ASTA. And you are going, too, to-night?
BORGHEIM. I must, too. I am going by the train. Are you going that way?
ASTA. No. I shall take the steamer.
BORGHEIM. [Glancing at her.] We each take our own way, then?
ASTA. Yes.
[She sits and looks on while he hoists the flag half-mast high. When he
has done he goes up to her.]
BORGHEIM. Miss Asta--you can't think how grieved I am about little
Eyolf.
ASTA. [Looks up at him.] Yes, I am sure you feel it deeply.
BORGHEIM. And the feeling tortures me. For the fact is, grief is not
much in my way.
ASTA. [Raising her eyes to the flag.] It will pass over in time--all of
it. All our sorrow.
BORGHEIM. All? Do you believe that?
ASTA. Like a squall at sea. When once you have got far away from here,
then--
BORGHEIM. It will have to be very far away indeed.
ASTA. And then you have this great new road-work, too.
BORGHEIM. But no one to help me in it.
ASTA. Oh yes, surely you have.
BORGHEIM. [Shaking his head.] No one. No one to share the gladness with.
For it is gladness that most needs sharing.
ASTA. Not the labour and trouble?
BORGHEIM. Pooh--that sort of thing one can always get through alone.
ASTA. But the gladness--that must be shared with someone, you think?
BORGHEIM. Yes; for if not, where would be the pleasure in being glad?
ASTA. Ah yes--perhaps there is something in that.
BORGHEIM. Oh, of course, for a certain time you can go on feeling glad
in your own heart. But it won't do in the long run. No, it takes two to
be glad.
ASTA. Always two? Never more? Never many?
BORGHEIM. Well, you see--then it becomes a quite different matter. Miss
Asta--are you sure you can never make up your mind to share gladness and
success and--and labour and trouble, with one--with one alone in all the
world?
ASTA. I have tried it--once.
BORGHEIM. Have you?
ASTA. Yes, all the time that my brother--that Alfred and I lived
together.
BORGHEIM. Oh, with your brother, yes. But that is altogether different.
That ought rather to be called peace than happiness, I should say.
ASTA. It was delightful, all the same.
BORGHEIM. There now--you see even that seemed to you delightful. But
just think now--if he had not been your brother!
ASTA. [Makes a movement to rise, but remains sitting.] Then we should
never have been together. For I was a child then--and he wasn't much
more.
BORGHEIM. [After a pause.] Was it so delightful--that time?
ASTA. Oh yes, indeed it was.
BORGHEIM. Was there much that was really bright and happy in your life
then?
ASTA. Oh yes, so much. You cannot think how much.
BORGHEIM. Tell me a little about it, Miss Asta.
ASTA. Oh, there are only trifles to tell.
BORGHEIM. Such as--? Well?
ASTA. Such as the time when Alfred had passed his examination--and had
distinguished himself. And then, from time, to time, when he got a post
in some school or other. Or when he would sit at home working at an
article--and would read it aloud to me. And then when it would appear in
some magazine.
BORGHEIM. Yes, I can quite see that it must have been a peaceful,
delightful life--a brother and sister sharing all their joys. [Shaking
his head.] What I cannot understand is that your brother could ever give
you up, Asta.
ASTA. [With suppressed emotion.] Alfred married, you know.
BORGHEIM. Was not that very hard for you?
ASTA. Yes, at first. It seemed as though I had utterly lost him all at
once.
BORGHEIM. Well, luckily it was not so bad as that.
ASTA. No.
BORGHEIM. But, all the same--how could he! Go and marry, I mean--when he
could have kept you with him, alone!
ASTA. [Looking straight in front of her.] He was subject to the law of
change, I suppose.
BORGHEIM. The law of change?
ASTA. So Alfred calls it.
BORGHEIM. Pooh--what a stupid law that must be! I don't believe a bit in
that law.
ASTA. [Rising.] You may come to believe in it, in time.
BORGHEIM. Never in all my life! [Insistently.] But listen now, Miss
Asta! Do be reasonable for once in a way--in this matter, I mean--
ASTA. [Interrupting him.] Oh, no, no--don't let us begin upon that
again!
BORGHEIM. [Continuing as before.] Yes, Asta--I can't possibly give you
up so easily. Now your brother has everything as he wishes it. He can
live his life quite contentedly without you. He doesn't require you at
all. Then this--this--that at one blow has changed your whole position
here--
ASTA. [With a start.] What do you mean by that?
BORGHEIM. The loss of the child. What else should I mean?
ASTA. [Recovering her self-control.] Little Eyolf is gone, yes.
BORGHEIM. And what more does that leave you to do here? You have not the
poor little boy to take care of now. You have no duties--no claims upon
you of any sort.
ASTA. Oh, please, Mr. Borgheim--don't make it so hard for me.
