_L._ Alas! I thought ’twas love’s excess, And still I am kissed by rule. _F._ And be content, love, To keep the little rules we make ourselves, Since thou must break such great ones; and canst dare Deceive the Countess, disobey thy father, And brave the world’s opinion: all which sins I come to stablish in thee. There’s now no choice But fly with me or take St. Nicholas. 960 _L._ That name is desperation. Have you no plan To save me? _F._ If you dare fly with me to Milan. _L._ To-night? _F._ Would ’twere to-night. _L._ But when, love, when? _F._ Trust me to find the time. _L._ And why to Milan? _F._ My friend the Duke, being now away from home, Lends me his palace. All we else should lack, Appointment and conveyance, he supplies. We have his countenance now, his influence after, To appease your father and sister. _L._ Are you such friends? _F._ There cannot be two hearts in all the world Nearer-familiar than are his and mine. 971 _L._ You never told me. _F._ I had not heard from him Now for three years. _L._ ’Tis strange. _F._ Nay, ’tis not strange. Ours was a boyhood friendship; such affection Born in life’s spring is perfect with the flower. The memory is a binding intimacy, Which grows as we grow from it: in its strength Is our lost tenderness; its truth is proved By every lie the world has given our hopes: Absence and age best feed it. We remember 980 First ecstasies, and the unreserved embrace Of mutual spirits, and worship the remembrance. The Duke and I are strangers in the world, Courteous acquaintance in society, But to ourselves, twin individual gods. _L._ Alas, poor me! _F._ Can it displease you, love, I have such a friend? _L._ Ere it is too late, Frederick, Think if you love me enough. _F._ Why, ’tis a question To make me think you think I think I do not. _L._ Indeed, ere I consent to be your wife.... 990 _F._ You have consented, Laura. _L._ Nay, but hear me. Before we marry, you must know a thing, Which, since it might lessen your love for me, Shall not be kept till after. _F._ Then tell it quickly. _L._ What you have said, and what I have to tell, So dwarfs my little humble plant of love. _F._ Tell it. _L._ Diana loves you. _F._ You know it too! _L._ You know it! _F._ I!—Why, Laura, is this your secret?