[Exeunt Vashti, Abagtha, etc.]
[Curtain is lowered to denote the passage of six years.]
Scene II
[Outer hall in palace. Throne room back concealed by curtain. Queen Esther, disguised by loose dress thrown over royal robe and head and face below the eyes hidden by mask, approaches the door where Mordecai, the Jew, is standing.]
Mordecai
Ah, Esther! Though your queenly robe you do
Conceal, I know that regal gait. Before
I ever looked upon these palace walls,
When you were yet a little child beyond
The purple peaks, where shepherds led their flocks
In pastures green, I often dreamed that you
Would one day wear a golden coronet
And sit in majesty upon a throne.
Esther
[Dejectedly.]
Four years I have been queen, which time I have
Not heard the voice of any one I love;
And though disguised, I hardly dare to speak
My heart even to you. This palace is
A gloomy prison cell. The Persian crown
Is meaningless to me. The hundred gems
That blaze upon its field of gold are dull
And heavy lead. I would exchange it all
For but a glint of sunshine on the hills
Where I was born. But why this interview?