(SHAKUNTALA moves away.)

King.  Why should I not have my way? (He approaches and seizes her dress.)

Shakuntala.  Oh, sir!  Be a gentleman.  There are hermits wandering about.

King.  Do not fear your family, beautiful Shakuntala.  Father Kanva knows the holy law.  He will not regret it.

  For many a hermit maiden who
    By simple, voluntary rite
  Dispensed with priest and witness, yet
    Found favour in her father’s sight.

(He looks about.) Ah, I have come into the open air. (He leaves SHAKUNTALA and retraces his steps.) Shakuntala (takes a step, then turns with an eager gesture).

O King, I cannot do as you would have me.  You hardly know me after this short talk.  But oh, do not forget me.

King.

  When evening comes, the shadow of the tree
    Is cast far forward, yet does not depart;
  Even so, beloved, wheresoe’er you be,
    The thought of you can never leave my heart.

Shakuntala (takes a few steps.  To herself).  Oh, oh!  When I hear him speak so, my feet will not move away.  I will hide in this amaranth hedge and see how long his love lasts. (She hides and waits.)

King.  Oh, my beloved, my love for you is my whole life, yet you leave me and go away without a thought.

  Your body, soft as siris-flowers,
  Engages passion’s utmost powers;
  How comes it that your heart is hard
  As stalks that siris-blossoms guard?

Shakuntala.  When I hear this, I have no power to go.

King.  What have I to do here, where she is not? (He gazes on the ground.) Ah, I cannot go.

  The perfumed lotus-chain
    That once was worn by her
  Fetters and keeps my heart
    A hopeless prisoner. (He lifts it reverently.)

Shakuntala (looking at her arm).  Why, I was so weak and ill that when the lotus-bracelet fell off, I did not even notice it.

King (laying the lotus-bracelet on his heart).  Ah!

  Once, dear, on your sweet arm it lay,
  And on my heart shall ever stay;
  Though you disdain to give me joy,
  I find it in a lifeless toy.

Shakuntala.  I cannot hold back after that.  I will use the bracelet as an excuse for my coming. (She approaches.)

King (seeing her.  Joyfully).  The queen of my life!  As soon as I complained, fate proved kind to me.

  No sooner did the thirsty bird
    With parching throat complain,
  Than forming clouds in heaven stirred
    And sent the streaming rain.

Shakuntala (standing before the king).  When I was going away, sir, I remembered that this lotus-bracelet had fallen from my arm, and I have come back for it.  My heart seemed to tell me that you had taken it.  Please give it back, or you will betray me, and yourself too, to the hermits.