(HILDA enters, right.)
HILDA. It shall not be! Why did I let her go?
Harry will love her more than me, I know.
Gioconda!
GIOCONDA.Hilda!
HILDA.Somehow, after all,
I can't let Harry go beyond recall.
I think of his good heart: I know how proud
I'll be to watch him through a dusty cloud
When his new car, balanced upon one tire,
Rolls roistering through the lanes of Devonshire.
GIOCONDA. I too, fair friend, perceive with sudden terror
The greatness of my momentary error.
I mustn't let you risk the enterprise....
Pandolfo never could endure green eyes!
HILDA. Let us each make the best of her own age!
GIOCONDA. But sometimes you will write me—just a page?
HILDA. I will indeed. And you?
GIOCONDA.And so will I.
Hilda—farewell!
HILDA. Gioconda, dear—good-bye!