Pardon! The Holy Father is in wrath
As well as fear.

CESARE.

I come. Oh, my Lord Bonafede,
The sword is in your charge....
And see this picture—
The Borgian Bull,
A victim at its feet. The flames are blown;
There will be sacrifice! It was a dream
I told to Messer Bernardino....
[To Poto.] Swift,
Come swiftly to the Vatican! Giovanni—
Well, is he dead, or will he yet return?

SCENE III

The Vatican: a room overlooking the Tiber. It is twilight.

Don Joffré Borgia and Donna Sancia d’Aragon, who is weeping, look out from a distant window; near at hand the Lord Cardinals Francesco Borgia and Bartolomeo of Segovia are also looking out.

The Lord Alexander VI. is pacing backward and forward.

ALEXANDER.

[Pausing by the Cardinals.]

Those lights ... those fireflies
Out on the river, do they dance above him
Fast as they swarm and change?