Page:Fashions for Men And The Swan Two Plays (NY 1922).pdf/255

 —I should like to meet your sister.

—She is in Dresden, your highness.

—Do you love her very much?

—Very much, your highness.

—A stupid question to ask, wasn't it?

—[Uneasily.] Yes, my child, it was.

—No, your highness, it was a clever question because it is a pleasure to answer it. I love my sister with all my heart. In my darkest hours I think of her. For she has the indomitable faith that I cannot be crushed, that I am a world unto myself.

—[Somewhat ironically.] A whole world?

—Yes, your highness.

—How beautiful.

—Isn't that a great deal?

—[Courageously.] No, your highness. As an astronomer one learns that the tiniest speck is not to be despised. [With significance.] Those little specks in the sky every single one is a great world.

—Every one?

—[More bravely.] Every one!

—[A bit sharply.] Perhaps they only think so, these little specks.

—[Still more bravely, though not loudly.] Oh, I know it is difficult for the great lords to realize. They say: "Ten million inhabitants make an army of two millions." Yet it is true that,