(Nefertiti and Sethos enter and pause.)
Nefertiti
Now leave me, Sethos. And go swiftly. (With gesture of pushing him off.) I must be alone. You follow me as wind follows a bird.
Sethos
Yet never touch you as wind does the bird. And when you dance your feet dance on my heart. No other dancing-girl compares with you.
Nefertiti
Last moon Pharaoh himself told me that. I know it. But now leave me. I am here to worship.
Sethos
(Supplicating.) May I not stay a moment—at least, until Menophis——?