"Oh, my." "Is Mr. HeImer in?" "Yes, madam." "Good." "Is that my little skylark?" "It is." "It's so cold out, you have no idea." "terribly cold." "Are the children at home?" "No, madam, they've gone for a walk." "Good." "And when did my squirrel get home?" "Just this minute." "I've been buying all sorts of lovely things." "You mean you've been frittering away all my money?" "TorvaId, surely this year we can let ourselves go a little." "The first Christmas we haven't had to pinch and scrape." "But that's no reason to go throwing our money around." "We can throw a bit around, can't we, just a little bit?" "Soon you'II be making an enormous salary and we'II have lots of money." "Not until the New Year." "But that doesn't matter." "We can always borrow some." "Nora." "You mustn't be so thoughtless." "Now, suppose I were to borrow 1000 kroner today... and you were to fritter it away over Christmas... and then, suppose, on New Year's Eve... a tile were to fall off the roof, Iand on my head and kill me" "You mustn't say awful things like that." "Where would you be then?" "If anything so horrible happened, it wouldn't matter if I had debts or not." "What about the people we borrowed from?" "Who cares about them?" "They're strangers." "That's so typical of a woman." "AII right, TorvaId." "Now that can't be my little lark, with her wings all drooping, can it?" "No." "Is it a little sulky squirrel?" "Money." "I know you need all sorts of things in the house over Christmas." "Ten." "Twenty." "Thirty." "Forty." "Thank you." "That will go a Iong way." "I certainly hope so." "It will." "Come and see what I've done." "AII right." "I got up really early to work on it." "Aren't you clever." "It's lovely." "I've got everything for the children now." "Everything was very cheap." "I bought a cradle for Emmy." "It's very ordinary, but she always breaks everything so quickly." "Bought a new suit for Ivar, the toy sword... and a rattle for Bobby." "What else?" "You're not to see that until this evening." "I see." "tell me, what would you want for Christmas?" "Me?" "Nothing." "I don't want anything, really." "Think of something you'd really like." "Something sensible." "really, I don't want anything." "Except...." "Yes?" "If you really wanted to give me something, you could always...." "I mean, you could...." "Come on, out" "You could give me money." "Just what you could afford, no more, then I couId buy myself something later." "please do." "I couId wrap it in lovely gold paper and hang it on the tree." "WouIdn't it be fun?" "What do I call those little birds who squander all their money away?" "Spend-swifts, I know." "If we do what I suggest, then I can buy myself what I really want." "Doesn't that sound reasonable?" "It sounds reasonable." "But I know and you know that you'II simply spend it on housekeeping... and all sorts of useless things." "Not fair." "How can you say that?" "I save as much as I can." "Of course, as much as you can." "But as much as you can comes to nothing." "Are you quite sure... you didn't get up to anything in town today?" "No, whatever do you mean?" "You didn't, for instance, find yourself visiting the confectioner's?" "No, really, I promise you." "Not even a little bag of macaroons?" "No, really, nothing." "You know I wouldn't do anything you disapproved of." "Of course not, but anyway, you did promise, didn't you?" "Isn't it marvelous to know that... one has a really good, solid, secure position at last." "With such a comfortable income." "It's a delightful thought, isn't it?" "It's wonderful." "You see to it, dear." "I must get on." "Excuse me, madam, there's a gentleman here to see Mr. HeImer." "Who is it?" "Good morning, Mrs. HeImer." "What are you doing here?" "What do you want?" "It's to do with the bank." "I don't know if you know, I have a minor post at the Joint Stock Bank." "I understand your husband is to be our new manager." "So it's just...." "It's just routine business, that's all." "Then would you be so good as to use the business entrance." "helen, show Mr. Krogstad into the office, please." "Yes, madam." "Good morning, madam." "You'II profit greatly from the new position." "I thought, as we're going to be coIIeagues" "Sit down." "You don't recognize me, do you, Nora?" "I don't think I do." "Kristine." "Is it really you?" "How lovely to see you." "Come in." "Fancy my not recognizing you." "But how could I?" "You've changed a Iot." "I must have." "Nine, ten years is a Iong time." "So long ago as that?" "Yes." "It must be." "I've been so happy these last eight years, you know." "So tell me, have you just arrived in town?" "This morning, on the boat." "How lovely." "We'II all have a much happier Christmas now." "You're freezing." "Come over here and sit down by the fire." "Poor Kristine." "You're a widow now, aren't you?" "I have been, for three years." "I know." "Saw it in the paper." "You must believe me, I kept meaning to write to you... but I always put it off to do something else." "That's all right, Nora, I understand." "It's terrible of me." "What you must have gone through." "Did he leave you anything to live on?" "No." "No children?" "No." "Nothing at all?" "Not even grief." "Not even a lingering regret." "But how can that be?" "It's the way things are, sometimes." "Is it true, then?" "You didn't love your husband?" "Why did you marry him?" "My mother was still alive then." "She was bedridden and helpless... and I had two younger brothers to look after." "I didn't think it wouId be right to turn down his offer." "I can understand that." "Was he quite rich?" "He was very well off." "But his business was quite precarious." "When he died, it collapsed, and there was nothing left." "Then what?" "Then I just had to struggle through." "First, by opening a little shop, and then a school." "And whatever else I couId think of." "These last three years have been like one long, non-stop workday." "Now it's over." "My mother died, and the boys have gone into business." "They don't need me anymore." "They can look after themselves." "You must feel very relieved, then." "No, just hopelessly futile." "No one to live for, anymore." "That's why I couldn't stand it, stuck in that out-of-the-way hole." "It's bound to be easy to find something here to occupy my mind." "If I couId only be lucky enough to get something permanent." "Some kind of office job." "Perhaps we might be able to help you." "You, Nora?" "How?" "Haven't you heard about our great stroke of luck?" "What's that?" "Just think, my husband's been made manager of the Joint Stock Bank." "Why, that's marvelous." "He starts there in the New Year." "I see." "Do you think" "Leave it to me." "I'd love to be able to help you." "Thank goodness." "From now on, we'II be able to live quite differently, just as we like." "I feel so bright and happy." "It's so wonderful to have lots of money... and not have to worry about anything, isn't it?" "It must be lovely to have enough for the essentials." "Not just enough for the essentials, but lots and lots of money" "You still haven't learned to be sensible, have you?" "Even when we were at school, you liked spending money." "That's what TorvaId always says." "Three of the most beautiful children." "Bobby's on" "Excuse me." "Who was that?" "Works at the bank." "Mr. Krogstad." "So it was him." "You know him?" "I used to, years ago." "Used to work in a solicitor's office in our town." "That's right." "He's changed." "Had a rather unhappy marriage." "Widower, isn't he?" "Yes." "Good morning." "I came around to collect