Must we go in?
FOUNT
Not yet. The Empress is going to the Temple of her Ancestors. That will give us a little time.
EMPEROR
The Empress!——In a few moments I shall see Her! The beautiful vision I have dreamed of is to be destroyed by the actuality——Ah! this woman, who must have the uttermost horror for me, can have no idea that for months past she has filled all my thoughts, has haunted my solitary hours. If She only knew that the phantom Emperor, isolated in his palace at Peking, wrote poems in her honour night after night!——
FOUNT
She is said to be beautiful and charming, but that is perhaps only a courtier's tale.
EMPEROR
If She is not, then my sacrifice will be only the more meritorious.
FOUNT