LUCIA
Would you really like me to kiss you?
HELIOGABALUS
[With a sigh] You say it just as you might say, "Will you have another plate of fish-soup?"
LUCIA
But would you?
HELIOGABALUS
[Meditatively] Well, I dare say it might make me forget my stomach-ache—if it was a real kiss. [With elaborate manner] Am I to understand that you have an itch in that direction?
LUCIA
[Taken aback] Itch?