Conviction, choice, or ground of preference,

Supports him. Let me, Nathan, hear from you,

In confidence, the reasons of your choice,

Which I have lacked the leisure to examine.

It may be, Nathan, that I am the first

Sultan who has indulged this strange caprice,

Which need not, therefore, make a Sultan blush.

Am I the first? Nay, speak; or if you seek

A brief delay to shape your scattered thoughts,

I yield it freely. (Has she overheard?