HeImer." "Don't let me interrupt you." "You're not interrupting us, come in." "Dr. Rank, this is Mrs. Linde, a very old friend." "How do you do?" "Kristine arrived this morning, on the boat." "You here for long?" "I'm not sure." "It depends." "I felt I needed a change." "I've not been very well lately." "really?" "What's been the matter?" "Nothing much, just overwork, I think." "So you've come up for a round of restful parties, have you?" "I've come up to look for a job." "Of course." "That's an infallible cure for overwork." "One has to live, doctor." "That seems to be the general opinion." "Come now, you know you want to live as much as anyone else." "You're right." "However miserable I am, I want the pain to drag on as long as possible." "AII my patients are the same." "would you excuse me if I sat down?" "Of course." "What was that man, Krogstad, doing here?" "I passed him on the way in." "I don't know." "Wanted to see TorvaId." "I gather he has some sort of job at the bank." "Yes." "I can't understand why people like that so often end up in a good position... while so many honest and healthy men are just left out in the cold." "I suppose it's the sick that most need looking after." "Yes." "That's the sort of attitude that turns society into a hospital." "would you Iike a macaroon?" "Macaroons, is it?" "I thought they were forbidden in this house." "These were given me by Kristine." "Me?" "I" "That's right." "You weren't to know that TorvaId had outlawed them." "You see, the thing is, he's afraid they'II rot my teeth." "But one doesn't do any harm, just one once in a while, would it, doctor?" "There's one for you." "One for you, Kristine." "And I'II have one, too, just a teeny one." "Maybe two, at the most." "I feel terribly happy." "There's only one thing in the world I long to do." "What's that?" "Something I long to say in front of TorvaId." "Go on." "What's stopping you?" "I can't." "It's so horrible." "horrible?" "But you can say it to us." "I really long to say:" ""hell and damnation."" "Oh, you're mad." "Say it." "This is Kristine." "She's just arrived in town." "Kristine Linde." "I see." "You must be a school friend of my wife's." "We used to know each other long ago." "She's come just to talk to you." "I don't understand." "It's not quite true" "You see, Kristine is very clever at office work." "But what she really longs to do is to work for someone very experienced... so she can learn even more about it." "It sounds very sensible, Mrs. Linde." "When she heard you've been made bank manager... someone sent her a telegram about it." "She traveled all this way just to talk to you, and...." "Don't you think you can do something for her?" "For my sake?" "It's not impossible." "I assume you're a widow?" "Yes." "And you've had some business experience?" "Quite a Iot." "It's very likely I shall be able to find you a place." "There you are, you see." "You must excuse me." "Are you leaving as well?" "I must go and find a room." "Perhaps you'd Iike to come down with us?" "Into the kitchen and get your cocoa... and then I'II take your coats." "Mommy." "children." "You're not going to the drawing room until it's ready." "Anne-Marie, don't let them go in." "No, don't worry." "Did you have a nice walk?" "We had a fine time out there." "Mommy, Ivar threw a snowball at me from right close up, and he hurt me." "You're freezing." "Go into the kitchen and have some cocoa, then perhaps we'II play a game." "You will come around and see me this afternoon, won't you?" "I will." "What a lovely baby." "Don't keep him in this draft." "Come along, Mrs. Linde." "I'II try not to be too long." "Good-bye." "Say good-bye to Daddy." "Good-bye." "That's a good boy." "Mommy, can I please play hide-and-seek?" "Promise not to go into the drawing room." "We promise." "AII right." "You've got to go and hide." "What about you, Ivar?" "No, Mommy, you go." "AII right." "Count up to 10, and no cheating, mind." "1-2-3-4-5-6... 7-8-9-10." "We're coming." "I wonder if she's in the nursery." "She isn't." "Not there." "What is it?" "What do you want?" "Excuse me, I didn't mean" "My husband is out." "I know it." "It's you I wish to speak to." "Mommy, I can see you." "Go in with Anne-Marie, now" "We want to pIay" "We'II have a game in a minute, when this man is gone." "You'd better come in here." "It's not the first of the month, yet." "I know, it's Christmas Eve." "And if you want it to be a pleasant Christmas...." "It's up to you." "I can't possibly get hold of any money today." "There's no need to worry about that, at the moment." "It's something else." "What?" "I've seen your husband walking down the street with a lady." "What of it?" "Might I be so bold as to ask whether that lady's a certain Mrs. Linde?" "It is." "Is she a close friend of yours?" "She is, but" "I used to know her as well." "She told you about that, did she?" "I thought as much." "will you give me a straight answer to this?" "Has Mrs. Linde been offered a job at the bank?" "I don't know how you have the face to ask me a question like that." "You are one of my husband's employees, after all." "However, since you ask, I will tell you." "Mrs. Linde has been given a job here, on my recommendation." "Now you know." "I see." "I do have some sort of influence here, you know." "Mrs. HeImer, would you be so kind... as to use your influence on my behalf?" "What do you mean?" "I wonder if you would be kind enough to make sure that I keep... my subordinate position at the bank." "I don't understand." "No use pretending you don't know." "I know who's hounded me out." "I assure you" "Never mind." "There's still time to stop it." "I advise you to use your influence to do something about it." "I have no infIuence" "You just said" "Listen to me." "I am prepared to fight for my little job at the bank... as if I were fighting for my Iife." "It's not just the money, you know, it's something else." "I'II explain it to you, shall I?" "tell you about it." "I expect you know, Iike everybody else... that some time ago I made a mistake." "I have heard something of it." "I was never brought to trial for it." "But from then on, all roads were blocked to me." "You know what business I went into then." "I had to do something." "I don't think I've been as bad as others." "Now I want to put all that behind me." "My sons are growing up... and I have to get as much public respectability as I can, for their sakes." "For me, that job at the bank... was my first step on the ladder." "Now your husband wants to kick me off again, into the mud." "God's sake." "It's really not within my power to help you." "You only say that because you don't want to help me." "But I have the means to force you." "You're not going to tell my husband I owe you money?" "Suppose I do?" "That would be a terrible thing to do... and put me in the most unpleasant position." "unpleasant?" "AII right, do it and see what happens." "My husband will pay whatever's outstanding, and you will lose your job." "Either you have a very poor memory, or haven't much of a clue about business." "I'II have to give you a course of instruction." "What do you mean?" "When your husband was ill, you came to me to borrow 4,800 kroner." "I had to." "My husband was dying." "only a rest down south could save him." "He kept refusing, saying he couldn't afford it." "I couldn't tell him how ill he was." "Be that as it may, I promised to raise the money for you on certain conditions." "But you were so preoccupied, you didn't pay attention to the contract's technicalities." "That's why