(SCENE.—A park with old lofty trees. In the foreground, to the right, an arbour with a seat. The KING is sitting, talking to BANG, who is a man of gross corpulence.) Bang. And I felt so well in every way that, I assure your Majesty, I used to feel it a pleasure to be alive. The King (drawing patterns in the dust with his walking stick). I can quite believe it. Bang. And then I was attacked by this pain in my heart and this difficulty in breathing. I run round and round this park, on an empty stomach, till I am absolutely exhausted. The King (absently). Couldn't you drive round, then? Bang. Drive?—But it is the exercise, your Majesty, that— The King. Of course. I was thinking of something else. Bang. I would not mind betting that I know what your Majesty was thinking of—if I may say so without impertinence. The King. What was it, then? Bang. Your Majesty was thinking of the socialists! The King. Of the—? Bang. The socialists! The King (looking amused). Why particularly of them? Bang. I was right, you see! Ha, ha, ha! (His laughter brings on a violent fit of coughing.) Your Majesty must excuse me; laughing always brings on my cough.—But, you know, the papers this morning are full of their goings on! The King. I have not read the paper. Bang. Then I can assure your Majesty that the way they are going on is dreadful. And just when we were all getting on so comfortably! What in the world do they want? The King. Probably they want to get on comfortably too. Bang. Aren't they well off as it is, the beasts? Excuse me, your Majesty, for losing my temper in your Majesty's presence. The King. Don't mention it. Bang. You are very good. These strikes, too—what is the object of them? To make every one poor? Every one can't be rich. However, I pin my faith to a strong monarchy. Your Majesty is the padlock on my cash-box! The King. I am what? Bang. The padlock on my cash-box! A figure of speech I ventured to apply to your Majesty. The King. I am much obliged! Bang. Heaven help us if the liberals come into power; their aim is to weaken the monarchy. (A BEGGAR BOY comes up to them.) Beggar Boy. Please, kind gentlemen, spare a penny! I've had nothing to eat to-day! Bang (taking no notice of him). Aren't there whispers of the sort about? But of course it can't be true. Beggar Boy (pertinaciously). Please, kind gentlemen, spare a penny! I've had nothing to eat to-day. Bang. You have no right to beg. The King. You have only the right to starve, my boy! Here! (Gives him a gold coin. The BEGGAR Boy backs away from him, staring at him, and gripping the coin in his fist.) Bang. He never even thanked you! Probably the son of a socialist!—I would never have opened this park to every one in the way your Majesty has done. The King. It saves the work-people a quarter of am hour if they can go through it to get to their work. (The GENERAL appears, driving the BEGGAR BOY before him with his stick.) The General (to the BEGGAR). A gentleman sitting on a seat gave it you? Point him out to me, then! Bang (getting up). Good morning, your Majesty! The King. Good morning! (Looks at his watch.) The General. That gentleman, do you say? The King (looking up). What is it? The General. Your Majesty? Allow me to welcome you back! The King. Thank you. The General. Excuse me, sir; but I saw this fellow with a gold coin in his hand, and stopped him. He says your Majesty gave it to him—? The King. It is quite true. The General. Oh—of course that alters the case! (To the BEGGAR.) It is the King. Have you thanked him? (The boy stands still, staring at the KING.) The King. Are you taking a morning walk on an empty stomach because of a weak heart, too? The General. Because of my stomach, sir—because of my stomach! It has struck work! The Beggar Boy. Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! (Runs away.) The General. I am astonished at your Majesty's having thrown this park open to every one. The King. It saves the work-people a quarter of an hour if they can go through it to get to their work.—Well, General, it seems you have become religious all of a sudden? The General. Ha, ha, ha! Your Majesty has read my Order of the Day, then? The King. Yes. The General (confidentially). Well, sir, you see things couldn't go on any longer as they were. (Whispers.) Debauchery in the ranks! I won't say anything about the officers; but when the men take to such courses openly—! The King. Oho! The General. My brother the bishop and I, between us, composed an Order of the Day on the subject of the necessity of religion—religion as the basis of discipline. The King. As a matter of fact the bishop was the first person I met here to-day.—Is he suffering from a disordered stomach, too? The General. More so than any of us, Sir! Ha, ha, ha! (The KING motions to him to sit down.) Thank you, Sir.—But, apart from that, I have had it in my mind for some time that in these troublous days there ought to be a closer co-operation between the Army and the Church— The King. In the matter of digestion, do you mean? The General. Ha, ha, ha!