thing——! But, by-the-bye, I must just—— [_Going to hall door._
NORA.
What do you want there?
HELMER.
Only to see if there are any letters.
NORA.
No, no, don’t do that, Torvald.
HELMER.
Why not?
NORA.
Torvald, I beg you not to. There are none there.
HELMER.
Let me just see. [_Is going._
[NORA, _at the piano, plays the first bars of the tarantella._
HELMER.
[_At the door, stops._] Aha!
NORA.
I can’t dance to-morrow if I don’t rehearse with you first.
HELMER.
[_Going to her._] Are you really so nervous, dear Nora?
NORA.
Yes, dreadfully! Let me rehearse at once. We have time before dinner.
Oh, do sit down and play for me, Torvald dear; direct me and put me
right, as you used to do.
HELMER.
With all the pleasure in life, since you wish it.
[_Sits at piano._
[NORA _matches the tambourine out of the box, and hurriedly
drapes herself in a long parti-coloured shawl; then, with a
bound, stands in the middle of the floor._
NORA.
Now play for me! Now I’ll dance!
[HELMER _plays and_ NORA _dances._ RANK _stands at the piano
behind_ HELMER _and looks on._
HELMER.
[_Playing._] Slower! Slower!
NORA.
Can’t do it slower!
HELMER.
Not so violently, Nora.
NORA.
I must! I must!
HELMER.
[_Stops._] No, no, Nora—that will never do.
NORA.
[_Laughs and swings her tambourine._] Didn’t I tell you so!
RANK.
Let me play for her.
HELMER.
[_Rising._] Yes, do—then I can direct her better.
[RANK _sits down to the piano and plays;_ NORA _dances more and
more wildly._ HELMER _stands by the stove and addresses
frequent corrections to her; she seems not to hear. Her hair
breaks loose, and falls over her shoulders. She does not
notice it, but goes on dancing._ MRS. LINDEN _enters and
stands spellbound in the doorway._
MRS. LINDEN.
Ah——!
NORA.
[_Dancing._] We’re having such fun here, Christina!
HELMER.
Why, Nora dear, you’re dancing as if it were a matter of life and death.
NORA.
So it is.
HELMER.
Rank, stop! This is the merest madness. Stop, I say!
[RANK _stops playing, and_ NORA _comes to a sudden standstill._
HELMER.
[_Going towards her._] I couldn’t have believed it. You’ve positively
forgotten all I taught you.
NORA.
[_Throws the tambourine away._] You see for yourself.
HELMER.
You really do want teaching.
NORA.
Yes, you see how much I need it. You must practise with me up to the
last moment. Will you promise me, Torvald?
HELMER.
Certainly, certainly.
NORA.
Neither to-day nor to morrow must you think of anything but me. You
mustn’t open a single letter—mustn’t look at the letter-box.
HELMER.
Ah, you’re still afraid of that man——
NORA.
Oh yes, yes, I am.
HELMER.
Nora, I can see it in your face—there’s a letter from him in the box.
NORA.
I don’t know, I believe so. But you’re not to read anything now; nothing
ugly must come between us until all is over.
RANK.
[_Softly, to_ HELMER.] You mustn’t contradict her.
HELMER.
[_Putting his arm around her._] The child shall have her own way. But
to-morrow night, when the dance is over——
NORA.
Then you shall be free.
ELLEN _appears in the doorway, right._
ELLEN.
Dinner is on the table, ma’am.
NORA.
We’ll have some champagne, Ellen.
ELLEN.
Yes, ma’am. [_Goes out._
HELMER.
Dear me! Quite a banquet.
NORA.
Yes, and we’ll keep it up till morning. [_Calling out._] And macaroons,
Ellen—plenty—just this once.
HELMER.
[_Seizing her hand._] Come, come, don’t let us have this wild
excitement! Be my own little lark again.
NORA.
Oh yes, I will. But now go into the dining-room; and you too, Doctor
Rank. Christina, you must help me to do up my hair.
RANK.
[_Softly, as they go._] There’s nothing in the wind? Nothing—I mean——?
HELMER.
Oh no, nothing of the kind. It’s merely this babyish anxiety I was
telling you about.
[_They go out to the right._
NORA.
Well?
MRS. LINDEN.
He’s gone out of town.
NORA.
I saw it in your face.
MRS. LINDEN.
He comes back to-morrow evening. I left a note for him.
NORA.
You shouldn’t have done that. Things must take their course. After all,
there’s something glorious in waiting for the miracle.
MRS. LINDEN.
What is it you’re waiting for?
NORA.
Oh, you can’t understand. Go to them in the dining-room; I shall come in
a moment.
[MRS. LINDEN _goes into the dining-room._ NORA _stands for a
moment as though collecting her thoughts; then looks at her
watch._
NORA.
Five. Seven hours till midnight. Then twenty-four hours till the next
midnight. Then the tarantella will be over. Twenty-four and seven?
Thirty-one hours to live.
HELMER _appears at the door, right._
HELMER.
What has become of my little lark?
NORA.
[_Runs to him with open arms._] Here she is!
-----
Footnote 9:
In the original, “We say ‘thou’ to each other.”
ACT THIRD
_The same room. The table, with the chairs around it, in the middle. A
lighted lamp on the table. The door to the hall stands open. Dance
music is heard from the floor above._
_MRS. LINDEN sits by the table and absently turns the pages of a book.
She tries to read, but seems unable to fix her attention; she
frequently listens and looks anxiously towards the hall door._
MRS. LINDEN.