I feel it wouId not be inappropriate to remind you of them." "I promised to raise the money for you in exchange for an IOU, which I drew up." "And which I signed." "I added another clause at the bottom, that your father would act as Ioan guarantor... and which needed his signature." "He did sign it." "The date was left blank, so that your father... could fill it in when he signed it." "Do you remember?" "I think so, yes." "I gave you the contract to post... and five or six days later, you brought it in to me with his signature... whereupon I handed over the money." "What of it?" "I've kept my payments regular, haven't I?" "More or less." "That must have been a very difficult time for you... because I believe your father was very ill, too." "He was dying." "He did die, shortly afterwards?" "Yes." "Do you, by any chance, remember the day your father died?" "The date." "Father died on September 29." "That's right, I've made inquiries." "This is where we come to the unusual feature of the case... which I must say I am at a loss to explain." "unusual feature?" "I don't think I quite follow." "The unusual feature of the case... is that your father signed this contract three days after he died." "Your father died on September 29." "Here, he's dated the signature October 2." "Now, that is difficult to explain, isn't it?" "little unusual, wouldn't you say?" "I'm sure there is an explanation." "Perhaps your father forgot to date his signature... or someone else added a date at random, not knowing about his death." "Nothing wrong with that." "But what is of vital importance is the signature itself." "I suppose it is genuine, is it?" "Your father really did sign here, did he?" "He didn't." "I did." "You realize that's a very dangerous confession." "What of it?" "You'II get your money soon enough." "Why didn't you send it to your father?" "I couldn't do that." "tell him I needed money to save my husband's life, when he was so ill himself?" "You would have done better to cancel your trip." "cancel it?" "I couldn't possibly cancel it." "But you were cheating me, or did that never occur to you?" "I couldn't afford to worry about those things." "You've obviously no clear idea of what you're guilty of." "I can assure you, what I did was no more and no worse than that." "It totally destroyed my position in society." "What you did?" "You're telling me you took risks to save your wife's life?" "The law's not interested in motives." "Then the Iaw is useless." "useless or not... if I were to present this contract to a court... you would be condemned by the Iaw." "I don't believe it." "You mean, a daughter isn't allowed to spare her dying father." "A wife isn't allowed to save her husband's life." "I don't know much about the Iaw." "But I'm sure there must be provisions made somewhere, for that kind of situation." "And if you don't know about that... all I can say is, you must be a pretty useless lawyer." "useless or not... when it comes to business... the sort of business we're engaged in... believe me, I know what I'm talking about." "That's all." "Now you can do what you Iike." "But I'm warning you..." "If I'm kicked out again... you're coming with me." "Are you ready?" "almost." "I've only got to light the candles, now." "Good." "The children are getting very impatient." "tell me... have you decided what to wear to the Stenborgs' fancy-dress ball?" "Not yet." "It's the day after tomorrow, you know?" "I know." "But I can't think of anything good." "CouIdn't you take charge of me?" "tell me what I should be, and what sort of costume I should wear." "A stubborn little girl like you, appealing for the savior." "You know very well I can't manage without you." "AII right." "I'II think about it, see what we come up with." "I didn't mean to bother you when you were so busy." "I'm not so busy now." "I've done most of the sorting out I wanted to do... staff changes and whatnot." "What did Krogstad want to see you about this morning?" "He told me he'd been hearing rumors that I intended to get rid of him." "And I told him that the rumors he'd been hearing were perfectIy correct." "tell me, was it so terrible?" "Whatever it was that Krogstad did wrong?" "Yes, forgery." "I wouldn't mind if he'd confessed his crime and taken his punishment... but that wasn't Krogstad's way." "He wriggled out of it, somehow or other." "The man's a moral cripple." "Just makes me angry to think of him getting away with it, all these years." "Contaminating his home, poisoning his children with lies and deceit." "Don't." "I can't reach." "Here." "There." "Are you ready?" "Good." "I almost forgot." "Here's something for you to wrap in gold paper... and hang on the Christmas tree." "Ready?" "I'II fetch the children." "Anne-Marie." "I found the box with the fancy-dress costumes." "Good." "Put it there, on the sofa." "They're in an awful muddle." "Wish I couId tear them up into a hundred thousand pieces." "There's no need to do that." "They only need a little sorting out." "That's just a job for somebody who wants a little patience." "I'm going to ask Mrs. Linde over to help me." "You're going out again?" "This weather?" "You'II catch cold, madam, you will." "It wouldn't be the end of the world." "How are the children?" "Poor little things, they're playing with their Christmas presents." "Do they ask about me much?" "They're so used to playing with their mommy." "From now on, I'm not going to be able to spend quite so much time with them." "little children soon get used to everything." "Do you think they'd forget their mommy if she went away forever?" "Went away forever?" "What do you mean?" "I've wanted to ask you this for a Iong time." "How could you bear to give your child away to strangers?" "But I had to." "I was going to be little Nora's nanny." "But surely, you didn't want to." "Where else could I have found such a good place?" "A poor girl's got herself into trouble, she has to make the best of things." "That good-for-nothing man wasn't going to do anything for me." "Your daughter must have forgotten you by now." "She hasn't." "She wrote to me when she was confirmed, and after that when she got married." "Dear old Anne-Marie." "You were a good mama to me when I was little." "Poor little Nora." "I was the only mother she ever had." "And if my children had no one..." "I know you...." "talking nonsense, aren't I?" "Go in and look after them." "Tomorrow you'II see how lovely I shall be." "Yes, I'm sure." "There'II be no one at the ball... as lovely as my Nora." "You've never told your husband about it?" "God, no." "That was the whole point." "To do it without him finding out." "He's got such strict views about that kind of thing." "It would be a terrible blow to TorvaId's masculine seIf-esteem." "He'd find it so painful and humiliating to think he owed me anything." "It'd completely unbaIance our relationship, be the end of our beautiful, happy home." "But didn't he ever ask where the money had come from?" "He did." "I told him it was a present from Daddy." "He never found out the truth?" "No, because it was about then that Father died." "I think it was very rash of you to go behind your husband's back like that." "I hope it's going to be all right." "It's been very badly ripped." "It's just the trimming come a bit loose, that's all." "I'II soon have it fixed." "TorvaId insisted I wore my NeapoIitan costume." "He wanted me to dance the tarantella." "I Iearned it when I was in Capri." "I see you're going to give them the full performance, are you?" "That's what TorvaId would