Chapter IV: Part 4

Yes. I fancy it will prove a costly frolic for Eilert Lövborg, crazy being that he is.

HEDDA.

How so?

BRACK.

He seems to have made a violent resistance—to have hit one of the constables on the head and torn the coat off his back. So they had to march him off to the police-station with the rest.

HEDDA.

How have you learnt all this?

BRACK.

From the police themselves.

HEDDA.

[_Gazing straight before her._] So that is what happened. Then he had no vine-leaves in his hair.

BRACK.

Vine-leaves, Mrs. Hedda?

HEDDA.

[_Changing her tone._] But tell me now, Judge—what is your real reason for tracking out Eilert Lövborg’s movements so carefully?

BRACK.

In the first place, it could not be entirely indifferent to me if it should appear in the police-court that he came straight from my house.

HEDDA.

Will the matter come into court then?

BRACK.

Of course. However, I should scarcely have troubled so much about that. But I thought that, as a friend of the family, it was my duty to supply you and Tesman with a full account of his nocturnal exploits.

HEDDA.

Why so, Judge Brack?

BRACK.

Why, because I have a shrewd suspicion that he intends to use you as a sort of blind.

HEDDA.

Oh, how can you think such a thing!

BRACK.

Good heavens, Mrs. Hedda—we have eyes in our head. Mark my words! This Mrs. Elvsted will be in no hurry to leave town again.

HEDDA.

Well, even if there should be anything between them, I suppose there are plenty of other places where they could meet.

BRACK.

Not a single _home_. Henceforth, as before, every respectable house will be closed against Eilert Lövborg.

HEDDA.

And so ought mine to be, you mean?

BRACK.

Yes. I confess it would be more than painful to me if this personage were to be made free of your house. How superfluous, how intrusive, he would be, if he were to force his way into——

HEDDA.

——into the triangle?

BRACK.

Precisely. It would simply mean that I should find myself homeless.

HEDDA.

[_Looks at him with a smile._] So you want to be the one cock in the basket[24]—that is your aim.

BRACK.

[_Nods slowly and lowers his voice._] Yes, that is my aim. And for that I will fight—with every weapon I can command.

HEDDA.

[_Her smile vanishing._] I see you are a dangerous person—when it comes to the point.

BRACK.

Do you think so?

HEDDA.

I am beginning to think so. And I am exceedingly glad to think—that you have no sort of hold over me.

BRACK.

[_Laughing equivocally._] Well well, Mrs. Hedda—perhaps you are right there. If I had, who knows what I might be capable of?

HEDDA.

Come come now, Judge Brack! That sounds almost like a threat.

BRACK.

[_Rising._] Oh, not at all! The triangle, you know, ought, if possible, to be spontaneously constructed.

HEDDA.

There I agree with you.

BRACK.

Well, now I have said all I had to say; and I had better be getting back to town. Good-bye, Mrs. Hedda.

[_He goes towards the glass door._

HEDDA.

[_Rising._] Are you going through the garden?

BRACK.

Yes, it’s a short cut for me.

HEDDA.

And then it is a back way, too.

BRACK.

Quite so. I have no objection to back ways. They may be piquant enough at times.

HEDDA.

When there is ball practice going on, you mean?

BRACK.

[_In the doorway, laughing to her._] Oh, people don’t shoot their tame poultry, I fancy.

HEDDA.

[_Also laughing._] Oh no, when there is only one cock in the basket——

[_They exchange laughing nods of farewell. He goes. She closes
the door behind him._

[HEDDA, _who has become quite serious, stands for a moment
looking out. Presently she goes and peeps through the
curtain over the middle doorway. Then she goes to the
writing-table, takes_ LÖVBORG’S _packet out of the bookcase,
and is on the point of looking through its contents._ BERTA
_is heard speaking loudly in the hall._ HEDDA _turns and
listens. Then she hastily locks up the packet in the drawer,
and lays the key on the inkstand._

EILERT LÖVBORG, _with his greatcoat on and his hat in his hand, tears
open the hall door. He looks somewhat confused and irritated._

LÖVBORG.

[_Looking towards the hall._] And I tell you I must and will come in! There!

[_He closes the door, turns, sees_ HEDDA, _at once regains his
self-control, and bows._

HEDDA.

[_At the writing table._] Well, Mr. Lövborg, this is rather a late hour to call for Thea.

LÖVBORG.

You mean rather an early hour to call on you. Pray pardon me.

HEDDA.

How do you know that she is still here?

LÖVBORG.

They told me at her lodgings that she had been out all night.

HEDDA.

[_Going to the oval table._] Did you notice anything about the people of the house when they said that?

LÖVBORG.

[_Looks inquiringly at her._] Notice anything about them?

HEDDA.

I mean, did they seem to think it odd?

LÖVBORG.

[_Suddenly understanding._] Oh yes, of course! I am dragging her down with me! However, I didn’t notice anything.—I suppose Tesman is not up yet?

HEDDA.

No—I think not——

LÖVBORG.

When did he come home?

HEDDA.

Very late.

LÖVBORG.

Did he tell you anything?

HEDDA.

Yes, I gathered that you had had an exceedingly jolly evening at Judge Brack’s.

LÖVBORG.

Nothing more?

HEDDA.

I don’t think so. However, I was so dreadfully sleepy——

MRS. ELVSTED _enters through the curtains of the middle doorway._

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Going towards him._] Ah, Lövborg! At last——!

LÖVBORG.

Yes, at last. And too late!

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Looks anxiously at him._] What is too late?

LÖVBORG.

Everything is too late now. It is all over with me.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh no, no—don’t say that!

LÖVBORG.

You will say the same when you hear——

MRS. ELVSTED.

I won’t hear anything!

HEDDA.

Perhaps you would prefer to talk to her alone? If so, I will leave you.

LÖVBORG.

No, stay—you too. I beg you to stay.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Yes, but I won’t hear anything, I tell you.

LÖVBORG.

It is not last night’s adventures that I want to talk about.

MRS. ELVSTED.

What is it then——?

LÖVBORG.

I want to say that now our ways must part.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Part!

HEDDA.

[_Involuntarily._] I knew it!

LÖVBORG.

You can be of no more service to me, Thea.

MRS. ELVSTED.

How can you stand there and say that! No more service to you! Am I not to help you now, as before? Are we not to go on working together?

LÖVBORG.

Henceforward I shall do no work.

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Despairingly._] Then what am I to do with my life?

LÖVBORG.

You must try to live your life as if you had never known me.

MRS. ELVSTED.

But you know I cannot do that!

LÖVBORG.

Try if you cannot, Thea. You must go home again——

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_In vehement protest._] Never in this world! Where you are, there will I be also! I will not let myself be driven away like this! I will remain here! I will be with you when the book appears.

