CONSTANCE. Me?
CONSTANTINE. Yes.
CONSTANCE. I would rather die.
CONSTANTINE. I knew that would be your answer.
CONSTANCE. It cannot surprise you, as it was with your consent and approval that I consecrated myself to God.
CONSTANTINE. I have not forgotten.
CONSTANCE. I will keep my vow inviolate. Nothing can ever force me to break it.
CONSTANTINE. I know you are right, and the greater my difficulty. For if, as is my duty as your father, I permit you to be faithful to your vow, as a sovereign I shall suffer for it. Yet were I to oppose your resolution—which God forbid!—I should deserve eternal punishment.
CONSTANCE. If I despaired of divine help I should be more wretched than you.
CONSTANTINE. That is true.