Iike." "When you've paid your debts off, you get your IOU back, don't you?" "I'II tear it up and burn it, filthy, disgusting bit of paper." "You haven't told me everything, have you?" "You're hiding something from me." "What do you mean?" "Who lent you the money?" "Don't ask me that." "I can't tell you that." "Are you very busy?" "I am." "Why?" "I didn't mean to bother you, I just wanted to talk about something." "What?" "Suppose your little squirrel were to ask you ever so nicely... for a great, big, enormous favor." "would you say yes?" "It depends." "She'd jump up and down and do lots of tricks, if you were nice and gave in." "Come on, out with it." "Let Krogstad stay on at the bank." "What?" "please." "What is all this?" "What does it matter to you what happens?" "Has he been getting at you?" "Did he come and talk to you yesterday, to put in a good word for him?" "I suppose he asked you not to tell me he'd been here?" "Yes." "But" "It's not the sort of thing I expect from you, at all." "Anyway, I've given his position already to Mrs. Linde." "CouIdn't you just get rid of someone else, instead of" "really, you are incredibly stubborn." "You expect me to...." "Just because...." "It's not that." "You see, that man writes... for the most appalling papers, there's no knowing what harm he might do." "I see." "I suppose you're thinking of your father?" "I am." "My dear child, there is a considerable difference between your father and me." "As a civil servant, your father was by no means irreproachabIe, but I am." "But if people are really wicked, there's no knowing what they might do." "Listen." "people at the bank already know I've dismissed Krogstad." "Now, suppose rumors get round that the new manager... had let his mind be changed for him by his wife." "What if they did?" "Of course, that's nothing, as long as a certain, stubborn little lady... has her own way." "I'd only become the laughingstock of the entire staff." "There's one thing that makes it quite impossible... for Krogstad to remain at the bank while I'm manager." "What's that?" "I suppose I might be able to, if necessary, overlook his moral Iimitations" "Yes, I'm sure" "But...." "I understand he is quite efficient." "But the thing is... we were students together, and he takes advantage of the situation." "I mean, he calls me by my Christian name." "It's very tactless of him, but he always does it... even when other people are there." "In fact, he seems to think he's entitled to be as familiar as he likes... and he never misses a chance to come out with it." ""TorvaId" this and "TorvaId" that." "I don't mind telling you I find it intensely embarrassing." "He could make my position at the bank quite intolerable." "You can't honestly mean that." "Why not?" "Why can't I?" "It's so petty." "What do you mean, "petty"?" "Do you think I'm petty?" "I don't mean that at all." "Of course, if you say my behavior is petty, that must mean that I am petty as well." "I don't mean that." "We must see that this letter's delivered right away, mustn't we?" "What's that?" "It's Krogstad's dismissal." "Take it back." "please." "please don't send it, for my sake, for your sake... for the children's sake!" "please!" "You don't know what this could do to us." "Too late." "helen." "It is too late." "Don't let me disturb you." "You know very well I always have time for you." "Thank you." "I'II make the most of that, while I can." "What do you mean, "while you can"?" "What I say, does it sound frightening?" "It seems rather a strange thing to say." "Are you expecting something to happen?" "I've been expecting something to happen for some time, and it's about to." "I never thought it wouId be so soon." "You never thought it wouId be so soon?" "Whatever do you mean?" "I'm slipping downhill." "There's nothing I can do about it." "It's no good lying to myself." "I'm the sickest patient on my books." "In a month's time, I shall be lying, rotting, in the graveyard." "really, what a disgusting thing to say." "It's a fairly disgusting situation." "The worst thing about it is that before it's all over... it's going to get even more disgusting." "There's only one more test to be made... and when I finish that, I shall know exactly... when I shall start falling to pieces." "Now, there's something I want to tell you." "I know how sensitive HeImer is." "I know his aversion to anything ugly." "I don't want him to come and see me." "But, Dr. Rank" "I won't have him there, not under any circumstances." "I'II lock my door to him." "As soon as I'm quite sure of the worst..." "I'II send you a visiting card with a black cross on it... and then you'II know that decay and destruction... have set in." "You really are being quite ridiculous today." "I was so hoping you'd be in a good mood." "I am dying, after all." "I suppose the only thing one can do is to laugh at it all." "Poor, innocent spine... has got to pay for all my father's carefree army days." "He had a weakness for asparagus and pate de foie gras, isn't that right?" "And truffles." "That's right." "Wasn't it oysters, as well?" "Oysters, needless to say." "It's sad that those delicious things should attack the spine." "especially when the poor, innocent spine... whom they choose to attack has never had any benefit from them." "That's the saddest part of all." "Dear Dr. Rank, you're not to die and leave us." "You'II get over it easily enough." "Those who die are soon forgotten." "Do you think so?" "I don't think that's true." "people make new friendships" "What new friendships?" "You're well on the way to it, already." "What was that Mrs. Linde doing here yesterday?" "Don't tell me you're jealous of poor Kristine." "Of course I am." "She'II be my successor in this house." "Not so loud." "She's in my bedroom." "Here again today." "See what I mean?" "She's helping me mend my costume for the party upstairs." "Good heavens, you are being unreasonable, aren't you?" "Tomorrow... you'II see how beautifully I shall dance." "You must imagine I'm doing it just for you." "And for TorvaId, of course." "shall I show you something?" "What's that?" "There, look." "silk stockings?" "flesh colored." "Aren't they lovely?" "Of course it's too dark now, but tomorrow...." "You're only allowed to see the foot." "I suppose I can show you the rest of them." "You're looking very critical, don't you think they'II fit?" "I'm afraid I'm in no position to form a reliable opinion on the subject." "Shame on you." "That'II teach you." "What other treasures have you in store for me?" "I'm not going to show you anything else, not if you're going to be so naughty." "Sitting here, so close with you...." "I mean, I don't know...." "I can't imagine what would have happened to me if I'd never come to this house." "I know you always feel at home here." "Then to have to abandon it all." "What nonsense." "You're not abandoning anything." "Not to be able to leave behind any token of gratitude... only an empty place to be filled by the first person who comes along." "Suppose I were to ask you..." "For what?" "...for a great proof of your friendship." "Go on." "I mean a really enormous favor." "would you really make me so happy?" "Just for once." "You don't know what it is, yet." "Go on, tell me." "Don't you trust me?" "Of course I trust you." "You're my best and closest friend, you know that, so I will tell you." "It's something you must help me to prevent." "You know how deeply TorvaId loves me." "It's impossible to say how much." "He wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice