Eily is alone in the cottage, singing. Enter Anne Chute.

Anne: There she is.

Eily: (Sings till facing Anne—stops—they examine each other.)

Anne: My name is Anne Chute.

Eily: I am Eily O’Connor.

Anne: You are the Colleen Bawn—the pretty girl.

Eily: And you are the Colleen Ruaidh.

Anne: (Aside.) She is beautiful.

Eily: (Aside.) How lovely she is.

Anne: We are rivals.

Eily: I am sorry for it.

Anne: So am I, for I feel that I could have loved you.

Eily: That’s always the way of it; everybody wants to love me, but there’s something spoils them off.

Anne: (Showing letter.) Do you know that writing?

Eily: I do, ma’am, well, though I don’t know how you came by it.

Anne: I saw your signals last night—I saw his departure, and I have come here to convince myself of his falsehood to me. But now that