ABLAMORE.
Come hither, Astolaine. It is not so that you were wont to speak in the old days to your father. You wait there, on the threshold of a door hardly ajar, as if you were ready to flee; and with your hand upon the key, as if you would close from me forever the secret of your heart. You know quite well I have not understood what you have just said, and that words have no sense when souls are not within reach of each other. Draw nearer still, and speak no more to me, [ASTOLAINE approaches slowly.] There is a moment when souls touch each other, and know all without need that one should move the lips. Draw nearer…. They do not reach each other yet, and their radiance is so slight about us!… [ASTOLAINE stops.] Thou darest not?—Thou knowest too how far one can go?—It is I who must…. [He approaches Astolaine with slow step, then stops and looks long at her.] I see thee, Astolaine….