his life for me." "I always swore to myself I'd tell you before I went away." "What better opportunity than this... and you'II know that more than anyone else in the world, you can safely confide in me." "That was a really terrible thing to do." "To have loved you as much as anyone else?" "Is that so terrible?" "No, but to have told me." "That was quite unnecessary." "Why?" "Did you already know?" "Did you?" "How do I know whether I knew or not, I couldn't tell you." "How could you be so clumsy?" "Just when everything was going so well." "Anyway, probably won't need any help." "It's all a figment of my imagination." "I'm sure it is." "It's bound to be." "You really are a nice man." "Aren't you ashamed of yourself, now I've lit the lamp?" "No." "I'm not." "Perhaps I ought to go now, and not come back." "Sit down." "You must go on coming here just the same, as usual." "You know very well TorvaId can't manage without your company." "But what about you?" "I have always enjoyed your visits enormously." "I suppose that's what gave me a false impression." "I used to think that you liked being with me... as much as you liked being with helmer." "But don't you understand, there are people you love most... but there are other people you almost prefer being with." "I suppose there's something in that." "You see, when I lived at home, obviously I Ioved Daddy most... but I used to think it fun to creep off to the servants' quarters." "For one thing, they didn't preach at me." "And for another... the way they used to talk among themselves was so amusing." "So, I've taken their place, have I?" "Dear Dr. Rank, you know I didn't mean it quite like that." "I'm sure you understand that with TorvaId... it's almost like it was with Daddy." "I see." "I want to see Mr. Krogstad, please." "On the top floor." "Come in." "Mrs. HeImer." "Go downstairs for a few minutes, will you, son?" "I won't be long." "I couldn't stop him." "I fought for you as hard as I couId, but it was no use." "I've been thinking about you all day." "Even debt collectors and hack journalists... and people like me, still have some traces of what we call feelings." "Then show some." "Think of my children." "Have you and your husband ever thought about mine?" "Not that it matters." "Don't take this too seriously." "I'm not intending to lay charges against you, for the time being." "I didn't think you would." "Nobody needs to know." "The whole thing could be settled... quite amicably, between the three of us." "My husband must never know anything about this." "How do you propose to stop him finding out?" "Perhaps you're in a position to pay me the balance now?" "Not right away." "Perhaps you've some means of finding the money over the next few days?" "No way I'd use." "It wouldn't make a difference how much money you offered me." "I'd never part with that contract." "Why?" "What use is it to you" "Just to keep it, to have it in my hand." "No outsider will ever know anything about it." "You were considering some desperate plan?" "plan?" "Like running away from home..." "or something worse?" "How do you know?" "Forget it." "How do you know what I'm thinking?" "We all think about that at the beginning." "I did." "But I didn't have the courage." "Neither have I." "You haven't the courage either, have you?" "No, I haven't." "There'II probably be a slight domestic crisis when he reads my letter, but" "What letter?" "The letter I sent him." "telling him about it?" "As euphemisticaIIy as possible." "Get the letter back." "I'II get the money somehow." "You don't seem to understand." "I don't want money." "What do you want?" "I'II tell you what I want." "I want to get back and I want to get on, and your husband's going to help me." "I've been there a year and a half now, and I've been a model employee." "In all that time, I've been living in the most abject poverty, as you can see." "I was quite happy to work my way up, step by step." "Not anymore." "Not since I was kicked out." "It's not enough for me, anymore, to be given my job back... as if it were some great favor." "I want promotion." "Your husband must create a post for me." "He'II never do that." "He would." "I know him." "He wouldn't dare raise a murmur." "Once we work together, you'II see what'II happen." "In a year, I'II be the manager's right-hand man." "It'II be Krogstad, not HeImer, running the Joint Stock Bank." "You'II never manage it." "You won't say" "I do have the courage, now." "You can't frighten me." "people don't do things like that." "In any case, it wouldn't be any use." "I'd still have HeImer where I want him." "But, afterwards" "You seem to forget, I own your reputation." "Krogstad lent you the money, didn't he?" "Yes." "TorvaId's going to know everything." "believe me, Nora, it's the best thing for both of you." "It's worse than you think." "I forged a name." "How could you?" "I want you to do something for me." "I want you to be my witness." "Witness?" "What do you mean?" "If I were to have a breakdown, which might easily happen... or if something else were to happen that might stop my being here" "What's the matter with you?" "If someone else takes the blame...." "Do you understand?" "Yes, but you're not thinking" "I want you to be my witness that it isn't true." "I did it all myself." "Everything." "Remember that." "I'm going round to see Krogstad." "Don't." "He'd only try to harm you as well." "There was a time when he would have done anything for me." "What?" "It's too late." "What?" "The letter's there, in the letterbox." "Look." "Is it locked?" "Yes." "Does your husband have the key?" "always." "I must get Krogstad to ask for it back." "It's about now that TorvaId usuaIIy" "You must stop him." "I'II be as quick as I can." "What are you doing?" "Why aren't you in bed?" "Anne-Marie." "Time to go to bed." "I'II take her, madam." "Don't you worry." "Come along." "What's going on?" "What's happening?" "Emmy didn't want to go to bed." "What's the matter?" "You look tired." "Have you been practicing a Iot?" "I've hardly practiced." "You should." "I know, but I won't succeed without your help." "I've completely forgotten anything." "Take care of me." "Of course." "I feel so nervous." "You're not to think of anything but me." "No work, no distractions." "Don't even pick up a pen." "Promise me." "I promise to be completely at your disposal all evening." "Where're you going?" "To see if there are any letters." "Don't." "Just going to look." "How am I going to be able to dance tomorrow, if you don't let me rehearse?" "really, you must show a little concern for your wife." "Are you really that nervous?" "terribly nervous." "Want to rehearse now?" "There's still time before dinner." "would you play for me?" "Of course." "If that's what you want, I'd be only too pleased to." "Now, play for me." "I want to dance." "Not so fast." "I can't help it." "That's no good at all." "I told you so." "shall I play for her?" "Yes, please." "It'II make it much easier for me to control her." "Thank you." "Does Mr. Krogstad live here?" "Yes." "May I see him, please?" "He's out." "Good." "excellent." "Very good." "You're dancing as if your life depended on it." "It does." "Rank, stop." "This is absolute madness." "I said stop." "I can't believe it." "You've forgotten everything I taught you." "Now, Iet's try again." "Much slower this time." "Much more graceful, all right?" "Yes, TorvaId." "Ready?" "That's excellent." "That's much better." "Good." "Bravo." "I must talk to you." "Have we anything to talk about?" "A great deal." "I wouldn't