HEDDA.

[_Half aloud, in suspense._] Ah yes—the book!

LÖVBORG.

[_Looks at her._] My book and Thea’s; for _that_ is what it is.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Yes, I feel that it is. And that is why I have a right to be with you when it appears! I will see with my own eyes how respect and honour pour in upon you afresh. And the happiness—the happiness—oh, I must share it with you!

LÖVBORG.

Thea—our book will never appear.

HEDDA.

Ah!

MRS. ELVSTED.

Never appear!

LÖVBORG.

_Can_ never appear.

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_In agonised foreboding._] Lövborg—what have you done with the manuscript?

HEDDA.

[_Looks anxiously at him._] Yes, the manuscript——?

MRS. ELVSTED.

Where is it?

LÖVBORG.

Oh Thea—don’t ask me about it!

MRS. ELVSTED.

Yes, yes, I _will_ know. I demand to be told at once.

LÖVBORG.

The manuscript——. Well then—I have torn the manuscript into a thousand pieces.

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Shrieks._] Oh no, no——!

HEDDA.

[_Involuntarily._] But that’s not——

LÖVBORG.

[_Looks at her._] Not true, you think?

HEDDA.

[_Collecting herself._] Oh well, of course—since you say so. But it sounded so improbable——

LÖVBORG.

It is true, all the same.

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Wringing her hands._] Oh God—oh God, Hedda—torn his own work to pieces!

LÖVBORG.

I have torn my own life to pieces. So why should I not tear my life-work too——?

MRS. ELVSTED.

And you did this last night?

LÖVBORG.

Yes, I tell you! Tore it into a thousand pieces—and scattered them on the fiord—far out. There there is cool sea-water at any rate—let them drift upon it—drift with the current and the wind. And then presently they will sink—deeper and deeper—as I shall, Thea.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Do you know, Lövborg, that what you have done with the book—I shall think of it to my dying day as though you had killed a little child.

LÖVBORG.

Yes, you are right. It is a sort of child-murder.

MRS. ELVSTED.

How could you, then——! Did not the child belong to me too?

HEDDA.

[_Almost inaudibly._] Ah, the child——

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Breathing heavily._] It is all over then. Well well, now I will go, Hedda.

HEDDA.

But you are not going away from town?

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, I don’t know what I shall do. I see nothing but darkness before me.

[_She goes out by the hall door._

HEDDA.

[_Stands waiting for a moment._] So you are not going to see her home, Mr. Lövborg?

LÖVBORG.

I? Through the streets? Would you have people see her walking with me?

HEDDA.

Of course I don’t know what else may have happened last night. But is it so utterly irretrievable?

LÖVBORG.

It will not end with last night—I know that perfectly well. And the thing is that now I have no taste for that sort of life either. I won’t begin it anew. She has broken my courage and my power of braving life out.

HEDDA.

[_Looking straight before her._] So that pretty little fool has had her fingers in a man’s destiny. [_Looks at him._] But all the same, how could you treat her so heartlessly?

LÖVBORG.

Oh, don’t say that it was heartless!

HEDDA.

To go and destroy what has filled her whole soul for months and years! You do not call that heartless!

LÖVBORG.

To you I can tell the truth, Hedda.

HEDDA.

The truth?

LÖVBORG.

First promise me—give me your word—that what I now confide to you Thea shall never know.

HEDDA.

I give you my word.

LÖVBORG.

Good. Then let me tell you that what I said just now was untrue.

HEDDA.

About the manuscript?

LÖVBORG.

Yes. I have not torn it to pieces—nor thrown it into the fiord.

HEDDA.

No, no——. But—where is it then?

LÖVBORG.

I have destroyed it none the less—utterly destroyed it, Hedda!

HEDDA.

I don’t understand.

LÖVBORG.

Thea said that what I had done seemed to her like a child-murder.

HEDDA.

Yes, so she said.

LÖVBORG.

But to kill his child—that is not the worst thing a father can do to it.

HEDDA.

Not the worst?

LÖVBORG.

No. I wanted to spare Thea from hearing the worst.

HEDDA.

Then what is the worst?

LÖVBORG.

Suppose now, Hedda, that a man—in the small hours of the morning—came home to his child’s mother after a night of riot and debauchery, and said: ”Listen—I have been here and there—in this place and in that. And I have taken our child with me—to this place and to that. And I have lost the child—utterly lost it. The devil knows into what hands it may have fallen—who may have had their clutches on it.“

HEDDA.

Well—but when all is said and done, you know—this was only a book——

LÖVBORG.

Thea’s pure soul was in that book.

HEDDA.

Yes, so I understand.

LÖVBORG.

And you can understand, too, that for her and me together no future is possible.

HEDDA.

What path do you mean to take then?

LÖVBORG.

None. I will only try to make an end of it all—the sooner the better.

HEDDA.

[_A step nearer him._] Eilert Lövborg—listen to me.—Will you not try to—to do it beautifully?

LÖVBORG.

Beautifully? [_Smiling._] With vine-leaves in my hair, as you used to dream in the old days——?

HEDDA.

No, no. I have lost my faith in the the vine-leaves. But beautifully nevertheless! For once in a way!—Good-bye! You must go now—and do not come here any more.

LÖVBORG.

Good-bye, Mrs. Tesman. And give George Tesman my love.

[_He is on the point of going._

HEDDA.

No, wait! I must give you a memento to take with you.

[_She goes to the writing-table and opens the drawer and the
pistol-case; then returns to_ LÖVBORG _with one of the
pistols._

LÖVBORG.

[_Looks at her._] This? Is _this_ the memento?

HEDDA.

[_Nodding slowly._] Do you recognise it? It was aimed at you once.

LÖVBORG.

You should have used it then.

HEDDA.

Take it—and do _you_ use it now.

LÖVBORG.

[_Puts the pistol in his breast pocket._] Thanks!

HEDDA.

And beautifully, Eilert Lövborg. Promise me that!

LÖVBORG.

Good-bye, Hedda Gabler.

[_He goes out by the hall door._

[HEDDA _listens for a moment at the door. Then she goes up to
the writing-table, takes out the packet of manuscript, peeps
under the cover, draws a few of the sheets half out, and
looks at them. Next she goes over and seats herself in the
armchair beside the stove, with the packet in her lap.
Presently she opens the stove door, and then the packet._

HEDDA.

[_Throws one of the quires into the fire and whispers to herself._] Now I am burning your child, Thea!—Burning it, curly-locks! [_Throwing one or two more quires into the stove._] Your child and Eilert Lövborg’s. [_Throws the rest in._] I am burning—I am burning your child.

ACT FOURTH.

