[Exeunt King and Ruth. Frederic throws himself on a stone in blank despair.
Enter Mabel.
Recitative.—Mabel.
All is prepared, your gallant crew await you.
My Frederick in tears? It cannot be
That lion-heart quails at the coming conflict?
Fred.No, Mabel, no. A terrible disclosure
Has just been made! Mabel, my dearly loved one,
I bound myself to serve the pirate captain
Until I reached my one and twentieth birthday——