have thought so." "No." "That's because you never really understood me." "What is there to understand?" "It's the oldest story in the world." "An unscrupulous woman sending a man packing... when something a bit more profitable turns up." "You really think I broke it off just like that?" "You sent me a letter." "Because I had to break with you, I felt it was only right... to try to destroy your feelings for me." "And all that... just for money?" "Remember, I had my mother and two young brothers to take care of." "I couldn't afford to wait for you." "Your prospects did seem rather shaky at the time." "When you left me, it was as if... all the firm ground underneath my feet... had crumbled away." "And now, look at me." "Like a drowning man." "Perhaps you'II be rescued soon." "I was about to be, until you came along." "I didn't know about that." "I found out today, it was you I was to replace at the bank." "Even so, you are not going to do anything about it, are you?" "I've learned to be sensible." "The hard and bitter necessities of Iife taught me that." "Life has taught me not to trust bIind-minded pIatitudes." "Then you've learnt something very sensible." "You said you felt like a drowning man." "I had good reason to." "I feel like a drowning woman." "Nothing to look back on, and no one to look after." "It was your decision." "I had no choice." "Listen... if two drowning people join hands... don't you think they stand a better chance of being rescued?" "Do you know why I hardly say anything to you... and keep away from you, when we go to parties?" "No." "It's because I pretend that you're my secret lover... that we're secretly engaged." "That no one suspects there's anything between us." "I know you're always thinking of me." "I imagine you're my young bride, that this is our wedding reception... and that soon I shall be leading you to my own house, this night..." "I shall spend the first time alone with you." "It's time to go." "Not yet." "Yes." "Come along." "tell me, do you know about my past?" "Yes." "And my reputation?" "I thought you said that with me you'd have been a different person?" "I'm sure I would have been." "There's still time." "You've thought about this carefully, haven't you?" "I need someone to look after." "And your sons need a mother." "I have to work or I'd find life unbearable." "AII my Iife, as far back as I can remember, I've worked... and it's the only real happiness I've had." "Now, I'm all alone in the world." "terrible...." "I feel so lost and hollow." "There's no happiness left in working for yourself." "Give me something and someone to work for." "I have faith in you." "To be a success, you must make a proper exit." "Not if I asked you nicely?" "No." "Not just for an hour or so?" "Not another minute." "Come along, please." "please." "Why are you so terribly stubborn?" "Now, what am I going to do with you?" "I'm so tired." "You must go to bed, then." "Come along." "You see..." "I was right not to let you stay any longer." "You're always right." "Now that's more like it." "Aren't you tired?" "Not at all." "Don't you feel sleepy?" "On the contrary, I feel extremely lively." "If there was only something I couId do about it." "You can." "Your letter's still in the letterbox." "Are you sure?" "Quite sure." "Is that why you're here, protecting your friend at any price, is that it?" "A woman who sells herself once for others doesn't make the same mistake again." "I'II ask for the letter back." "I'II go over now and ask him to give it back to me." "I'II say it was just about my dismissal, and I'd rather he didn't read it." "Don't go, not yet." "I've never been so happy in my Iife." "Did you notice how cheerful Rank was this evening?" "No, I hardly spoke to him at all." "Neither did I, very much." "I haven't seen him in such a good mood for ages." "It's lovely to be home again, just to be alone with you." "You mustn't look at me like that." "Why can't I?" "You're so lovely." "You mustn't say things like that." "Why did you think I brought you home so early?" "Stop it." "Leave me alone." "I won't have all this." "What do you mean, "won't have all this"?" "I'm your husband." "Who's that?" "What a nuisance." "It's me." "Can I come in for a second?" "Dear people, dear room... a joy at all times." "You seem to be enjoying yourself." "I was, and why not?" "Why shouldn't people take whatever the world offers... as much as they can, for as long as they can." "The wine was excellent, wasn't it?" "especially the champagne." "It's incredible how much I managed to pour down myself." "TorvaId drank a Iot of champagne, too, this evening." "Did he?" "It always makes him so cheerful." "Why shouldn't he have a happy evening after a good day's work?" "I'm afraid I can't claim to have done very much work today." "But you see, I can." "You've been conducting a medical test, isn't that right?" "That's right." "should I congratulate you on the results?" "You should." "Good, was it?" "The best possible for doctor and patient." "Certainty." "Certainty?" "absolute certainty." "I was right to enjoy myself this evening, wasn't I?" "You were right, Dr. Rank." "I agree." "As long as you don't suffer tomorrow." "In this life, you don't get anything for nothing." "I said, "Watch me, I'm 'pop goes the weasel."'" "You enjoy fancy-dress balls, don't you, Dr. Rank?" "When the costumes are amusing." "What shall we go as, next time?" "Are you thinking about next time, already?" "What shall we go as?" "I'II tell you, shall I?" "You'II be Fortune's child." "What sort of a costume would that be?" "Your wife must appear just as she does, everyday, on her way through the world." "Do you know what you'd go as?" "I've made up my mind already." "The next fancy-dress ball, I'm going to be invisible." "What a bizarre idea." "With an enormous black hat." "Haven't you heard of it?" "The hat that makes you invisible." "You pull it right down over yourself, and then... no one can see you anymore." "That's right." "Of course." "I've forgotten what I came for." "Let me have a cigar, will you?" "One of your black Havanas." "A pleasure." "Thanks." "Let me light it for you." "Thank you." "Good-bye, now." "Good-bye." "sleep well." "Kind wish, thank you." "Wish me the same." "You?" "AII right, then, if you Iike." "sleep well." "And thanks for the light." "Drunk." "possibly." "What's that?" "Leave it, now." "It's certainly piled up in the Iast couple of days." "Two of them." "It's a bit sinister, isn't it?" "almost as if he were announcing his own death." "He is." "Why, what do you know about it?" "Has he said anything to you?" "It's his way of saying good-bye to us." "He's going to shut himself away... and die." "Poor chap." "I knew he didn't have very much longer, but I didn't think he...." "Then to go and shut himself away, Iike some wounded animal." "If it has to happen, it's best to happen without words." "Don't you think?" "I can't imagine life without him." "He and his sufferings have become so much a part of us." "Maybe it is all for the best... for him, anyway." "And maybe for us, as well." "Now you and I have nothing but each other." "My dear wife." "I want so much to be with you tonight." "Our friend is dying." "How can you think of anything else?" "You're right." "Something ugly has come between us, and we must shake ourselves free of it." "And until we do, we must each go to our own room." "Good night, my love." "sleep well." "Good night." "I must read my letters now." "Good night." "Good-bye." "What is this?" "Do you know what this letter