_The same rooms at the_ TESMANS’. _It is evening. The drawing-room is in
darkness. The back room is lighted by the hanging lamp over the
table. The curtains over the glass door are drawn close._

HEDDA, _dressed in black, walks to and fro in the dark room. Then she
goes into the back room and disappears for a moment to the left.
She is heard to strike a few chords on the piano. Presently she
comes in sight again, and returns to the drawing-room._

BERTA _enters from the right, through the inner room, with a lighted
lamp, which she places on the table in front of the corner settee
in the drawing-room. Her eyes are red with weeping, and she has
black ribbons in her cap. She goes quietly and circumspectly out
to the right._ HEDDA _goes up to the glass door, lifts the curtain
a little aside, and looks out into the darkness._

_Shortly afterwards,_ MISS TESMAN, _in mourning, with a bonnet and veil
on, comes in from the hall._ HEDDA _goes towards her and holds out
her hand._

MISS TESMAN.

Yes, Hedda, here I am, in mourning and forlorn; for now my poor sister has at last found peace.

HEDDA.

I have heard the news already, as you see. Tesman sent me a card.

MISS TESMAN.

Yes, he promised me he would. But nevertheless I thought that to Hedda—here in the house of life—I ought myself to bring the tidings of death.

HEDDA.

That was very kind of you.

MISS TESMAN.

Ah, Rina ought not to have left us just _now_. This is not the time for Hedda’s house to be a house of mourning.

HEDDA.

[_Changing the subject._] She died quite peacefully, did she not, Miss Tesman?

MISS TESMAN.

Oh, her end was so calm, so beautiful. And then she had the unspeakable happiness of seeing George once more—and bidding him good-bye.—Has he not come home yet?

HEDDA.

No. He wrote that he might be detained. But won’t you sit down?

MISS TESMAN.

No thank you, my dear, dear Hedda. I should like to, but I have so much to do. I must prepare my dear one for her rest as well as I can. She shall go to her grave looking her best.

HEDDA.

Can I not help you in any way?

MISS TESMAN.

Oh, you must not think of it! Hedda Tesman must have no hand in such mournful work. Nor let her thoughts dwell on it either—not at this time.

HEDDA.

One is not always mistress of one’s thoughts——

MISS TESMAN.

[_Continuing._] Ah yes, it is the way of the world. At home we shall be sewing a shroud; and here there will soon be sewing too, I suppose—but of another sort, thank God!

GEORGE TESMAN _enters by the hall door._

HEDDA.

Ah, you have come at last!

TESMAN.

You here, Aunt Julia? With Hedda? Fancy that!

MISS TESMAN.

I was just going, my dear boy. Well, have you done all you promised?

TESMAN.

No; I’m really afraid I have forgotten half of it. I must come to you again to-morrow. To-day my brain is all in a whirl. I can’t keep my thoughts together.

MISS TESMAN.

Why, my dear George, you mustn’t take it in this way.

TESMAN.

Mustn’t——? How do you mean?

MISS TESMAN.

Even in your sorrow you must rejoice, as I do—rejoice that she is at rest.

TESMAN.

Oh yes, yes—you are thinking of Aunt Rina.

HEDDA.

You will feel lonely now, Miss Tesman.

MISS TESMAN.

Just at first, yes. But that will not last very long, I hope. I daresay I shall soon find an occupant for poor Rina’s little room.

TESMAN.

Indeed? Who do you think will take it? Eh?

MISS TESMAN.

Oh, there’s always some poor invalid or other in want of nursing, unfortunately.

HEDDA.

Would you really take such a burden upon you again?

MISS TESMAN.

A burden! Heaven forgive you, child—it has been no burden to me.

HEDDA.

But suppose you had a total stranger on your hands——

MISS TESMAN.

Oh, one soon makes friends with sick folk; and it’s such an absolute necessity for me to have some one to live for. Well, heaven be praised, there may soon be something in this house, too, to keep an old aunt busy.

HEDDA.

Oh, don’t trouble about anything here.

TESMAN.

Yes, just fancy what a nice time we three might have together, if——?

HEDDA.

If——?

TESMAN.

[_Uneasily._] Oh, nothing. It will all come right. Let us hope so—eh?

MISS TESMAN.

Well well, I daresay you two want to talk to each other. [_Smiling._] And perhaps Hedda may have something to tell you too, George. Good-bye! I must go home to Rina. [_Turning at the door._] How strange it is to think that now Rina is with me and with my poor brother as well!

_Tesman._

Yes, fancy that, Aunt Julia! Eh?

[_MISS TESMAN goes out by the hall door._

HEDDA.

[_Follows TESMAN coldly and searchingly with her eyes._] I almost believe your Aunt Rina’s death affects _you_ more than it does your Aunt Julia.

TESMAN.

Oh, it’s not that alone. It’s Eilert I am so terribly uneasy about.

HEDDA.

[_Quickly._] Is there anything new about him?

TESMAN.

I looked in at his rooms this afternoon, intending to tell him the manuscript was in safe keeping.

HEDDA.

Well, did you not find him?

TESMAN.

No. He wasn’t at home. But afterwards I met Mrs. Elvsted, and she told me that he had been here early this morning.

HEDDA.

Yes, directly after you had gone.

TESMAN.

And he said that he had torn his manuscript to pieces—eh?

HEDDA.

Yes, so he declared.

TESMAN.

Why, good heavens, he must have been completely out of his mind! And I suppose you thought it best not to give it back to him, Hedda?

HEDDA.

No, he did not get it.

TESMAN.

But of course you told him that we had it?

HEDDA.

No. [_Quickly._] Did you tell Mrs. Elvsted?

TESMAN.

No; I thought I had better not. But you ought to have told him. Fancy, if, in desperation, he should go and do himself some injury! Let me have the manuscript, Hedda! I will take it to him at once. Where is it?

HEDDA.

[_Cold and immovable, leaning on the arm-chair._] I have not got it.

TESMAN.

Have not got it? What in the world do you mean?

HEDDA.

I have burnt it—every line of it.

TESMAN.

[_With a violent movement of terror._] Burnt! Burnt Eilert’s manuscript!

HEDDA.

Don’t scream so. The servant might hear you.

TESMAN.

Burnt! Why, good God——! No, no, no! It’s impossible!

HEDDA.

It is so, nevertheless.

TESMAN.

Do you know what you have done, Hedda? It’s unlawful appropriation of lost property. Fancy that! Just ask Judge Brack, and he’ll tell you what it is.

HEDDA.

I advise you not to speak of it—either to Judge Brack, or to any one else.

TESMAN.

But how could you do anything so unheard-of? What put it into your head? What possessed you? Answer me that—eh?

HEDDA.

[_Suppressing an almost imperceptible smile._] I did it for your sake, George.

TESMAN.

For my sake!

HEDDA.

This morning, when you told me about what he had read to you——

TESMAN.