—But seriously, Sir, the time is approaching when such a co-operation will be the only safeguard of the throne. The King. Indeed? The General (hurriedly). That is to say, of course, the throne stands firm by itself—God forbid I should hint otherwise! But what I mean is that it is the Army ants the Church that must supply the monarchy with the necessary splendour and authority— The King. I suppose, then, that the monarchy has no longer any of its own? The General (jumping up). Heaven forbid that I should say such a thing! I would give my life in support of the monarchy! The King. You will have to die some day, unfortunately (Laughs as he gets up.) Who is that coming this way? The General (putting up his eyeglass). That? It is the Princess and Countess L'Estoque, Sir. The King. Is the Princess suffering from indigestion too? The General (confidentially). I fancy your Majesty knows best what the Princess is suffering from. (The KING moves away from him.) I made a mess of that! It comes of my trying to be too clever.—He is walking towards her. Perhaps there is something in it, after all? I must tell Falbe about it. (Turns to go.) Confound it, he saw that I was watching them! (Goes out. The KING returns to the arbour with the PRINCESS on his arm. The COUNTESS and one of the royal servants are seen crossing the park in the background.) The Princess. This is a most surprising meeting! When did your Majesty return? The King. Last night.—You look very charming, Princess! Such blushing cheeks!—and so early in the morning! The Princess. I suppose you think it is rouge?—No, Sir, it is nothing but pleasure at meeting you. The King. Flatterer! And I went pale at the sight of you. The Princess. Perhaps your conscience—? The King. I am sorry to say my conscience had nothing to do with it. But this morning I have been meeting so many people that are suffering from indigestion that, when I saw your Highness walking quickly along— The Princess. Make your mind easy! My reason for my morning walk is to keep my fat down. Later in the day I ride—for the same reason. I live for nothing else now. The King. It is a sacred vocation! The Princess. Because it is a royal one? The King. Do you attribute your sanctity to me? Wicked Princess! The Princess. Both my sanctity and any good fortune I enjoy. It is nothing but my relationship to your Majesty that induces the tradespeople to give me unlimited credit. The King. You don't feel any awkwardness about it, then? The Princess. Not a bit! The good folk have to maintain many worse parasites than me!—By the way, talking of parasites, is it true that you have pensioned off all your lords-in-waiting and their hangers-on? The King. Yes. The Princess. Ha, ha, ha! But why did you make the special stipulation that they should live in Switzerland? The King. Because there is no court in Switzerland, and— The Princess. And so they could not fall into temptation again! I have had many a good laugh at the thought of it. But it has its serious side too, you know; because your Majesty cannot dispense with a court. The King. Why not? The Princess. Well, suppose some day you are "joined in the bonds of holy matrimony," as the parsons so beautifully put it? The King. If I were, it would be for the sake of knowing what family life is. The Princess. Like any other citizen? The King. Precisely. The Princess. Are you going to keep no servants? The King. As many as are necessary—but no more. The Princess. Then I must secure a place as chambermaid in your Majesty's household as soon as possible. Because if my financial circumstances are inquired into there will be nothing else left for me but that! The King. You have too sacred a vocation for that, Princess! The Princess. How pretty! Your Majesty is a poet, and poets are allowed to be enthusiastic about ideals. But the people are poets too, in their way; they like their figure-head to be well gilded, and don't mind paying for it. That is their poetry. The King. Are you certain of that? The Princess. Absolutely certain! It is a point of honour with them. The King. Then I have to weigh my honour against theirs! And my honour forbids me—for the honour of my people and their poetry—to keep up my palaces, my guards, and my court any longer! VoilÀ tout! The Princess. My dear King, certain positions carry with them certain duties! The King. Then I know higher duties than those!—But, Princess, here are we two seriously discussing— The Princess. Yes, but there is something at the bottom of it that is not to be laughed away. All tradition and all experience proclaim it to be the truth that a king—the kingly majesty—should be a dignity apart; and should be the ultimate source of law, surrounded with pomp and circumstance, and secure behind the fortified walls of wealth, rank, and hereditary nobility. If he steps out of that magic circle, the law's authority is weakened. The King. Has your Royal Highness breakfasted yet? The Princess. No. (Bursts out laughing.) The King. Because, if you had, I should have had great pleasure is giving you a lesson in history; but on an empty stomach that would be cruel. The Princess. Do you know—you used to be