_Thr._ Bravo! that is well said. I have watched thee, Priscus, All the six years I have known thee—’tis six years: I have seen thine eye grow steadier, and thy smile Softer and kinder, and thy speech, which once Crackled in flame and smoke, hath stilled to a fire That comforts my old age. Even as thy body Hath statelier motion, so is’t with thy mind, Which ripen’d manners clothe in rich reserve. _Pr._ What wilt thou say? _Thr._ Hearken! ’tis some days since I have noted thy disturbance and rejoiced. ’Tis ill with them, who quake not at the touch Of the world’s Creator. Thou hast come to tell me Thou lov’st my daughter. _Pr._ Ah, sir! _Thr._ Is’t not so? _Pr._ Her name is the oath whereby I seal all truth. _Thr._ And well: thou’rt worthy of her; in saying which I mean thy praise, for she is worthy of thée. Nay, while she lives I go not from the world; Death sucks me not, though on his iron ladder My years descend: she will be Thrasea still, 25 Without his struggles. Let me acquaint thee, son, With one condition which I have thought to make, Ere I commit her to thy trust. _Pr._ Good Thrasea, I know not how to thank thee; but, forgive me, My secret was not this. _Thr._ Not this? _Pr._ Nay, sir. Of late I have passed my life half in a dungeon, Half in the garden, where thou bidst me forth To bask in my love’s joy: which in my duty I had spoken of to thee openly, but all Hath come so quickly: now, a happier way, I meet thy favour unsolicited. Let nothing vex this hour; I long to hear Thy one requirement, which my full consent Leaps to embrace unheard, that thou mayst join Fannia and me. _Thr._ ’Tis but a form. I ask A promise of thee, Priscus, that thou wílt not For ten years join any conspiracy Against the Emperor. _Pr._ Why? _Thr._ For Fannia’s sake, Lest Nero kill thee: and for thy sake too. _Pr._ And why ten years? _Thr._ Ten years is a fair term. Thou wilt be old in prudence then. _Pr._ Such prudence Let me die ere I learn. How would’st thou, sir, For ten years bind me down in slavery To flatter a tyrant?