Yes yes—what then?

HEDDA.

You acknowledged that you envied him his work.

TESMAN.

Oh, of course I didn’t mean that literally.

HEDDA.

No matter—I could not bear the idea that any one should throw you into the shade.

TESMAN.

[_In an outburst of mingled doubt and joy._] Hedda! Oh, is this true? But—but—I never knew you show your love like that before. Fancy that!

HEDDA.

Well, I may as well tell you that—just at this time——[_Impatiently, breaking off._] No, no; you can ask Aunt Julia. _She_ will tell you, fast enough.

TESMAN.

Oh, I almost think I understand you, Hedda! [_Clasps his hands together._] Great heavens! do you really mean it! Eh?

HEDDA.

Don’t shout so. The servant might hear.

TESMAN.

[_Laughing in irrepressible glee._] The servant! Why, how absurd you are, Hedda. It’s only my old Berta! Why, I’ll tell Berta myself.

Hedda.

[_Clenching her hands together in desperation._] Oh, it is killing me,—it is killing me, all this!

TESMAN.

What is, Hedda? Eh?

HEDDA.

[_Coldly, controlling herself._] All this—absurdity—George.

TESMAN.

Absurdity! Do you see anything absurd in my being overjoyed at the news! But after all—perhaps I had better not say anything to Berta.

HEDDA.

Oh——why not that too?

TESMAN.

No, no, not yet! But I must certainly tell Aunt Julia. And then that you have begun to call me George too! Fancy that! Oh, Aunt Julia will be so happy—so happy!

HEDDA.

When she hears that I have burnt Eilert Lövborg’s manuscript—for your sake?

TESMAN.

No, by-the-bye—that affair of the manuscript—of course nobody must know about that. But that you love me so much,[25] Hedda—Aunt Julia must really share my joy in that! I wonder, now, whether this sort of thing is usual in young wives? Eh?

HEDDA.

I think you had better ask Aunt Julia that question too.

TESMAN.

I will indeed, some time or other. [_Looks uneasy and downcast again._] And yet the manuscript—the manuscript! Good God! it is terrible to think what will become of poor Eilert now.

_MRS. ELVSTED, dressed as in the first Act, with hat and cloak, enters
by the hall door._

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Greets them hurriedly, and says in evident agitation._] Oh, dear Hedda, forgive my coming again.

HEDDA.

What is the matter with you, Thea?

TESMAN.

Something about Eilert Lövborg again—eh?

MRS. ELVSTED.

Yes! I am dreadfully afraid some misfortune has happened to him.

HEDDA.

[_Seizes her arm._] Ah,—do you think so!

TESMAN.

Why, good Lord—what makes you think that, Mrs. Elvsted?

MRS. ELVSTED.

I heard them talking of him at my boarding-house—just as I came in. Oh, the most incredible rumours are afloat about him to-day.

TESMAN.

Yes, fancy, so I heard too! And I can bear witness that he went straight home to bed last night. Fancy that!

HEDDA.

Well, what did they say at the boarding-house?

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, I couldn’t make out anything clearly. Either they knew nothing definite, or else——. They stopped talking when they saw me; and I did not dare to ask.

TESMAN.

[_Moving about uneasily._] We must hope—we must hope that you misunderstood them, Mrs. Elvsted.

MRS. ELVSTED.

No, no; I am sure it was of him they were talking. And I heard something about the hospital or——

TESMAN.

The hospital?

HEDDA.

No—surely that cannot be!

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, I was in such mortal terror! I went to his lodgings and asked for him there.

HEDDA.

_You_ could make up your mind to that, Thea!

MRS. ELVSTED.

What else could I do? I really could bear the suspense no longer.

TESMAN.

But you didn’t find him either—eh?

MRS. ELVSTED.

No. And the people knew nothing about him. He hadn’t been home since yesterday afternoon, they said.

TESMAN.

Yesterday! Fancy, how could they say that?

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, I am sure something terrible must have happened to him.

TESMAN.

Hedda dear—how would it be if I were to go and make inquiries——?

HEDDA.

No, no—don’t you mix yourself up in this affair.

JUDGE BRACK, _with his hat in his hand, enters by the hall door, which_
BERTA _opens, and closes behind him. He looks grave and bows in
silence._

TESMAN.

Oh, is that you, my dear Judge? Eh?

BRACK.

Yes. It was imperative I should see you this evening.

TESMAN.

I can see you have heard the news about Aunt Rina?

BRACK.

Yes, that among other things.

TESMAN.

Isn’t it sad—eh?

BRACK.

Well, my dear Tesman, that depends on how you look at it.

TESMAN.

[_Looks doubtfully at him._] Has anything else happened?

BRACK.

Yes.

HEDDA.

[_In suspense._] Anything sad, Judge Brack?

BRACK.

That, too, depends on how you look at it, Mrs. Tesman.

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Unable to restrain her anxiety._] Oh! it is something about Eilert Lövborg!

BRACK.

[_With a glance at her._] What makes you think that, Madam? Perhaps you have already heard something——?

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_In confusion._] No, nothing at all, but——

TESMAN.

Oh, for heaven’s sake, tell us!

BRACK.

[_Shrugging his shoulders._] Well, I regret to say Eilert Lövborg has been taken to the hospital. He is lying at the point of death.

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Shrieks._] Oh God! oh God——!

TESMAN.

To the hospital! And at the point of death!

HEDDA.

[_Involuntarily._] So soon then——

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Wailing._] And we parted in anger, Hedda!

HEDDA.

[_Whispers._] Thea—Thea—be careful!

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Not heeding her._] I must go to him! I must see him alive!

BRACK.

It is useless, Madam. No one will be admitted.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, at least tell me what has happened to him? What is it?

TESMAN.

You don’t mean to say that he has himself——Eh?

HEDDA.

Yes, I am sure he has.

TESMAN.

Hedda, how can you——?

BRACK.

[_Keeping his eyes fixed upon her._] Unfortunately you have guessed quite correctly, Mrs. Tesman.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, how horrible!

TESMAN.

Himself, then! Fancy that!

HEDDA.

Shot himself!

BRACK.

Rightly guessed again, Mrs. Tesman.

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_With an effort at self-control._] When did it happen, Mr. Brack?

BRACK.

This afternoon—between three and four.

TESMAN.

But, good Lord, where did he do it? Eh?

BRACK.

[_With some hesitation._] Where? Well—I suppose at his lodgings.

MRS. ELVSTED.

No, that cannot be; for I was there between six and seven.

BRACK.

Well then, somewhere else. I don’t know exactly. I only know that he was found——. He had shot himself—in the breast.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, how terrible! That he should die like that!

HEDDA.

[_To Brack._] Was it in the breast?

BRACK.

