Don Christopher briefly referred him to Haro for the management of his part of the plot; and in order to silence all the King’s apprehension, declared his belief that an offer from the French King would allure Haro into France, where an honourable provision might recompence him for thus abandoning his country--in such a case, neither Haro nor Don Christopher need dread being known as the accomplices in Sebastian’s escape, when the time should arrive in which he would re-appear as a candidate for Portugal. Sebastian listened patiently, then sadly smiling, said in a voice of determination. “Mark me, generous young man! too long have I struggled against the visible will of Heaven, too long have I sacrificed all that is nearest and dearest to me, for that enfeebled people who have shewn themselves rather disposed to clamour against my injuries, than bravely to arm and redress them. For their sakes I have made shipwreck of all that was precious unto me: alas! if I may but save one little remnant--if I may but find some retirement to shelter me and mine, where we may live and die in happy oblivion--my heart will have attained all its present wishes. I feel that I have acquitted myself of my duty to Portugal, and now I abandon her throne for ever.” “What, Sire!” exclaimed the young Hyppolito in a transport of awakened hope, “and the amiable Blanche, do you abandon for her, all claim.” Sebastian’s penetrating eye read the lover’s heart; he smiled graciously, and pressing his hand, said, “Yes, for her also, I speak: her safety and her happiness are the sole objects of her father’s anxiety; and how are they to be secured, save in domestic privacy? Think of her again, Hyppolito, as you were used to do; forget the Princess of Portugal, but ever protect and cherish the unpretending Blanche.” Hyppolito hid his suddenly suffused face upon the hand which he now carried to his lips; his heart beat with strange and delightful emotion. Don Christopher earnestly strove to alter the resolution of Sebastian: the latter was inflexible. “I owe the remainder of my life,” he observed, “to my family and my friends; the period is too short for us to waste it in fresh struggles: let us be content Don Christopher to pass it in tranquillity.” The captain of the galley now approached, and breaking off their discourse, the young men hastened to impart the consent they had obtained, to name the day of their enterprize, and to return to St. Lucar.