[She waves her hand for him to go.
Laura. Is it possible? so contemptuously to destroy the letter, in which my whole heart overflowed with tenderness! Oh, how idly I talk! he is here: his very voice pierces my heart! I dare not meet his eye, thus discomposed!
[Exit, r.
Enter Victoria, l., in men's clothes,
preceded by Sancha.
San. I will inform my mistress that you are here, Don Florio; I thought she had been in this apartment.
[Exit, l.
Vict. Now must I, with a mind torn by anxieties, once more assume the lover of my husband's mistress—of the woman, who has robbed me of his heart, and his children of their fortune. Sure, my task is hard. Oh, love! Oh, married love, assist me! If I can, by any art, obtain from her that fatal deed, I shall save my little ones from ruin, and then—But I hear her step. [Agitated, pressing her hand on her bosom.]—There! I have hid my griefs within my heart, and, now for all the impudence of an accomplished cavalier! [Sings an air, sets her hat in the glass, dances a few steps, &c. then runs to Laura, r., and seizes her hand.] My lovely Laura!
Laura. That look speaks Laura loved, as well as lovely.
Vict. To be sure! Petrarch immortalized his Laura by his verses, and mine shall be immortal in my passion.
Laura. Oh, Florio, how deceitful! I know not what enchantment binds me to thee.