Duchess
[Turning to him with a faint curiosity.]
I suppose that afterwards my appearance will please you, even if my spirits are never particularly high.
Prince
I do not care about your spirits. I do not care about your soul. I love the pliant rippling motion of your pensive youth. I love your imperial beauty, for it throws open the last sealed chambers of my own fancy.
Duchess
Fancy—fancy—I have fancied so many things.
[The sound of an approaching flute is heard together with the creaking of a carriage.]
A strange sound, what can it be?
[During the ensuing speeches the creaking and the flute come nearer.]