says?" "I do." "Let me go." "I'm going." "Then what he says is true?" "It's true." "There's nothing I Iove more than you." "I don't want your idiotic excuses." "Do you realize what you've done to me, you stupid woman?" "I don't want any meIodramatics!" "You're staying here until you've given me an explanation." "You understand?" "Do you realize what you've done to me, you stupid woman?" "Answer me!" "Do you?" "I'm beginning to realize exactly what I've done." "This is a rude awakening..." "I can tell you." "For all these years, for eight years now... you have been my pride and joy." "And now I find you're a hypocrite and a liar." "And worse than that, you're a criminal!" "I might have known something like this would happen." "I should have seen it coming, or...." "AII your father's fundamental irresponsibility has been passed on to you!" "No religion, no morals, no sense of duty!" "That's right." "You've destroyed all my happiness." "You've ruined my whole future." "It doesn't bear thinking about." "I am at the mercy of a totally unscrupulous man!" "I am completely in his power!" "He can do anything he wants with me." "And I shall have to do exactly what I am told, without a murmur." "To think that I shall have to stoop so low... because of a woman's stupid irresponsibility." "When I'm out of the way, you'II be free again." "Spare us the grand gestures, please!" "That's like your father as well." "He was always ready with a glib phrase." "What good do you suppose it wouId do if you were "out of the way," as you say?" "It wouldn't do me any good at all." "In fact, they might even think that it was my plan, and that I encouraged you to do it." "And this is what I've got to thank you for?" "After looking after you so well, all through our marriage." "Do you realize what you've done to me, you stupid woman?" "Yes." "It's all so incredible, I can hardly grasp that it has happened." "We shall have to come to some agreement." "I shall have to find some way of appeasing him." "It'II have to be hushed up, of course... however much it costs." "As far as you and I are concerned... we must make it look as if nothing has changed between us... to keep up appearances." "obviously, you'II have to stay on in the house... but you won't be allowed to have anything to do with the children... because I couldn't take the risk." "And there's no question of being happy anymore." "It's just picking up the bits and pieces... and making some sort of a show." "Yes?" "It's for you." "It's from him." "I'm going to read it." "Do." "I'm saved, Nora." "What about me?" "Yes, since you obviously were...." "We're both saved." "Look." "He sent back your IOU." "He apologizes to us." "He says he regrets having done what he did." "What does it matter, what he says?" "We're saved." "No one has any proof against you, now." "First of all, we must get rid of this whole appalling business." "There." "It's all over now." "He says you've known about it since Christmas Eve." "It must have been a terrible three days for you." "It's been a hard struggle, yes." "You must have suffered so much." "But it's all over now." "Listen, you don't seem to have grasped that it's all over." "Why are you looking so severe?" "I understand, my poor little Nora, you can't believe that I've forgiven you." "But I have, I promise you." "I've forgiven you." "I know now that whatever you did... it was for love of me that made you do it." "That's right." "I promise you, I've forgiven you." "With all my heart." "Thank you for forgiving me." "Just a minute." "What are you doing?" "Taking off my costume." "I see." "There's nothing to worry about, now." "You've loved me as a wife ought to love her husband." "It's just that... you didn't have the understanding to be able to judge how you should express it." "You mustn't think you're any less precious to me... just because you don't know how to take the initiative." "I wouldn't be a man if your feminine vulnerability... didn't make you doubly attractive to me." "You mustn't take any notice of the hard things I said, just now." "It was the shock." "I was terrified everything was going to collapse around my ears." "believe me, by tomorrow, everything will look quite different." "I won't have to keep on saying, "I've forgiven you."" "You'II feel it yourself, unmistakably." "You don't know how generous a real man can be." "You see, for a man, there's something immensely reassuring and pleasurable... about knowing that he's forgiven his wife." "That he's forgiven her sincerely... with all his heart." "It's as if, somehow, she becomes... doubIy his possession." "You've changed." "Yes, TorvaId." "I've changed." "Why?" "It's so late." "It's not that late." "My dear." "Sit down." "What?" "Sit down." "You and I have a Iot to talk about." "I don't understand." "That's just it." "You don't understand me." "And I never understood you until this evening." "You're not to interrupt me." "Just listen to what I have to say." "This is a reckoning." "What do you mean?" "Doesn't anything strike you about the way we're sitting here now?" "No, what?" "We've been married eight years." "Don't you think it's significant that this is the first time that you and I... as husband and wife, have ever sat down to have a serious talk?" "What do you mean, "serious"?" "Eight whole years." "Longer than that, from when we first knew each other... we've never exchanged one serious word on a serious subject." "should I have bothered you with all sorts of problems you couldn't help me with?" "I'm not talking about your problems." "I'm saying that we have never sat down and talked... and tried to get to the bottom of anything together." "My dear Nora, what good do you think it wouId have done you, if we did?" "That's just it." "You never understood me." "I've been treated most unjustly, first by Father and then by you." "What do you mean?" "Both of us have loved you... more than anyone else in the world." "You never loved me." "You just enjoyed being in love with me." "What is all this?" "It's true." "When I lived at home, with Father... he fed me all his opinions, until in the end I held the same opinions." "If I didn't, I kept quiet, because I knew he wouldn't have liked it." "He used to call me his doII-chiId... and he played with me just as I played with my dolls." "When I moved into your house" "That's no way to describe our marriage." "AII right." "When Father handed me over to you... you arranged everything according to your tastes... and I adapted the same tastes." "Perhaps I just pretended to, I really don't know." "probably a mixture of both, sometimes one, sometimes the other." "Looking back on it..." "I feel as if I have been living a beggar's life, from hand to mouth." "I made my living doing tricks for you, and that's what you wanted." "You and Father have done me great wrongs." "It's your fault I've never come to anything." "How can you be so unreasonable and ungrateful?" "You've been happy here, haven't you?" "No, never." "I thought I was, but I never have been." "Not happy?" "No." "cheerful, that's all." "You have always been so kind to me, but our house... has never been anything but a playroom." "Here, I was your doII-wife... just as at home, I was Father's doII-chiId." "And my children as well, they've been my dolls." "I used to enjoy it... when you played games with me." "Just as they enjoyed it when I played games with them." "That's all our marriage has been." "There is some truth in what you say... however exaggerated and hysterical it may sound." "But from now on, all