these three years your heart has been given to another man. To another! Not to me,—but to another!
Ellida.
Oh, you utterly misunderstand me. I love no one but you.
Wangel.
[In a low tone.] How is it, then, that for all that time you have refused to live with me as my wife?
Ellida.
That is because of the dread the strange man has cast over me.
Wangel.
Dread?
Ellida.
Yes, dread. Such a dread, such a terror, as can arise only from the sea. For now I must tell you, Wangel
[The young townspeople come back from the left, bow, and go out to the right. With them come Arnholm, Boletta, Hilda, and Lyngstrand.
Boletta. [As they pass by.] What! Still up here?
Ellida.
Yes, it's so delightfully cool up here on the heights.
Arnholm. For our part, we are going down to have a dance.
Wangel. Very well. We will come too, in a little while.