Yes—as I told you.

HEDDA.

Not in the temple?

BRACK.

In the breast, Mrs. Tesman.

HEDDA.

Well, well—the breast is a good place, too.

BRACK.

How do you mean, Mrs. Tesman?

HEDDA.

[_Evasively._] Oh, nothing—nothing.

TESMAN.

And the wound is dangerous, you say—eh?

BRACK.

Absolutely mortal. The end has probably come by this time.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Yes, yes, I feel it. The end! The end! Oh, Hedda——!

TESMAN.

But tell me, how have you learnt all this?

BRACK.

[_Curtly._] Through one of the police. A man I had some business with.

HEDDA.

[_In a clear voice._] At last a deed worth doing!

TESMAN.

[_Terrified._] Good heavens, Hedda! what are you saying?

HEDDA.

I say there is beauty in this.

BRACK.

H’m, Mrs. Tesman——

TESMAN.

Beauty! Fancy that!

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, Hedda, how can you talk of beauty in such an act!

HEDDA.

Eilert Lövborg has himself made up his account with life. He has had the courage to do—the one right thing.

MRS. ELVSTED.

No, you must never think _that_ was how it happened! It must have been in delirium that he did it.

TESMAN.

In despair!

HEDDA.

That he did not. I am certain of that.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Yes, yes! In delirium! Just as when he tore up our manuscript.

BRACK.

[_Starting._] The manuscript? Has he torn that up?

MRS. ELVSTED.

Yes, last night.

TESMAN.

[_Whispers softly._] Oh, Hedda, we shall never get over this.

BRACK.

H’m, very extraordinary.

TESMAN.

[_Moving about the room._] To think of Eilert going out of the world in this way! And not leaving behind him the book that would have immortalised his name——

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, if only it could be put together again!

TESMAN.

Yes, if it only could! I don’t know what I would not give——

MRS. ELVSTED.

Perhaps it can, Mr. Tesman.

TESMAN.

What do you mean?

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Searches in the pocket of her dress._] Look here. I have kept all the loose notes he used to dictate from.

HEDDA.

[_A step forward._] Ah——!

TESMAN.

You have kept them, Mrs. Elvsted! Eh?

MRS. ELVSTED.

Yes, I have them here. I put them in my pocket when I left home. Here they still are——

TESMAN.

Oh, do let me see them!

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Hands him a bundle of papers._] But they are in such disorder—all mixed up.

TESMAN.

Fancy, if we could make something out of them, after all! Perhaps if we two put our heads together——

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh yes, at least let us try——

TESMAN.

We _will_ manage it! We _must_! I will dedicate my life to this task

HEDDA.

You, George? Your life?

TESMAN.

Yes, or rather all the time I can spare. My own collections must wait in the meantime. Hedda—you understand, eh? I owe this to Eilert’s memory.

HEDDA.

Perhaps.

TESMAN.

And so, my dear Mrs. Elvsted, we will give our whole minds to it. There is no use in brooding over what can’t be undone—eh? We must try to control our grief as much as possible, and——

MRS. ELVSTED.

Yes, yes, Mr. Tesman, I will do the best I can.

TESMAN.

Well then, come here. I can’t rest until we have looked through the notes. Where shall we sit? Here? No, in there, in the back room. Excuse me, my dear Judge. Come with me, Mrs. Elvsted.

MRS. ELVSTED.

Oh, if only it were possible!

[TESMAN _and_ MRS. ELVSTED _go into the back room. She takes
off her hat and cloak. They both sit at the table under the
hanging lamp, and are soon deep in an eager examination of
the papers._ HEDDA _crosses to the stove and sits in the
arm-chair. Presently BRACK goes up to her._

HEDDA.

[_In a low voice._] Oh, what a sense of freedom it gives one, this act of Eilert Lövborg’s.

BRACK.

Freedom, Mrs. Hedda? Well, of course, it is a release for him——

HEDDA.

I mean for me. It gives me a sense of freedom to know that a deed of deliberate courage is still possible in this world,—a deed of spontaneous beauty.

BRACK.

[_Smiling._] H’m—my dear Mrs. Hedda——

HEDDA.

Oh, I know what you are going to say. For you are a kind of specialist too, like—you know!

BRACK.

[_Looking hard at her._] Eilert Lövborg was more to you than perhaps you are willing to admit to yourself. Am I wrong?

HEDDA.

I don’t answer such questions. I only know that Eilert Lövborg has had the courage to live his life after his own fashion. And then—the last great act, with its beauty! Ah! that he should have the will and the strength to turn away from the banquet of life—so early.

BRACK.

I am sorry, Mrs. Hedda,—but I fear I must dispel an amiable illusion.

HEDDA.

Illusion?

BRACK.

Which could not have lasted long in any case.

HEDDA.

What do you mean?

BRACK.

Eilert Lövborg did not shoot himself—voluntarily.

HEDDA.

Not voluntarily?

BRACK.

No. The thing did not happen exactly as I told it.

HEDDA.

[_In suspense._] Have you concealed something? What is it?

BRACK.

For poor Mrs. Elvsted’s sake I idealised the facts a little.

HEDDA.

What _are_ the facts?

BRACK.

First, that he is already dead.

HEDDA.

At the hospital?

BRACK.

Yes—without regaining consciousness.

HEDDA.

What more have you concealed?

BRACK.

This—the event did not happen at his lodgings.

HEDDA.

Oh, that can make no difference.

BRACK.

Perhaps it may. For I must tell you—Eilert Lövborg was found shot in—in Mademoiselle Diana’s boudoir.

HEDDA.

[_Makes a motion as if to rise, but sinks back again._] That is impossible, Judge Brack! He cannot have been _there_ again to-day.

BRACK.

He was there this afternoon. He went there, he said, to demand the return of something which they had taken from him. Talked wildly about a lost child——

HEDDA.

Ah—so that was why——

BRACK.

I thought probably he meant his manuscript; but now I hear he destroyed that himself. So I suppose it must have been his pocket-book.

HEDDA.

Yes, no doubt. And there—there he was found?

BRACK.

Yes, there. With a pistol in his breast-pocket, discharged. The ball had lodged in a vital part.

HEDDA.

In the breast—yes.

BRACK.

No—in the bowels.

HEDDA.

[_Looks up at him with an expression of loathing._] That too! Oh, what curse is it that makes everything I touch turn ludicrous and mean?

BRACK.

There is one point more, Mrs. Hedda—another disagreeable feature in the affair.

HEDDA.

And what is that?

BRACK.

The pistol he carried——

HEDDA.

[_Breathless._] Well? What of it?

BRACK.

He must have stolen it.

HEDDA.

[_Leaps up._] Stolen it! That is not true! He did not steal it!

BRACK.