that will change." "playtime is over." "Now it is time you were educated." "Who?" "Me or the children?" "You and the children, my dear." "You're not the man to teach me to be the right wife for you." "How can you say that?" "As for me, what qualifies me to bring up children?" "You just said you couldn't take the risk." "That was in the heat of the moment." "Don't take notice of that." "You were absolutely right, I'm not qualified." "There's something else I have to do first." "I have to educate myself." "And you're not the man to help me with that." "I have to do it by myself." "That's why I'm leaving you." "What did you say?" "I have to stand on my own two feet... if I'm ever to know myself and the things that are going on around me." "That's why I can't stay in your house any longer." "I'm leaving right away." "Are you mad?" "You'II do no such thing." "I forbid you to." "It's no use your forbidding me anything, now." "I'II take my belongings." "I don't want anything from you, now or ever." "This is madness." "I'II go back to my old home tomorrow." "I'II be able to find something to do there." "You can't abandon your home, your husband, and your children." "Have you thought what people will say?" "I can't worry about that." "AII I know is it's something I have to do." "This is outrageous." "It's going back on your most sacred duties." "And what, in your opinion, are my most sacred duties?" "surely you don't have to ask me that?" "I mean your duties to your husband and your children." "I have other duties which are just as sacred." "You haven't." "What, for example?" "My duties to myself." "Before anything else... you're a mother and a wife." "I don't believe that anymore." "I believe that before anything else, I am a human being... just as much of one as you are." "Or at Ieast that I must try to make myself into one." "I know most would agree with you." "You'd be backed up by many books." "What most people say and what's in books just doesn't satisfy me anymore." "I want to find things out for myself, and make my own decisions." "You don't seem to understand your position in your own house." "There's an infallible guide in this sort of situation." "You know." "It's your religion." "What about that?" "I don't really know what religion means." "I know what Pastor Hanson told me when I was confirmed." "religion was this and religion was that." "When I've got out of all this, am on my own, I can think that over, too." "I want to find out whether the things he told me are true... or at any rate, whether they're true for me." "But that sort of thing is unheard of in a young woman." "If you refuse to be guided by your religion, at Ieast let me appeal to your conscience." "I suppose you have some sort of a moral code, or perhaps you don't." "It's not an easy question to answer." "I don't really know." "I find it all quite bewildering." "The only thing I do know... is that my opinions about these things are quite different from yours." "I've also found out that the Iaw is different from what I thought." "But what I cannot accept is that the Iaw is right." "That a woman isn't allowed to spare her dying father or save her husband's life." "I won't accept that." "Don't be so childish." "You don't seem to understand the society you live in." "I don't." "That's why I want to be a part of it." "I want to find out which of us is right, society or me." "I think you must be ill, feverish." "You seem to have lost your senses." "I have never felt as convinced... and as lucid as I do tonight." "You're convinced and lucid, and yet you're abandoning your husband and children." "That's right." "Then there's only one possible explanation for it." "What's that?" "You don't love me anymore." "That's exactly it." "How can you say that?" "It hurts me... very much to say it." "You've always been so kind to me." "But I can't help it." "I don't love you anymore." "And you're sure about this?" "You've thought about it?" "absolutely positive." "That's why I don't want to stay here any longer." "Can you explain to me why it is I've lost your love?" "I can." "It was this evening... when the miracle didn't happen." "I realized you weren't the man I thought you were." "Can't you be more expIicit" "I waited so patiently, eight years." "Of course, I know you don't expect miracles to happen every day." "When this terrible storm broke over me, I thought the miracle couldn't fall to come." "while Krogstad's letter was Iying there, I never thought for one moment... that you could accept his conditions." "I thought you'd say, "tell the whole world," and once that had happened...." "You mean, you think I should have let my own wife... be exposed to shame and disgrace?" "Once that had happened, I thought... that you were bound to step forward... take all the blame yourself and say, "I am the guilty one."" "Do you mean I would never have let you make a sacrifice like that?" "Of course not." "What could I have done?" "would have been my word against yours." "That was the miracle..." "I hoped for and dreaded." "And it was to prevent that that I wanted to kill myself." "I'd work night and day for you." "I'd put up with any sufferings, any hardship, for your sake." "But no man would sacrifice his honor... even for love." "millions of women have." "You think and talk like an ignorant child." "Perhaps." "But you don't think or talk like the man I want to spend my Iife with." "When your terror was over... not about what threatened me, but about your own reputation...." "Once you had nothing more to fear... then as far as you were concerned, it was as if nothing happened." "Everything was just as before." "I was your lark, your doll." "You'd be doubly careful of her in the future, because she was so frail and delicate." "At that moment, I realized that I had been living with a stranger... for eight years... and I had had three children by him." "I can't bear to think of it." "I couId tear myself to pieces." "I see." "Isn't there anything we can do to change...." "The way I am now, I'm no sort of wife for you." "But I'm strong enough to change." "Perhaps." "If your doll were taken away from you." "To be separated...." "I can't grasp the idea." "AII the more reason for it to happen." "Not now, please." "Wait until tomorrow." "I can't spend the night in a stranger's house." "Can't we live here as brother and sister?" "You know very well that wouldn't last long." "Good-bye." "But you're my wife." "You are now and you always will be." "Listen... when a wife leaves her husband, as I am leaving you now..." "legally, as I understand it, he's absoIved from all obligation towards her." "In any case, I absolve you from all your obligations." "You're not to feel restricted in any way." "I'm not going to." "complete freedom on both sides." "Look, here's your ring back." "Give me mine." "That, as well?" "That, as well." "Now it's all over." "AII over." "But won't you ever think of me again?" "Think of you... and the children... and the house?" "Often." "May I write to you?" "Never." "Don't." "Can't I send you money?" "Nothing." "Can't I help you in" "I told you, I don't accept anything from strangers." "Can't I be anything but a stranger to you?" "There would have to be the most wonderful miracle." "What miracle, tell me...." "Both of us... would have to change so much, that...." "I don't believe in miracles any longer." "I believe in it." "tell me...." "We'd have to change so much...." "That our life together would become a marriage." "Good-bye, TorvaId." "The most wonderful miracle."