[He looks at her for a moment, then he goes back to the table and sits down to write the letters. Their eyes meet slowly.]
Ronny.
It's good-bye, then?
Violet.
It's good-bye.
[She presses her hands to her heart as though the aching were unendurable. He buries his head in his hands.]
ACT II
The scene is the garden of the Consular Agent's residence. It is an Eastern garden with palm-trees, magnolias, and flowering bushes of azaleas. On one side is an old Arabic well-head decorated with verses from the Koran; a yellow rambler grows over the ironwork above. Rose-trees are in full bloom. On the other side are basket chairs and a table. At the bottom of the garden runs the Nile and on the farther bank are lines of palm-trees and the Eastern sky. It is towards evening and during the act the sun gradually sets.
The table is set out with tea-things. Anne is seated reading a book. The gardener in his blue gaberdine, with brown legs and the little round cap of the Egyptian workman, is watering the flowers. Christina comes in.