such an entertaining king, but this last year you have become so tedious! The King. Most beautiful of princesses! Do you really mean to say that I rise and fall in your estimation according as I have my pretty royal gew-gaws on or not? The Princess. In my estimation? The King. Or in any one's? You know the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes"? The Princess. Yes. The King. We don't keep up that pretence any longer. The Princess. But will every one understand? The King. You understand, don't you? The Princess. The people or I—that is all the same, I suppose! You are very flattering. The King. Heaven forbid that I should lump your Royal Highness together with the common herd; but— The Princess. We have already had proof of the fact that your Majesty does not hold the same place in every one's estimation that you do in mine, at all events! The King. If I occupy a place of honour in your Royal Highness's heart, your Royal Highness may be certain that— The Princess. I will interrupt you to save you from speaking an untruth! Because the way to attain to a place of honour in your Majesty's heart is not to admire you as I do, but, on the contrary, to shout out: "I despise you!"—Au revoir! The King. You wicked, terrifying, dangerous— The Princess.—omniscient and ubiquitous Princess! (Makes a deep curtsey, and goes away.) The King (calling after her). In spite of everything, my heart goes with you— The Princess.—to show me the door! I know all about that! (To the COUNTESS.) Come, Countess! (Goes out. FALBE, an old gentleman in civilian dress, has come in from the side to which the KING'S back is turned.) The King. How the devil did she—? Falbe (coming up behind him). Your Majesty! The King (turning quickly). Ah, there you are! Falbe. Yes, sir—we have been walking about in the park for some time; your Majesty was engaged. The King. Not engaged—I was only deadening thoughts by gossiping. My anxiety was too much for me. So they have come?—both of them? Falbe. Both of them. The King. Can I believe it! (Appears overcome.) But—you must wait a moment! I can't, just at this moment—. I don't know what has come over me! Falbe. Are you unwell, sir? You look so pale. The King My nerves are not what they should be. Is there any water near here? Falbe (pointing, in astonishment). Why, there is the fountain, Sir! The King. Of course! Of course!—I don't seem able to collect my thoughts. And my mouth is as dry as—. Look here, I am going that way (points); and then you can—you can bring the ladies here.—She is here! She is here! (Goes out to the left, and turns round as he goes.) Don't forget to lock the gates of the inner park! Falbe. Of course not, Sir. (Goes out to the right, and returns bringing in the BARONESS MARC and CLARA.) His Majesty will be here in a moment. (Goes out to the right.) Clara. You must stay near enough for me to be able to call you. Baroness. Of course, my dear. Compose yourself; nothing can happen. Clara. I am so frightened. Baroness. Here is the King! (The KING comes in and bows to them.) The King. Excuse me, ladies, for having kept you waiting. I am very grateful to you both for coming. Baroness. We only came upon your Majesty's solemn promise— The King.—which shall be inviolable. Baroness. I understand that you wish to speak to Miss Ernst alone? The King. Your ladyship need only go up to the top of that little slope. (Points.) I can recommend the view from there. Baroness. The interview will not be a long one, I suppose? The King. If it is, I give your ladyship permission to come and interrupt us. (The BARONESS goes out. The KING turns to CLARA.) May I be permitted to thank you again—you especially—for having been so good as to grant me this interview? Clara. It will be the only one. The King. I know that. You have not condescended to answer one of my letters— Clara. I have not read them. The King.—so there was nothing left for me but to address myself to the Baroness. She was obliged to listen to me, Miss Ernst. Clara (trembling). What has your Majesty to say to me? The King. Indeed, I can't tell it you in a single sentence. Won't you sit down? (CLARA remains standing.) You must not be afraid of me. I mean you no harm; I never could mean you any harm. Clara (in tears). Then what do you call the persecution that I have endured for more than a year? The King. If you had condescended to read a single one of my long and many letters you would have known I call it a passion that is stronger than—. (CLARA turns to go. The KING continues anxiously.) No, Miss Ernst, by everything you hold dear, I beg you not to leave me! Clara. Then you must not insult me! The King. If that is an insult your terms are very hard. Clara. Hard? No, but what you have done to me is hard! (Bursts into tears.) The King. Don't cry, Miss Ernst! You don't know how you hurt me! Clara (angrily). Do you know what it means to try and ruin a young girl's reputation? The King. I repeat that you are doing me an injustice Clara. An injustice?