No other explanation is possible. He _must_ have stolen it——. Hush!

TESMAN _and_ MRS. ELVSTED _have risen from the table in the back room,
and come into the drawing-room._

TESMAN.

[_With the papers in both his hands._] Hedda dear, it is almost impossible to see under that lamp. Think of that!

HEDDA.

Yes, I am thinking.

TESMAN.

Would you mind our sitting at your writing-table—eh?

HEDDA.

If you like. [_Quickly._] No, wait! Let me clear it first!

TESMAN.

Oh, you needn’t trouble, Hedda. There is plenty of room.

HEDDA.

No no, let me clear it, I say! I will take these things in and put them on the piano. There!

[_She has drawn out an object, covered with sheet music, from
under the bookcase, places several other pieces of music
upon it, and carries the whole into the inner room, to the
left._ TESMAN _lays the scraps of paper on the
writing-table, and moves the lamp there from the corner
table. He and_ MRS. ELVSTED _sit down and proceed with their
work._ HEDDA _returns._

HEDDA.

[_Behind_ MRS. ELVSTED’S _chair, gently ruffling her hair._] Well, my sweet Thea,—how goes it with Eilert Lövborg’s monument?

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Looks dispiritedly up at her._] Oh, it will be terribly hard to put in order.

TESMAN.

We _must_ manage it. I am determined. And arranging other people’s papers is just the work for me.

[HEDDA _goes over to the stove, and seats herself on one of
the footstools._ BRACK _stands over her, leaning on the
arm-chair._

HEDDA.

[_Whispers._] What did you say about the pistol?

BRACK.

[_Softly._] That he must have stolen it.

HEDDA.

Why stolen it?

BRACK.

Because every other explanation _ought_ to be impossible, Mrs. Hedda.

HEDDA.

Indeed?

BRACK.

[_Glances at her._] Of course Eilert Lövborg was here this morning. Was he not?

HEDDA.

Yes.

BRACK.

Were you alone with him?

HEDDA.

Part of the time.

BRACK.

Did you not leave the room whilst he was here?

HEDDA.

No.

BRACK.

Try to recollect. Were you not out of the room a moment?

HEDDA.

Yes, perhaps just a moment—out in the hall.

BRACK.

And where was your pistol case during that time?

HEDDA.

I had it locked up in——

BRACK.

Well, Mrs. Hedda?

HEDDA.

The case stood there on the writing-table.

BRACK.

Have you looked since, to see whether both the pistols are there?

HEDDA.

No.

BRACK.

Well, you need not. I saw the pistol found in Lövborg’s pocket, and I knew it at once as the one I had seen yesterday—and before, too.

HEDDA.

Have you it with you?

BRACK.

No; the police have it.

HEDDA.

What will the police do with it?

BRACK.

Search till they find the owner.

HEDDA.

Do you think they will succeed?

BRACK.

[_Bends over her and whispers._] No, Hedda Gabler—not so long as I say nothing.

HEDDA.

[_Looks frightened at him._] And if you do not say nothing,—what then?

BRACK.

[_Shrugs his shoulders._] There is always the possibility that the pistol was stolen.

HEDDA.

[_Firmly._] Death rather than that.

BRACK.

[_Smiling._] People say such things—but they don’t do them.

HEDDA.

[_Without replying._] And supposing the pistol was not stolen, and the owner is discovered? What then?

BRACK.

Well, Hedda—then comes the scandal.

HEDDA.

The scandal!

BRACK.

Yes, the scandal—of which you are so mortally afraid. You will, of course, be brought before the court—both you and Mademoiselle Diana. She will have to explain how the thing happened—whether it was an accidental shot or murder. Did the pistol go off as he was trying to take it out of his pocket, to threaten her with? Or did she tear the pistol out of his hand, shoot him, and push it back into his pocket? That would be quite like her; for she is an able-bodied young person, this same Mademoiselle Diana.

HEDDA.

But _I_ have nothing to do with all this repulsive business.

BRACK.

No. But you will have to answer the question: Why did you give Eilert Lövborg the pistol? And what conclusions will people draw from the fact that you did give it to him?

HEDDA.

[_Lets her head sink._] That is true. I did not think of that.

BRACK.

Well, fortunately, there is no danger, so long as I say nothing.

HEDDA.

[_Looks up at him._] So I am in your power, Judge Brack. You have me at your beck and call, from this time forward.

BRACK.

[Whispers softly.] Dearest Hedda—believe me—I shall not abuse my advantage.

HEDDA.

I am in your power none the less. Subject to your will and your demands. A slave, a slave then! [_Rises impetuously._] No, I cannot endure the thought of that! Never!

BRACK.

[_Looks half-mockingly at her._] People generally get used to the inevitable.

HEDDA.

[_Returns his look._] Yes, perhaps. [_She crosses to the writing-table. Suppressing an involuntary smile, she imitates TESMAN’S intonations._] Well? Are you getting on, George? Eh?

TESMAN.

Heaven knows, dear. In any case it will be the work of months.

HEDDA.

[_As before._] Fancy that! [_Passes her hands softly through MRS. ELVSTED’S hair._] Doesn’t it seem strange to you, Thea? Here are you sitting with Tesman—just as you used to sit with Eilert Lövborg?

MRS. ELVSTED.

Ah, if I could only inspire your husband in the same way!

HEDDA.

Oh, that will come too—in time.

TESMAN.

Yes, do you know, Hedda—I really think I begin to feel something of the sort. But won’t you go and sit with Brack again?

HEDDA.

Is there nothing I can do to help you two?

TESMAN.

No, nothing in the world. [_Turning his head._] I trust to you to keep Hedda company, my dear Brack!

BRACK.

[_With a glance at HEDDA._] With the very greatest of pleasure.

HEDDA.

Thanks. But I am tired this evening. I will go in and lie down a little on the sofa.

TESMAN.

Yes, do dear—eh?

[HEDDA _goes into the back room and draws the curtains. A
short pause. Suddenly she is heard playing a wild dance on
the piano._

MRS. ELVSTED.

[_Starts from her chair._] Oh—what is that?

TESMAN.

[_Runs to the doorway._] Why, my dearest Hedda—don’t play dance-music to-night! Just think of Aunt Rina! And of Eilert too!

HEDDA.

[_Puts her head out between the curtains._] And of Aunt Julia. And of all the rest of them.—After this, I will be quiet. [_Closes the curtains again._]

TESMAN.

[_At the writing-table._] It’s not good for her to see us at this distressing work. I’ll tell you what, Mrs. Elvsted,—you shall take the empty room at Aunt Julia’s, and then I will come over in the evenings, and we can sit and work _there_—eh?

HEDDA.

[_In the inner room._] I hear what you are saying, Tesman. But how am _I_ to get through the evenings out here?

