LADY. All the same—I'm not sure that you think it, though I feel you feel it—you wish me far away.
STRANGER. I must be a certain distance from you, if I'm to see you. Now you're within the focus, and your image is unclear.
LADY. The nearer, the farther off!
STRANGER. Yes. When we part, we long for one another; and when we meet again, we long to part.
LADY. Do you really think we love each other?
STRANGER. Yes. Not like ordinary people, but unusual ones. We resemble two drops of water, that fear to get close together, in case they should cease to be two and become one.
LADY. This time we knew the dangers and wanted to avoid them. But it seems that they can't be avoided.
STRANGER. Perhaps they weren't dangers, but rude necessities; laws inscribed in the councils of the immortals. (Silence.) Your love always seemed to have the effect of hate. When you made me happy, you envied the happiness you'd given me. And when you saw I was unhappy, you loved me.
LADY. Do you want me to leave you?
STRANGER. If you do, I shall die.