ALLMERS. I saw it, I saw it. Oh, how lovely you were, Rita!
RITA. There were rose-tinted shades over both the lamps. And we were
alone, we two--the only waking beings in the whole house. And there was
champagne on the table.
ALLMERS. I did not drink any of it.
RITA. [Looking bitterly at him.] No, that is true. [Laughs harshly.]
"There stood the champagne, but you tasted it not"--as the poet says.
[She rises from the armchair, goes with an air of weariness over to the
sofa, and seats herself, half reclining, upon it.]
ALLMERS. [Crosses the room and stands before her.] I was so taken up
with serious thoughts. I had made up my mind to talk to you of our
future, Rita--and first and foremost of Eyolf.