QUEX. [_Negatively_.] Duchess-- DUCHESS. To end as we began! you have not the heart to refuse? QUEX. I-- DUCHESS. You do refuse? QUEX. I do. [_She passes him, and again sinks upon the bench._ DUCHESS. [_Her back towards him, her shoulders heaving._] Oh! oh! QUEX. I--I am profoundly sorry to be obliged to speak to you in this fashion. DUCHESS. Oh, then I cannot go on Friday! QUEX. Not! DUCHESS. No! no! no! QUEX. Believe me, it would be better for you, for me, for everybody-- DUCHESS. I cannot! [_Producing a diminutive lace handkerchief._] In the first shock of the news of your engagement--for it was a shock--one thought consoled me; throughout the time that has elapsed since then I have fed upon this same thought--there will be a parting in keeping with our great attachment! And now, you would rob me even of that! QUEX. But--but--but--a solemn, deliberate leave-taking! the ceremony, of all others, to be carefully avoided! DUCHESS. Not by me, Harry--not by me. I wish to carry, in my breast, from this house the numb despair of a piteous climax. I cannot drive away smugly from these gates with the simple feelings of a woman who has been paying a mere visit--I cannot! QUEX. My dear Sidonia--! DUCHESS. [_Decidedly._] I say I cannot! QUEX. [_To himself, with a little groan._] Oh! phew! [_He walks to and fro impatiently, reflecting._ SOPHY, _without her hat, comes quickly down the steps as if making for the table. Seeing_ QUEX _and the_ DUCHESS, _she draws back, inquisitively._ QUEX. [_By the_ DUCHESS'S _side again, helplessly._] Well, I--ha!--I-- DUCHESS. [_Rising eagerly, laying a hand upon his arm._] You _will_? [SOPHY _stoops down behind the dwarf cypress-hedge._ QUEX. You are certain--certain that this would effectually remove the obstacle to your rejoining--[_with a wave of the hand_] on Friday? DUCHESS. Why, do you think I would risk an anticlimax? [_In an intense whisper._] To-night! [_Louder._] To-night? [_He hesitates a little longer--then bows in assent, stiffly and coldly. She gives an ardent sigh._] Ah--! [_He retreats a step or two. She draws herself up with dignity._] To-night then-- [_She turns from him and glides away through the trees. He stands for a moment, a frown upon his face, in thought._ QUEX. [_Suddenly, moving in the direction she has taken._] No, no! Duchess--! [_A gong sounds in the distance, he pauses, looking at his watch, angrily._] Ptshah! [_He turns up the stage and discovers_ SOPHY, _who is now standing behind the hedge._] Hallo! [SOPHY _advances, laughing rather foolishly._] What are you doing here? SOPHY. Looking for my rings. I took them off before I began manicuring you. QUEX. [_Pointing to the hedge._] You didn't drop them there, did you? SOPHY. No, I left them on the table. QUEX. [_Looking towards the table._] _There's_ the table. SOPHY. [_Coming to the table and putting on her rings_.] Yes, I know. QUEX.