QUEEN. Don't you know that we may have to flee this very day, if the news should prove as bad as yesterday?
MOTHER-IN-LAW. I will not flee.
QUEEN. Everything has already been packed by order of the King, and our sloop lies at the foot of the southern hills, ready to hoist sail.
MOTHER-IN-LAW. I have nothing to pack, because I own nothing. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." That's what I used to learn. But you have sold your birthright for a crown which soon will no longer be yours.
QUEEN. Go on and punish me; it feels like a relief.
PRINCE ERIC appears on the terrace; his dress and appearance are orderly, and his mien subdued.
MOTHER-IN-LAW. Can you tell me what has come over Eric these last days? He looks quite submissive, and something new has come into his face that used to be so hard.
QUEEN. I don't know, but they say that he has changed his ways and cannot bear the company of Jorghen. I have heard whispers about a serious affection....
MOTHER-IN-LAW. No!
QUEEN. [To ERIC] What news do you bring?