I read you . . .

ASTRAEA:
Oh! no, no. It means dissection.
I never heard of reading character
That did not mean dissection. Spare me that.
I am wilful, violent, capricious, weak,
Wound in a web of my own spinning-wheel,
A star-gazer, a riband in the wind . . .

ARDEN:
A banner in the wind! and me you lead,
And shall! At least, I follow till I win.

ASTRAEA:
Forbear, I do beseech you.

ARDEN:
I have had
Your hand in mine.

ASTRAEA:
Once.

ARDEN:
Once!
Once! 'twas; once, was the heart alive,
Leaping to break the ice. Oh! once, was aye
That laughed at frosty May like spring's return.
Say you are terrorized: you dare not melt.