PAPHNUTIUS. I am your lover, Thais, flame of the world!
THAIS. Whoever loves me is well paid. He receives as much as he gives.
PAPHNUTIUS. Oh, Thais, Thais! If you knew what a long and troublesome journey I have come to speak to you—to see your face!
THAIS. Well? Have I refused to speak to you, or to show you my face?
PAPHNUTIUS. I cannot speak to you here. I must be with you alone. What I have to say is secret. The room must be secret too.
THAIS. How would you like a bedchamber, fragrant with perfumes, adorned as for a marriage? I have such a room. Look!
PAPHNUTIUS. Is there no room still more secret—a room that your lovers do not know? Some room where you and I might hide from all the world?
THAIS. Yes, there is a room like that in this house. No one even knows that it exists except myself, and God.
PAPHNUTIUS. God! What God?
THAIS. The true God.