Alexandra—Then what?
Agi—Then I should be kissing you still.
Alexandra—[Resentfully.] I see it was all a stupid mistake on my part.
Agi—It was too much, your highness . . . too much at a time. That is why it was unconvincing.
Alexandra—Unconvincing?
Agi—Yes. For we hadn't reached that stage . . . and yet . . . suddenly you had kissed me. . . . Afterwards . . . I went out into the garden . . . and wandered about . . . for a long time . . . not among the roses . . . but out under the oaks where the morning breeze was unscented and cool. . . . There . . . at daybreak . . . I grew calmer . . . and could weigh and consider. . . . And I felt like a beggar into whose hat someone had tossed a thousand crown note instead of a copper . . . and who must, in all honesty, run after the giver and offer it back.
Alexandra—I am glad to see that you know your place so well.
Agi—It is morning, your highness. The sun is shining.
Alexandra—And not the stars.
Agi—No, no; not the stars.
Alexandra—[Nervously.] I am very glad of it.
Agi—And I. Because you are glad.
