Isabella's Flight to the Caves

Isabella's Flight to the Caves is the flight from the convent that carries Isabella into the forest, where Theodore discovers her in the caves and pledges to keep her beyond Manfred's reach. The episode transforms a disappearance that alarms Jerome into a second rescue by Theodore, while making the caves a refuge whose safety depends on a chance encounter and the young man's protection.

The Report at the Convent

During Jerome's absence, a friar tells him that Hippolita has died. The report is false as far as Jerome knows: he says he has just left her in good health. But the news has already reached Isabella, and the friar explains that he told her of it, offered spiritual comfort, and advised her to take the veil, invoking the example of the holy Princess Sanchia of Arragon. Isabella weeps and says she will retire to her chamber. The friar does not know that she has gone elsewhere.

Jerome finds her chamber empty, searches the monastery and church, questions the convent's domestics, and sends messengers around the neighborhood. He can learn nothing of her whereabouts. He suspects that Isabella, fearing Manfred may have hastened Hippolita's death, has fled to a more secret hiding place. Her disappearance confirms her aversion to becoming Manfred's wife, but it brings Jerome no comfort: he fears that the flight will intensify Manfred's fury and endanger Theodore. He returns toward the castle with several monks, intending to attest to his innocence and intercede for his son if necessary.

From Forest to Cave

Isabella's retreat leads Theodore into the same landscape. After learning at the convent that Jerome is away and that Isabella is being sought, he considers helping her, but the monks cannot tell him which route she took. His attachment to Matilda also keeps him close to her home. At length, while waiting for Jerome to return that night, he goes to the forest Matilda had pointed out to him.

Theodore seeks the gloomiest shade, then wanders to caves once used by hermits and now rumored to be haunted by evil spirits. Curious and brave, he explores their recesses. Hearing someone retreat ahead of him, he suspects robbers rather than supernatural beings, draws his sabre, and follows the rustling sound. His armor gives away his approach. He catches up as a woman, breathless from flight, falls before him. He tries to calm her and promises to defend her rather than harm her.

Recognition and Protection

The woman recognizes that she has heard Theodore's voice before. He guesses that she is Isabella, and she immediately asks whether he has been sent to find her. Falling at his feet, she begs him not to deliver her to Manfred. Theodore refuses: he recalls having already rescued her from Manfred's tyranny and promises to place her beyond the Prince's reach.

Isabella recognizes him in turn as the unknown young man she met the previous night in the castle vault. She regards his repeated appearance as providential and starts to thank him, but Theodore stops her from humbling herself before a poor, friendless young man. He frames his role as a deliverer's task assigned by heaven and urges her farther into the cavern, explaining that he cannot be at peace until she is out of danger.

Refuge, Risk, and Divided Affections

Isabella hesitates. Though Theodore's conduct and words seem honorable to her, she worries about how the world would judge a woman found alone with a man in the secluded caves. Theodore answers that he means to take her to the most private cavity and guard its entrance at the risk of his life. The refuge he offers is thus both practical and precarious: it may conceal Isabella from Manfred, but their isolation could expose her to public suspicion.

Theodore also admits that his desires are not wholly free of ambition toward Isabella, yet tells her that his soul is dedicated to another. The declaration links the rescue to his new attachment to Matilda, whose image has kept him near the castle and monastery even as he wishes to help Isabella. Before he can finish, a sudden noise interrupts them. The flight has brought Isabella to shelter and reunited her with her rescuer, but the scene ends before the interruption's consequence is disclosed.