—Good God! Do you know who I am? The King (taking of his hat respectfully). You are the woman I love. Clara (quietly and with dignity). Your Majesty has solemnly promised not to insult me. The King. As sure as there is a heaven above us I will not, and could not, insult you! But I will obey your wishes. Clara. When a king says such a thing as—as you did just now, to a poor little governess, it is more than an insult! It is so cowardly, so base! And to think that you could have the heart to do it after what you have done to my father! The King. Your father?—I? Clara. Do you really not know who I am? The King I don't understand— Clara. Whose daughter I am, I mean? The King. I only know that your father's name is Ernst. (Suddenly.) Surely your father is not—? Clara. Professor Ernst. The King. The republican? Clara (slowly). Yes. (A pause.) I may remind your Majesty that he was sentenced for high treason. And why? Because he warned the young men at the university against the bad example set by the King! (A pause.) He was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. In escaping from his prison he broke both his legs; and now he lives in exile—a cripple—supported by what money I am able to earn. (A pause.) You have ruined his life—and now you are trying to ruin mine too! The King. I beg of you—! Clara. I am ashamed of my tears. It is not compassion for myself or for my father that makes them flow; it is the heartless injustice of it all that overcomes me. The King. God knows, if only I could atone for the injustice—! But what can I do? Clara. You can let me alone, so that I may do my work in peace; that is what you can do! Neither he nor I ask for more than that—of you! The King. I must do more than that! Clara. No! Can you not understand that a girl who is persecuted by the king's attentions cannot be a governess? All you will achieve will be to rob me and my father of our bread!—Oh, God! The King. But my intention is not to— Clara (interrupting him). And you are not even man enough to be ashamed of yourself! The King. Yes, you may say what you please to me! Clara. I have nothing more to say to you. I have said what I have to say. (Turns to go.) The King. No, don't go! You have not even heard me yet. You don't even know what I want to beg of you! Clara. My dishonour. The King (vehemently). You misunderstand me utterly! If you had only read a single one of my letters you would have known that there is standing before you a man whom you have humbled. Ah, don't look so incredulous! It is true, if there is any truth in anything. You don't believe me? (Despairingly.) How am I to—! A man who has risked your contempt for more than a year, and has been faithful to you without even being allowed to see you or exchange a word with you—who has had no thought for anything or any one else—is not likely to be doing that out of mere idleness of heart! Do you not believe that, either? Clara. No. The King. Well, then, there must surely be some general truths that you, as Ernst's daughter, cannot refuse to believe! Let me ask you if you can understand how a man becomes what I was at the time when I repeatedly insulted you. You must know, from your father's books, in what an unnatural atmosphere a king is brought up, the soul-destroying sense of self-importance which all his surroundings foster, until, even in his dreams, he thinks himself something more than human; the doubtful channels into which his thoughts are forced, while any virtues that he has are trumpeted abroad, and his vices glossed over with tactful and humorous tolerance. Don't you think that a young king, full of eager life, as I was, may plead something in excuse of himself that no other man can? Clara. Yes, I admit that. The King. Then you must admit that the very position he has to assume as a constitutional monarch is an acted lie. Think what a king's vocation is; can a vocation of that sort be hereditary? Can the finest and noblest vocation in the world be that? Clara. No! The King. Then suppose that he realises that himself; suppose that the young king is conscious, however dimly and partially, of the lie he is living—and suppose that, to escape from it, he rushes into a life of pleasure. Is it not conceivable that he may have some good in him, for all that? And then suppose that one morning, after a night of revelling, the sun shines into his room; and he seems to see upon the wall, in letters of fire, some words that were said to him the night before—true words (CLARA looks up at him in surprise)—the words: "I despise you!" (CLARA gives a start.) Words like that can burn out falsehood. And he, to whom they are said, may long to hear again the tones of the voice that spoke them. No man has ever hated what has given him new life. If you had read a single one of the letters which I felt impelled to write even if they were refused acceptance—you would not have called it persecution. (CLARA does not answer.) And, as for my persecution of your father—I am not going to make any excuses for myself; I will only ask you to remember that a king has no control over the law and its judgments. I feel the sincerest respect for your father. Clara. Thank you. The King. And it is