This theme is used to create a common thread, separate the ariettas into three sections of equal length, and set mood throughout the scene, reflecting each character's outer "pokerface."

[6] Sally's arietta has a rounded binary form, with the first section characterized by a repetitive eighth note pattern on the words "I want to buy that hat of peacock feathers!"

[7] Sally's husband Bill, the lawyer, worries that his wife's "dummy" outburst is a double-entendre and that she may have discovered his affair with another woman named Cymbaline.

He continues his soliloquy with contemplating her whereabouts, jealously wondering who she may be with tonight ("Is it Christopher, Oliver, Mortimer, Manfred, Chuck, Tommy, or Dominic?

"[8] Bill's arietta is primarily constructed of scalar triplet figures, creating a romantic waltz that reflects his preoccupation with his mistress, Cymbaline.

Toward the closing of his monologue, Bill's forbidden physical desires are expressed by augmented and diminished intervals in his accompaniment on the words, "strangle in the dark!

[10] Geraldine wonders why Bill is so distracted, deciding that it is neither by his wife, whom she refers to as his "long discarded queen," nor herself, with whom he used to play footsie under the card table.

The countermelody adds to the sense of exoticism by creating a semi-tone motion with the pitches B and C. Smith concludes that the composition alludes to David's forbidden and suppressed sexual nature.