TESMAN.

[_Turning over the papers._] Oh, I daresay Judge Brack will be so kind as to look in now and then, even though I am out.

BRACK.

[_In the arm-chair, calls out gaily._] Every blessëd evening, with all the pleasure in life, Mrs. Tesman! We shall get on capitally together, we two!

HEDDA.

[_Speaking loud and clear._] Yes, don’t you flatter yourself we will, Judge Brack? Now that you are the one cock in the basket——

[_A shot is heard within._ TESMAN, MRS. ELVSTED, _and_ BRACK
_leap to their feet._

TESMAN.

Oh, now she is playing with those pistols again.

[_He throws back the curtains and runs in, followed by_ MRS.
ELVSTED. HEDDA _lies stretched on the sofa, lifeless.
Confusion and cries._ BERTA _enters in alarm from the
right._

TESMAN.

[_Shrieks to BRACK._] Shot herself! Shot herself in the temple! Fancy that!

BRACK.

[_Half-fainting in the arm-chair._] Good God!—people don’t _do_ such things.

-----

Footnote 13:

Pronounce _Reena_.

Footnote 14:

In the original, ”Statsrådinde Falks villa“—showing that it had
belonged to the widow of a cabinet minister.

Footnote 15:

_Du_ = thou; Tesman means, “If you could persuade yourself to
_tutoyer_ her.”

Footnote 16:

See footnote, p. 27.

Footnote 17:

Pronounce _Tora_ and _Taya_.

Footnote 18:

Mrs. Elvsted here uses the formal pronoun _De_, whereupon Hedda
rebukes her. In her next speech Mrs. Elvsted says _du_.

Footnote 19:

“Bagveje” means both “back ways” and “underhand courses.”

Footnote 20:

As this form of address is contrary to English usage, and as the note
of familiarity would be lacking in “Mrs. Tesman,” Brack may, in stage
representation, say “Miss Hedda,” thus ignoring her marriage and
reverting to the form of address no doubt customary between them of
old.

Footnote 21:

He uses the familiar _du_.

Footnote 22:

From this point onward Lövborg uses the formal _De_.

Footnote 23:

In this speech he once more says _du_. Hedda addresses him throughout
as _De_.

Footnote 24:

”Eneste hane i kurven“—a proverbial saying.

Footnote 25:

Literally, “That you burn for me.”

THE MASTER BUILDER

(1892)

CHARACTERS

HALVARD SOLNESS, _Master Builder_. ALINE SOLNESS, _his wife_. DOCTOR HERDAL, _physician_. KNUT BROVIK, _formerly an architect, now in_ SOLNESS’S employment. RAGNAR BROVIK, _his son, draughtsman_. KAIA FOSLI, _his niece, book-keeper_. MISS HILDA WANGEL. _Some Ladies._ _A Crowd in the street._

_The action passes in and about SOLNESS’S house._

THE MASTER BUILDER.

PLAY IN THREE ACTS.

-------

ACT FIRST.

_A plainly-furnished work-room in the house of_ HALVARD SOLNESS.
_Folding doors on the left lead out to the hall. On the right is
the door leading to the inner rooms of the house. At the back is
an open door into the draughtsmen’s office. In front, on the left,
a desk with books, papers and writing materials. Further back than
the folding door, a stove. In the right-hand corner, a sofa, a
table, and one or two chairs. On the table a water-bottle and
glass. A smaller table, with a rocking-chair and arm-chair, in
front on the right. Lighted lamps, with shades, on the table in
the draughtsmen’s office, on the table in the corner, and on the
desk._

_In the draughtsmen’s office sit_ KNUT BROVIK _and his son_ RAGNAR,
_occupied with plans and calculations. At the desk in the outer
office stands_ KAIA FOSLI, _writing in the ledger._ KNUT BROVICK
_is a spare old man with white hair and beard. He wears a rather
threadbare but well-brushed black coat, spectacles, and a somewhat
discoloured white neckcloth._ RAGNAR BROVIK _is a well-dressed,
light-haired man in his thirties, with a slight stoop._ KAIA FOSLI
_is a slightly built girl, a little over twenty, carefully
dressed, and delicate-looking. She has a green shade over her
eyes.—All three go on working for some time in silence._

KNUT BROVIK.

[_Rises suddenly, as if in distress, from the table; breathes heavily and laboriously as he comes forward into the doorway._] No, I can’t bear it much longer!

KAIA.

[_Going up to him._] You are feeling very ill this evening, are you not, uncle?

BROVIK.

Oh, I seem to get worse every day.

RAGNAR.

[_Has risen and advances._] You ought to go home, father. Try to get a little sleep——

BROVIK.

[_Impatiently._] Go to bed, I suppose? Would you have me stifled outright?

KAIA.

Then take a little walk.

RAGNAR.

Yes, do. I will come with you.

BROVIK.

[_With warmth._] I will not go till he comes! I am determined to have it out this evening with—[_in a tone of suppressed bitterness_]—with him—with the chief.

KAIA.

[_Anxiously._] Oh no, uncle,—do wait awhile before doing _that_!

RAGNAR.

Yes, better wait, father!

BROVIK.

[_Draws his breath laboriously._] Ha—ha—! _I_ haven’t much time for waiting.

KAIA.

[_Listening._] Hush! I hear him on the stairs.

[_All three go back to their work. A short silence._

HALVARD SOLNESS _comes in through the hall door. He is a man no longer
young, but healthy and vigorous, with close-cut curly hair, dark
moustache and dark thick eyebrows. He wears a greyish-green buttoned
jacket with an upstanding collar and broad lappels. On his head he
wears a soft grey felt hat, and he has one or two light portfolios
under his arm._

SOLNESS.

[_Near the door, points towards the draughtsmen’s office, and asks in a whisper_:] Are they gone?

KAIA.

[_Softly, shaking her head._] No.

[_She takes the shade off her eyes._ SOLNESS _crosses the
room, throws his hat on a chair, places the portfolios on
the table by the sofa, and approaches the desk again._ KAIA
_goes on writing without intermission, but seems nervous and
uneasy._

SOLNESS.

[_Aloud._] What is that you are entering, Miss Fosli?

KAIA.

[_Starts._] Oh, it is only something that——

SOLNESS.

Let me look at it, Miss Fosli. [_Bends over her, pretends to be looking into the ledger, and whispers_:] Kaia!

KAIA.

[_Softly, still writing._] Well?

SOLNESS.

Why do you always take that shade off when I come?

KAIA.

[_As before._] I look so ugly with it on.

SOLNESS.

[_Smiling._] Then you don’t like to look ugly, Kaia?

KAIA.

[_Half glancing up at him._] Not for all the world. Not in _your_ eyes.

SOLNESS.

