SECOND COURIER. We feared for her safety.

THE KING. Your fears were needless.

FIRST COURIER. They told us--

THE KING. Never mind what they told you. You have seen. And now leave us.

THE COURIERS. Yes, your majesty.

_They go, the Gypsy following_.

THE KING. And now, with apologies for the misunderstanding and delay, let me welcome you to my palace and my arms--my princess and my queen!

THE PRINCESS. You will not hold me to it!

THE KING. We cannot escape it.

THE PRINCESS. But I am no fit queen for you. You know what I am like.

You do not want me for a wife!

THE KING. It is not the things one wants, but the things that are necessary....

THE PRINCESS. I will never marry you.

THE KING. You shall marry me tomorrow.

THE PRINCESS. I cannot.

THE KING. The preparations are made for the wedding. Two kingdoms hang on the event.

THE PRINCESS. Let them hang!

THE KING. You, the daughter of my father's ancient foe, are to unite two kingdoms in fraternal amity. Do you understand? War and peace are in the balance.

THE PRINCESS. War?

THE KING. Or peace. It rests with you.

THE PRINCESS. I begin to understand. How strange to think of myself as a peace-offering--a gift from one kingdom to another! Is that what it means to be a Princess?

THE KING. That is what it means.

THE PRINCESS. I had rather be a Gypsy, and choose my lover as I wandered the roads!

THE KING. But you are a Princess, and your choosing is between peace and war. Do you choose war?

THE PRINCESS (_fiercely_) For myself, yes. I would gladly lead an army against you. I would destroy with the sword everything that your kingdom stands for. And you--I would kill with pleasure.

THE KING. You might kill _me_, but the things for which my kingdom stands you cannot kill. They are indestructible. They are older than the world, and will last longer.

THE PRINCESS. (_sadly_) Yes--there was order before the world began its tumult, and there will be quiet when the final night sets in. I am only a spark in the great darkness, a cry in the wide silence.

THE KING. Do you submit?

THE PRINCESS. I am not stronger than death. I submit. I would not have those truck drivers leaving their sweethearts to go to war on account of me. (_She goes up to the curtain, and touches it_.) How thin the prison-wall is! And yet it shuts me away from the sunlight.

THE KING (_gently_) I am a good king, and I shall be a good husband.

THE PRINCESS. It will be easy for you, perhaps. To me it will not come so easy to be a good wife.

THE KING. Put yourself in my hands, and I will teach you.

THE PRINCESS. I will try. (_She kneels at his feet_.) O King, I will be obedient to you in all things. I will obey your commands, and be as you wish me to be--a good wife and a good queen.

THE KING. (_taking her hand and raising her to his side_) For my sake!

THE PRINCESS. For the sake of the truck driver and his sweetheart.

THE KING. As you will.

THE PRINCESS. I ask one small wish--that you leave me now. I must think over my new condition and all that it means.

THE KING. I am happy to see you in so profitable a frame of mind. Let me remind you that the royal luncheon will be served promptly in half an hour.

THE PRINCESS. I shall be there--on time.

THE KING. Meanwhile I leave you to your thoughts.

_He goes_.

THE PRINCESS. How weak I am! (_She goes to the wide seat, and sits down, brooding. The Gypsy steals in, and crouches on the dais beside the wide seat_.) A good queen, and a good wife--?

THE GYPSY. (_softly_) Impossible.

THE PRINCESS (_startled_) Was it I said that?

_Night. The curtains are drawn aside. The walls and pillars are silhouetted against a moonlit sky.... The Gypsy is standing by the window, looking out_.

THE GYPSY. Ah, nameless and immortal G.o.ddess, whose home is in the moonbeams! I speak to you and praise you for perhaps the last time. O august and whimsical G.o.ddess, I am about to die for your sake--I, the last of your worshippers! When I have perished on your altar, the whole world will be sane. Your b.u.t.terflies will no longer whirl on crimson wings within the minds of men; only the maggots of reason will crawl and fester. You will look, and weep a foolish tear--for all this is not worth your grief--and take your flight to other constellations.

THE MAID. (_who has just entered and stands listening_) The constellations! Oh, do teach me astronomy!

THE GYPSY. Astronomy! Why do you want to be taught astronomy?

THE MAID. Because I want to be able to tell fortunes from the stars.

THE GYPSY. That is astrology, my dear--a much more useful science.