our selfishness, perhaps, is absolute, or our disinterested love?
Rinaldi. How long did you remain with Imperia?
Leonardo. A passing moment, that was all. The same breath which inspired my statue infused new life into Donina. She became my statue made woman, she was Imperia. Prince Florencio met her at my studio as I was finishing my work; she was still the poor, tattered Donina with her hunger-pinched face. You know the Prince. Well, one morning she said good-by. "Where are you going, my child?" I asked her. "To Suavia to be Empress," she replied. And I had not the heart to laugh at her; there was such conviction in her words, such burning faith in her eyes, it was impossible not to believe it. That woman might be Empress.
Rinaldi. Does she still cherish her dream?
Leonardo. I lost sight of her. Afterward, I heard that Prince Florencio had abused her, and she attempted to kill him; so she was banished from Suavia. Later, she fell in with Prince Michael in Paris, and during these last years she has been living with him. She has grown rich.
Rinaldi. Prince Michael is the richest of the Suavian princes.
Leonardo. He is prodigal as a monarch of other days.
Rinaldi. What empire like riches to dominate the world? Well, so this is the very practical reality into which the imperial dreams of your Imperia have been resolved? Was not the throne of your statue gilded until it shone like gold?
Leonardo. Yes, like gold—because the sun is gold, and the light is. It was the embodiment of light, of hope, of the ideal!
Imperia rises and moves over to speak with them.
Imperia. Countess! Leonardo! You did not see me?
Rinaldi. I beg your pardon, I am sorry…
Imperia. But you were talking about me.
