Joy and Laughter run in laughing, chase each other round the stage and pelt each other with flowers.

Laughter [flinging herself on the ground, breathless].
Ah, it is good to run and laugh again.
I am so weary of these somber days.

Joy.
And I of sitting silent in the house.
We used before to have such merry games,
Now Douce-cœur will not even smile.

Laughter [mysteriously].
She says that she will never laugh again.

Joy.
And when I called to her to come and play
At hide-and-seek down in the rose-garden,
She said her playing days were over now.

Laughter.
It seems so strange. Only a while ago
We played at ball across the laurel hedge,
And when the ball fell in the fountain-court
And rolled into the water, floating out
To where the lilies lay half closed in sleep,
'Twas she who went in barefoot, with her dress
Kilted above her knees, and laughed to feel
The flicking of the golden fishes' tails.
She said her pink toes looked like coral shells,
And splashed the water just to see it shine
Like diamonds in the sun upon my hair.
A while ago she was a child with us.

Joy [sighs].
Laughter, I like not living at the Court. [Starting.]
Someone is coming.

[They run and hide behind a seat. Song enters, humming to herself and twisting flowers into a garland. Joy and Laughter spring out upon her and catch hold of her hands one on each side.]