just part of the falsehood I was speaking of, that he should be condemned for saying of me what I have said a thousand times of myself! Clara (softly). Dare I believe that? The King. Ah, if only you had read one of my letters! Or even the little book of poems I sent you last! I thought that, if you would not receive my letters, perhaps a book— Clara. I do not accept anonymous gifts. The King. I see you are on your guard—although I don't admit that the poems were mine! May I read it to you? Clara. I don't understand—. The King. One that I marked—for you. It will prove to you what you refuse to believe. Clara. But if the poem is not yours? The King. The fact that I have marked it shows that its sentiments apply to me. Will you let me read it to you? (CLARA looks up.) Do not be too much surprised, Miss Ernst! (Takes a slim volume from his pocket.) I found this somewhere. (Turns over the leaves.) It won't take long to read. May I? Clara. If only I understood— The King.—why I want to read it? Simply for the reason that you have forbidden me to speak to you—or to write to you; but not, as yet, to read to you! (CLARA smiles. A pause.) Do you know—a little event has just happened in my life?—and yet not such a little one, after all! Clara. What is that? The King. I have seen you smile for the first time. Clara. Your Majesty! The King. But, Miss Ernst, is it an insult, too, to see you smile? Clara (smiling). If I consent to hear the poem, shall not the Baroness— The King.—hear it also? With pleasure; but not at the same time! Please! Because I am a very bad reader. You can show it to the Baroness afterwards, if you like. (CLARA smiles.) May I? Clara. You are sure there is nothing in it that— The King. You can interrupt me, if you think fit. It is called "The Young Prince;" and it is about—no, I won't tell you what it is about unless you will be so good as to sit down, so that I can sit down too. If I stand up I shall be sure to begin declaiming, and I do that shockingly badly!—You can get up again when you like, you know! (CLARA smiles and sits down. The KING sits down beside her.) Now, then! "The Young Prince." (To himself.) I can scarcely breathe. (He begins to read.) Full fed with early flattery and pride— (Breaks off.) Excuse me, Miss Ernst! I don't feel— Clara. Is your Majesty not well? The King. Quite well! It is only—. Now, then! Full fed with early flattery and pride, His sated soul was wearied all too young; Honour and kingly pomp seemed naught to him But whimsies from the people's folly sprung. From such pretence he fled to what was real— Fair women's arms, laughter and love and pleasure, All the mad joy of life; whate'er he craved, He found was given him in double measure. Whate'er he craved—until one day a maiden To whom he whispered, like a drunken sot, "I'd give my life to make thee mine, my sweeting!" Turned from him silently and answered not. He sought by every means to win her to him; But when his love with cold contempt was met, It was as if a judgment had been spoken Upon his life, and doom thereon were set. His boon companions left him; in his castles None seemed to be awake but he alone, Racked with remorse, enshrouded in the darkness Of dull despair, yet longing to atone. Then through the darkness she appeared! and humbly, Emboldend by her gentleness of mien, He sued once more: "If only thou wouldst listen! If still 'twere not too late—" (His emotion overcomes him, and he stops suddenly, gets up, and walks away from CLARA. She gets up, as he comes back to her.) Excuse me! I had no intention of making a scene. But it made me think of—. (Breaks of again overcome by emotion, and moves a little way from her. There is a pause as he collects himself before returning to her.) As you can hear, Miss Ernst, it is nothing much of a poem—not written by a real poet, that is to say; a real poet would have exalted his theme, but this is a commonplace— Clara. Has your Majesty anything more to say to me? (A pause.) The King. If I have anything more to say to any one, it is to you. Clara. I beg your pardon. The King. No, it is I should beg yours. But I am sure you do not wish me to lie to you. Clara (turning her head away). No. The King. You have no confidence in me. (Control, his emotion.) Will you ever, I wonder, come to under stand that the only thing I crave for now is—one person's confidence! Clara. Any one who speaks as your Majesty has done to-day surely craves for more than that. The King. More than that, yes; but, first of all, one person's confidence. Clara (turning away). I don't understand— The King (interrupting her, with emotion). Your life has not been as empty and artificial as mine. Clara. But surely you have your task here to fill it with? The King. I remember reading once about the way a rock was undermined, and the mine filled with gunpowder with an electric wire leading to it. Just a slight pressure on a little button and the great rock was shattered into a thousand pieces. And in the same way everything is ready here; but the little pressure—to cause the explosion—is what I am waiting for! Clara. The metaphor