Scene II

[Outer hall in palace. Throne room back concealed by curtain. Queen Esther, disguised by loose dress thrown over royal robe and head and face below the eyes hidden by mask, approaches the door where Mordecai, the Jew, is standing.]

Mordecai

Ah, Esther! Though your queenly robe you do

Conceal, I know that regal gait. Before

I ever looked upon these palace walls,

When you were yet a little child beyond

The purple peaks, where shepherds led their flocks

In pastures green, I often dreamed that you

Would one day wear a golden coronet

And sit in majesty upon a throne.

Esther

[Dejectedly.]

Four years I have been queen, which time I have

Not heard the voice of any one I love;

And though disguised, I hardly dare to speak

My heart even to you. This palace is

A gloomy prison cell. The Persian crown

[12]

Is meaningless to me. The hundred gems

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