HADDA PADDA [silent, gets up, and walks up to the piano, leaning heavily against it].
INGOLF [takes out the ring, and puts it on the table].
HADDA PADDA [does not stir]. Ingolf, this is my last request. Don't make our separation harder than necessary. I cannot remain in your home when they all know it. Do me the favor of wearing the ring till I leave for home. You won't have to wait long. Will you promise me that?
INGOLF [holds the ring in his hand without answering].
HADDA PADDA. This is my last request.
INGOLF. I promise. [Puts the ring on his hand.]
HADDA PADDA [watches him as he puts it on].
ACT III
(Slope of a valley overgrown with brush and heather and flowers. Toward the rear on the left, a beautiful cataract rushes down from a great height between steep cliffs. On the right, a rock shuts out the bottom of the falls, and part of the river. In the background is a mountainous landscape. It is an exquisite summer evening and the sun is playing on the water in ever changing colours. The stage is empty. From beneath the falls a song is heard, even before the rise of the curtain.)
(A little before the song ends, Hadda Padda enters from the left, accompanied by the children. She wears a light summer dress with a chiffon scarf thrown over her shoulders. The children have come prepared to gather berries. One has a wooden box, one a coloured glass bottle half filled with berries, etc. They stop to listen until the song is finished.)