is a little forced. The King. And yet it came into my mind as unconsciously as you broke off that twig just now. If I do not get what I lack, nothing can be accomplished—there can be no explosion! I shall abandon the whole thing and let myself go under. Clara. Go under? The King. Well, not like the hero of a sensational novel—not straight to the bottom like a stone—but like a dreamer carried off by pixies in a wood, with one name ever upon my lips! And the world would have to look after itself. Clara. But that is sheer recklessness. The King. I know it is; but I am reckless. I stake everything upon one throw! (A pause.) Clara. Heaven send you may win. The King. At least I am daring enough to hope that I may—and there are moments when I almost feel certain of victory! Clara (embarrassed). It is a lovely morning— The King.—for the time of year; yes. And it is lovelier here than it is anywhere else! Clara. I cannot really understand a course of action which implies a want of all sense of responsibility— The King. Every one has their own point of view. A scheme of life, to satisfy me, must have its greatest happiness hidden away at its core; in my case that would be to have a house of my own—all to myself, like any other citizen—from which I should go away to my work, and come back to as to a safe refuge. That is the button on the electric wire, do you understand? It is the little pressure on it that I am waiting for. (A pause.) Clara. Have you read my father's book, Democratic Monarchy? The King. Yes. Clara. He wrote it when I was a child; and so I may say that I grew up amongst ideas like—like those I have heard from you to-day. All the friends that came to our house used to talk to me about it. The King. Then no doubt you heard the crown prince talked about, too! Clara. I think I heard his name oftener mentioned at home than any one's. I believe the book was written expressly for you. The King. I can feel that when I read it. If only I had been allowed to read it in those days! Do you remember how in it your father maintains, too, that all reform depends on the beating down of the hedge that surrounds royalty?—on a king's becoming, as he says, "wedded to his people" in the fullest sense of the word, not irregularly or surreptitiously? No king can share his people's thoughts if he lives apart from them in a great palace, married to a foreign princess. There is no national spirit behind a complicated court life of outlandish ceremonial. Clara (turning away her head). You should have heard how vehemently my father used to assert those ideas. The King. And yet he abandoned them. Clara. Became a republican, you mean? The King. Yes. Clara. He was so disappointed. (A pause.) The King. I sometimes wonder every one isn't a republican! It must come to that in the end; I can see that. If only royalties nowadays thought seriously enough about it to realise it! Clara. It is made so difficult for them by those who surround them. The King. Yes, you see, that is another reason why any such reform must begin at home. Do you think that a king, who went every day to his work from a home that was in every respect like that of one of his people, could fail in the long run? Clara. There are so many different kinds of homes. The King. I mean a home that holds love instead of subservience—comfort instead of ceremony-truth instead of flattery; a home where—ah, well, I need not teach a woman what a home means. Clara. We make them what they are. The King. Surely; but they are especially what women make them. (A pause.) Clara. The sun is quite strong now. The King. But it can scarcely pierce through the screen of leaves here. Clara. When the sun shines down like this and the leaves tremble— The King. The sunshine seems to tremble too. Clara. Yes, but it makes one feel as if everything were trembling—even deep down into our hearts! The King. That is true.—Yes, its homes are the most precious things a nation makes. Their national characteristics mean reverence for their past and possibilities for their future. Clara. I understand better now what you meant. The King. When I said I wanted to begin at the beginning? Clara. Yes. (A pause.) The King. I cannot do otherwise. My heart must be in my work. Clara (smiling). My father had his heart in his work, too. The King. Forgive me—but don't you think it was just the want of an object in his life that led your father to push his theories too far?—an object outside himself, I mean? Clara. Perhaps. If my mother had lived—. (Stops.) The King.—he might have taken it differently; don't you think so? Clara. I have sometimes thought so. (A pause.) The King. How still it is! Not a sound! Clara. Yes, there is the fountain. The King. That is true; but one ends by hardly hearing a continuous sound like that. Clara. There is a tremulousness in that too. (Looks round her.) The King. What are you looking for? Clara. It is time to look for the Baroness. The King. She is up on that slope. Shall I call her? Or—perhaps you would like to see a fine view? Clara. Yes. The King. Then let us go up to her together! (They go.) |