Page:Fashions for Men And The Swan Two Plays (NY 1922).pdf/311

 —You must have known.

—That you would forget?

—I must forget, and your highness must deny it and  he must not remember it.

—He shall remember it, and I don't deny it. But I see that what I gave you was too precious. More precious than you deserve. Perhaps a kingdom.

—That is not so precious. I know of one that was offered in exchange for a horse.

—You even insult me! You speak like a sullen child.

—No, your highness what I am saying, what I am doing, my departure to-day these are my answer to your highness' kiss.

—I hadn't expected you to utter that word.

—Uttering it doesn't hurt. The kiss itself was much more painful.

—[Cuttingly.] More painful for you than for me?

—Oh, yes. It made me feel your profound pity for me, and also your utter contempt. It was a supercilious thing to do. It implied that I was not a human being at all that I could be treated  like a child or a pet animal.

—Is that the way you took it?

—If I hadn't taken it like that