[_Strokes her hair gently._] Poor, poor little Kaia——

KAIA.

[_Bending her head._] Hush—they can hear you!

[SOLNESS _strolls across the room to the right, turns and
pauses at the door of the draughtsmen’s office._

SOLNESS.

Has any one been here for me?

RAGNAR.

[_Rising._] Yes, the young couple who want a villa built, out at Lövstrand.

SOLNESS.

[_Growling._] Oh, _those_ two! _They_ must wait. I am not quite clear about the plans yet.

RAGNAR.

[_Advancing, with some hesitation._] They were very anxious to have the drawings at once.

SOLNESS.

[_As before._] Yes, of course—so they all are.

BROVIK.

[_Looks up._] They say they are longing so to get into a house of their own.

SOLNESS.

Yes, yes—we know all _that_! And so they are content to take whatever is offered them. They get a—a roof over their heads—an address—but nothing to call a home. No thank you! In that case, let them apply to somebody else. Tell them _that_, the next time they call.

BROVIK.

[_Pushes his glasses up on to his forehead and looks in astonishment at him._] To somebody else? Are you prepared to give up the commission?

SOLNESS.

[_Impatiently._] Yes, yes, yes, devil take it! If that is to be the way of it——. Rather that, than build away at random. [_Vehemently._] Besides, I know very little about these people as yet.

BROVIK.

The people are safe enough. Ragnar knows them. He is a friend of the family. Perfectly safe people.

SOLNESS.

Oh, safe—safe enough! That is not at all what I mean. Good lord—don’t _you_ understand me either? [_Angrily._] I won’t have anything to do with these strangers. They may apply to whom they please, so far as I am concerned.

BROVIK.

[_Rising._] Do you really mean _that_?

SOLNESS.

[_Sulkily._] Yes I do.—For once in a way.

[_He comes forward._

[BROVIK _exchanges a glance with_ RAGNAR, _who makes a warning
gesture. Then_ BROVIK _comes into the front room._

BROVIK.

May I have a few words with you?

SOLNESS.

Certainly.

BROVIK.

[_To KAIA._] Just go in there for a moment, KAIA.

KAIA.

[_Uneasily._] Oh, but uncle——

BROVIK.

Do as I say, child. And shut the door after you.

[KAIA _goes reluctantly into the draughtsmen’s office, glances
anxiously and imploringly at_ SOLNESS, _and shuts the door._

BROVIK.

[_Lowering his voice a little._] I don’t want the poor children to know how ill I am.

SOLNESS.

Yes, you have been looking very poorly of late.

BROVIK.

It will soon be all over with me. My strength is ebbing—from day to day.

SOLNESS.

Won’t you sit down?

BROVIK.

Thanks—may I?

SOLNESS.

[_Placing the arm-chair more conveniently._] Here—take this chair.—And now?

BROVIK.

[_Has seated himself with difficulty._] Well, you see, it’s about Ragnar. That is what weighs most upon me. What is to become of him?

SOLNESS.

Of course your son will stay with me as long as ever he likes.

BROVIK.

But that is just what he does not like. He feels that he cannot stay here any longer.

SOLNESS.

Why, I should say he was very well off here. But if he wants more money, I should not mind——

BROVIK.

No, no! It is not _that_. [_Impatiently._] But sooner or later he, too, must have a chance of doing something on his own account.

SOLNESS.

[_Without looking at him._] Do you think that Ragnar has quite talent enough to stand alone?

BROVIK.

No, that is just the heartbreaking part of it—I have begun to have my doubts about the boy. For you have never said so much as—as one encouraging word about him. And yet I cannot but think there must be something in him—he _can’t_ be without talent.

SOLNESS.

Well, but he has learnt nothing—nothing thoroughly, I mean. Except, of course, to draw.

BROVIK.

[_Looks at him with covert hatred, and says hoarsely._] _You_ had learned little enough of the business when you were in my employment. But that did not prevent you from setting to work—[_breathing with difficulty_]—and pushing your way up, and taking the wind out of my sails—mine, and so many other people’s.

SOLNESS.

Yes, you see—circumstances favoured me.

BROVIK.

You are right there. Everything favoured you. But then how can you have the heart to let me go to my grave—without having seen what Ragnar is fit for? And of course I am anxious to see them married, too—before I go.

SOLNESS.

[_Sharply._] Is it she who wishes it?

BROVIK.

Not Kaia so much as Ragnar—he talks about it everyday. [_Appealingly._] You must—you _must_ help him to get some independent work now! I _must_ see something that the lad has done. Do you hear?

SOLNESS.

[_Peevishly._] Hang it, man, you can’t expect me to drag commissions down from the moon for him!

BROVIK.

He has the chance of a capital commission at this very moment. A big bit of work.

SOLNESS.

[_Uneasily, startled._] Has he?

BROVIK.

If _you_ would give your consent.

SOLNESS.

What sort of work do you mean?

BROVIK.

[_With some hesitation._] He can have the building of that villa out at Lövstrand.

SOLNESS.

_That_! Why I am going to build that myself.

BROVIK.

Oh _you_ don’t much care about doing it.

SOLNESS.

[_Flaring up._] Don’t care! I! Who dares to say that?

BROVIK.

You said so yourself just now.

SOLNESS.

Oh, never mind what I _say_.—Would they give Ragnar the building of that villa?

BROVIK.

Yes. You see, he knows the family. And then—just for the fun of the thing—he has made drawings and estimates and so forth——

SOLNESS.

Are they pleased with the drawings? The people who will have to live in the house?

BROVIK.

Yes. If you would only look through them and approve of them——

SOLNESS.

Then they would let Ragnar build their home for them?

BROVIK.

They were immensely pleased with his idea. They thought it exceedingly original, they said.

SOLNESS.

Oho! Original! Not the old-fashioned stuff that _I_ am in the habit of turning out!

BROVIK.

It seemed to them _different_.

SOLNESS.

[_With suppressed irritation._] So it was to see Ragnar that they came here—whilst I was out!

BROVIK.

They came to call upon you—and at the same time to ask whether you would mind retiring——

SOLNESS.

[_Angrily._] Retire? I?

BROVIK.

In case you thought that Ragnar’s drawings——

SOLNESS.

I! Retire in favour of your son!

BROVIK.

Retire from the agreement, they meant.

SOLNESS.

Oh, it comes to the same thing. [_Laughs angrily._] So that is it, is it? Halvard Solness is to see about retiring now! To make room for younger men! For the very youngest, perhaps! He must make room! Room! Room!

BROVIK.

Why, good heavens! there is surely room for more than one single man——

SOLNESS.

Oh, there’s not so _very_ much room to spare either. But, be that as it may—I will never retire! I will never give way to anybody! Never of my own free will. Never in this world will I do _that_!

BROVIK.