FIESCO. Then your search will have convicted fancy of deceit——
ZENTURIONE (impatiently). And what shall we have gained?
FIESCO. Gained? The decision of the long-protracted contest between art and nature.
ZENTURIONE (eagerly). And what then?
FIESCO. Then, then? (Laughing.) Then your attention will have been diverted from observing the fall of Genoa's liberty.
[Exeunt all but FIESCO.
SCENE VI.
FIESCO alone. (The noise without increases.)
FIESCO. 'Tis well! 'tis well. The straw of the republic has caught fire—the flames have seized already on palaces and towers. Let it go on! May the blaze be general! Let the tempestuous wind spread wide the conflagration!
SCENE VII.