POPPAEA. I have said so.
Yet——
NERO. [Eagerly.] Well—well——
POPPAEA. Nero—nay, Caesar—my lord.
NERO. Nero, I'd have you say.
POPPAEA. That slipped from me—
Is't treason? I know nothing of the laws.
NERO. You come because thrice summoned?
POPPAEA. In my mind
There lurked another reason for my coming.
NERO. What then?
POPPAEA. A thought that like a captive bird
I have kept warm about my heart so long
I am loth to let it fly forth to the cold.
NERO. [Approaching her.] Tell me this thought.