satisfied about your recovery; and whether it is the consequence of
your wound, or of mental affliction, the surgeons do not believe your
health is re-established, and my father thinks it too soon for you to
undertake the journey. He loves and esteems you, and would be much
pleased at your remaining.

_De la Cot._ Has he any suspicion of my love for you? and that it is
mutual?

_Gian._ Our conduct has given him no cause for suspicion.

_De la Cot._ Can it be possible it has never passed through his mind
that I, an open, frank man, and a soldier, might be captivated by the
beauty and merit of his daughter?

_Gian._ A man like my father is not inclined to suspicion; the
cordiality with which he received you as a guest in his family, assures
him he may rely on the correct conduct of an officer of honour; and his
knowledge of my disposition makes him perfectly easy: he does not
deceive himself in regard to either of us. A tender passion has arisen
in our hearts, but we will neither depart from the laws of virtue, nor
violate his confidence.

_De la Cot._ Is there no hope his goodness may make him agree to our
marriage?

_Gian._ My hope is that in time it will; the obstacles do not arise from
motives of interest, but from the customs of our nation. Were you a
merchant of Holland, poor, with only moderate expectations, you would
immediately obtain my hand, and a hundred thousand florins for an
establishment; but an officer, who is a younger son, is considered among
us as a wretched match, and were my father inclined to give his consent,
he would incur the severe censure of his relations, his friends, and
indeed of the public.

_De la Cot._ But I cannot flatter myself with the prospect of being in a
better condition.

_Gian._ In the course of time circumstances may occur that may prove
favourable to our union.

_De la Cot._ Do you reckon among these the death of your father?

_Gian._ He