BORGHEIM. I must; I should be mad if I did not try my uttermost. I
shall be leaving town before very long, and perhaps I shall have no
opportunity of meeting you there. Perhaps I shall not see you again for
a long, long time. And who knows what may happen in the meanwhile?
ASTA. [With a grave smile.] So you are afraid of the law of change,
after all?
BORGHEIM. No, not in the least. [Laughing bitterly.] And there is
nothing to be changed, either--not in you, I mean. For I can see you
don't care much about me.
ASTA. You know very well that I do.
BORGHEIM. Perhaps, but not nearly enough. Not as I want you to. [More
forcibly.] By Heaven, Asta--Miss Asta--I cannot tell you how strongly I
feel that you are wrong in this! A little onward, perhaps, from to-day
and to-morrow, all life's happiness may be awaiting us. And we must
needs pass it by! Do you think we will not come to repent of it, Asta?
ASTA. [Quietly.] I don't know. I only know that they are not for us--all
these bright possibilities.
BORGHEIM. [Looks at her with self-control.] Then I must make my roads
alone?
ASTA. [Warmly.] Oh, how I wish I could stand by you in it all! Help you
in the labour--share the gladness with you--
BORGHEIM. Would you--if you could?
ASTA. Yes, that I would.
BORGHEIM. But you cannot?
ASTA. [Looking down.] Would you be content to have only half of me?
BORGHEIM. No. You must be utterly and entirely mine.
ASTA. [Looks at him, and says quietly.] Then I cannot.
BORGHEIM. Good-bye then, Miss Asta.
[He is on the point of going. ALLMERS comes up from the left at the
back. BORGHEIM stops.]
ALLMERS. [The moment he has reached the top of the steps, points, and
says in a low voice.] Is Rita in there--in the summer-house?
BORGHEIM. No; there is no one here but Miss Asta.
[ALLMERS comes forward.]
ASTA. [Going towards him.] Shall I go down and look for her? Shall I get
her to come up here?
ALLMERS. [With a negative gesture.] No, no, no--let it alone. [To
BORGHEIM.] Is it you that have hoisted the flag?
BORGHEIM. Yes. Mrs. Allmers asked me to. That was what brought me up
here.
ALLMERS. And you are going to start to-night?
BORGHEIM. Yes. To-night I go away in good earnest.
ALLMERS. [With a glance at ASTA.] And you have made sure of pleasant
company, I daresay.
BORGHEIM. [Shaking his head.] I am going alone.
ALLMERS. [With surprise.] Alone!
BORGHEIM. Utterly alone.
ALLMERS. [Absently.] Indeed?
BORGHEIM. And I shall have to remain alone, too.
ALLMERS. There is something horrible in being alone. The thought of it
runs like ice through my blood--
ASTA. Oh, but, Alfred, you are not alone.
ALLMERS. There may be something horrible in that too, Asta.
ASTA. [Oppressed.] Oh, don't talk like that! Don't think like that!
ALLMERS. [Not listening to her.] But since you are not going with him--?
Since there is nothing to bind you--? Why will you not remain out here
with me--and with Rita?
ASTA. [Uneasily.] No, no, I cannot. I must go back to town now.
ALLMERS. But only in to town, Asta. Do you hear!
ASTA. Yes.
ALLMERS. And you must promise me that you will soon come out again.
ASTA. [Quickly.] No, no, I dare not promise you that, for the present.
ALLMERS. Well as you will. We shall soon meet in town, then.
ASTA. [Imploringly.] But, Alfred, you must stay at home here with Rita
now.
ALLMERS. [Without answering, turns to BORGHEIM.] You may find it a good
thing, after all, that you have to take your journey alone.
BORGHEIM. [Annoyed.] Oh, how can you say such a thing?
ALLMERS. You see, you can never tell whom you might happen to meet
afterwards--on the way.
ASTA. [Involuntarily.] Alfred!
ALLMERS. The right fellow-traveller--when it is too late--too late.
ASTA. [Softly, quivering.] Alfred! Alfred!
BORGHEIM. [Looking front one to the other.] What is the meaning of this?
I don't understand--
[RITA comes up from the left at the back.]
RITA. [Plaintively.] Oh, don't go away from me, all of you!
ASTA. [Going towards her.] You said you preferred to be alone.
RITA. Yes, but I dare not. It is getting so horribly dark. I seem to see
great, open eyes fixed upon me!
ASTA. [Tenderly and sympathetically.] What if it were so, Rita? You
ought not to be afraid of those eyes.
RITA. How can you say so! Not afraid!
ALLMERS. [Insistently.] Asta, I beg you--for Heaven's sake--remain here
with Rita!
RITA. Yes! And with Alfred, too. Do! Do, Asta!