GUIDO I confess I wish to run no risk of being found here, by your respected father or by your ingenious cousins and uncles.
GRACIOSA (She turns, but remains standing upon the bench.) I think your Duke is much more dangerous looking than any of them. Heigho! I can quite foresee that I shall never fall in love with this Duke.
GUIDO
A prince has means to overcome all obstacles.
GRACIOSA
No. It is unbefitting and a little cowardly for Duke Alessandro to shirk
the duties of his station for verse-making and eternal pleasure-seeking.
Now if I were Duke—
GUIDO
What would you do?
GRACIOSA (Posturing a little as she stands upon the bench.) If I were duke? Oh … I would grant my father a pension … and I would have Eglamore hanged … and I would purchase a new gown of silvery green—
GUIDO
In which you would be very ravishingly beautiful.
His tone has become rather ardent, and he is now standing nearer to her than the size of the garden necessitates. So GRACIOSA demurely steps down from the bench, and sits at the far end.
GRACIOSA
And that is all I can think of. What would you do if you were duke,
Messer Guido?
GUIDO (Who is now sitting beside her at closer quarters than the length of the bench quite strictly demands.) I? What would I do if I were a great lord instead of a tradesman! (Softly.) I think you know the answer, madonna.