Oh nevermore! Do not ask me ever to leave you! It is impossible that the future should be as bad as the past!
THE KING.
Not for you. I believe that gladly.
ALMA.
Melancholy has mastered you in this gloom. Your proud heart is almost ready to break. Nothing can be read in your face of the quiet peace you pretend to feel.
THE KING.
I have not seen my face for a year, but I can imagine how ugly it has grown. How my looks must wound your feelings!
ALMA.
Oh, do not talk like that, father!
THE KING.