The Stranger. Certainly I have.
Ellida (seizing her head with both her hands). Oh! this misery—this horror! This horror!
The Stranger. Perhaps you don't want to come?
Ellida (bewildered). Don't look at me like that.
The Stranger. I was asking you if you didn't want to come.
Ellida. No, no, no! Never in all eternity! I will not, I tell you. I neither can nor will. (In lower tone.) I dare not.
The Stranger (climbs over the fence, and comes into the garden). Well, Ellida, let me tell you one thing before I go.
Ellida (wishes to fly, but cannot. She stands as one paralysed with terror, and leans for support against the trunk of a tree by the pond). Don't touch me! Don't come near me! No nearer! Don't touch me, I say!
The Stranger (cautiously coming a few steps nearer). You need not be so afraid of me, Ellida.
Ellida (covering her eyes with her hands). Don't look at me like that.