"Ahem! The Princess is lost in the wood, and she hears the sound of a horn.

(This would all be very pretty on the stage, but I can't get the effect here.) Anyhow, Sylvano enters, accompanied by the rest of the gentlemen of Gratian's court.

I begin where he soliloquizes." He jerked his head and began to read.
Although Katharine had just disclaimed any knowledge of literature, she listened attentively.

At least, she listened to the first twenty-five lines attentively, and then she frowned.

Her attention was only aroused again when Rodney raised his finger--a sign, she knew, that the meter was about to change.
His theory was that every mood has its meter.