[_Looks at her watch._] Not here yet; and the time is nearly up. If only
he hasn’t—— [_Listens again._] Ah, there he is. [_She goes into the hall
and cautiously opens the outer door; soft footsteps are heard on the
stairs; she whispers._] Come in; there is no one here.
KROGSTAD.
[_In the doorway!_] I found a note from you at my house. What does it
mean?
MRS. LINDEN.
I must speak to you.
KROGSTAD.
Indeed? And in this house?
MRS. LINDEN.
I could not see you at my rooms. They have no separate entrance. Come
in; we are quite alone. The servants are asleep, and the Helmers are at
the ball upstairs.
KROGSTAD.
[_Coming into the room._] Ah! So the Helmers are dancing this evening?
Really?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes. Why not?
KROGSTAD.
Quite right. Why not?
MRS. LINDEN.
And now let us talk a little.
KROGSTAD.
Have we two anything to say to each other?
MRS. LINDEN.
A great deal.
KROGSTAD.
I should not have thought so.
MRS. LINDEN.
Because you have never really understood me.
KROGSTAD.
What was there to understand? The most natural thing in the world—a
heartless woman throws a man over when a better match offers.
MRS. LINDEN.
Do you really think me so heartless? Do you think I broke with you
lightly?
KROGSTAD.
Did you not?
MRS. LINDEN.
Do you really think so?
KROGSTAD.
If not, why did you write me that letter?
MRS. LINDEN.
Was it not best? Since I had to break with you, was it not right that I
should try to put an end to all that you felt for me?
KROGSTAD.
[_Clenching his hands together._] So that was it? And all this—for the
sake of money!
MRS. LINDEN.
You ought not to forget that I had a helpless mother and two little
brothers. We could not wait for you, Nils, as your prospects then stood.
KROGSTAD.
Perhaps not; but you had no right to cast me off for the sake of others,
whoever the others might be.
MRS. LINDEN.
I don’t know. I have often asked myself whether I had the right.
KROGSTAD.
[_More softly._] When I had lost you, I seemed to have no firm ground
left under my feet. Look at me now. I am a shipwrecked man clinging to a
spar.
MRS. LINDEN.
Rescue may be at hand.
KROGSTAD.
It _was_ at hand; but then you came and stood in the way.
MRS. LINDEN.
Without my knowledge, Nils. I did not know till to-day that it was you I
was to replace in the Bank.
KROGSTAD.
Well, I take your word for it. But now that you do know, do you mean to
give way?
MRS. LINDEN.
No, for that would not help you in the least.
KROGSTAD.
Oh, help, help——! I should do it whether or no.
MRS. LINDEN.
I have learnt prudence. Life and bitter necessity have schooled me.
KROGSTAD.
And life has taught me not to trust fine speeches.
MRS. LINDEN.
Then life has taught you a very sensible thing. But deeds you _will_
trust?
KROGSTAD.
What do you mean?
MRS. LINDEN.
You said you were a shipwrecked man, clinging to a spar.
KROGSTAD.
I have good reason to say so.
MRS. LINDEN.
I too am shipwrecked, and clinging to a spar. I have no one to mourn
for, no one to care for.
KROGSTAD.
You made your own choice.
MRS. LINDEN.
No choice was left me.
KROGSTAD.
Well, what then?
MRS. LINDEN.
Nils, how if we two shipwrecked people could join hands?
KROGSTAD.
What!
MRS. LINDEN.
Two on a raft have a better chance than if each clings to a separate
spar.
KROGSTAD.
Christina!
MRS. LINDEN.
What do you think brought me to town?
KROGSTAD.
Had you any thought of me?
MRS. LINDEN.
I must have work or I can’t bear to live. All my life, as long as I can
remember, I have worked; work has been my one great joy. Now I stand
quite alone in the world, aimless and forlorn. There is no happiness in
working for one’s self. Nils, give me somebody and something to work
for.
KROGSTAD.
I cannot believe in all this. It is simply a woman’s romantic craving
for self-sacrifice.
MRS. LINDEN.
Have you ever found me romantic?
KROGSTAD.
Would you really——? Tell me: do you know all my past?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes.
KROGSTAD.
And do you know what people say of me?
MRS. LINDEN.
Did you not say just now that with me you could have been another man?
KROGSTAD.
I am sure of it.
MRS. LINDEN.
Is it too late?
KROGSTAD.
Christina, do you know what you are doing? Yes, you do; I see it in your
face. Have you the courage then——?
MRS. LINDEN.
I need some one to be a mother to, and your children need a mother. You
need me, and I—I need you. Nils, I believe in your better self. With you
I fear nothing.
KROGSTAD.
[_Seizing her hands._] Thank you—thank you, Christina. Now I shall make
others see me as you do.—Ah, I forgot——
MRS. LINDEN.
[_Listening._] Hush! The tarantella! Go! go!
KROGSTAD.
Why? What is it?
MRS. LINDEN.
Don’t you hear the dancing overhead? As soon as that is over they will
be here.
KROGSTAD.
Oh yes, I shall go. Nothing will come of this, after all. Of course, you
don’t know the step I have taken against the Helmers.
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes, Nils, I do know.
KROGSTAD.
And yet you have the courage to——?
MRS. LINDEN.
I know to what lengths despair can drive a man.
KROGSTAD.
Oh, if I could only undo it!
MRS. LINDEN.
You could. Your letter is still in the box.
KROGSTAD.
Are you sure?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes; but——
KROGSTAD.
[_Looking to her searchingly._] Is that what it all means? You want to
save your friend at any price. Say it out—is that your idea?
MRS. LINDEN.
Nils, a woman who has once sold herself for the sake of others, does not
do so again.
KROGSTAD.
I shall demand my letter back again.
MRS. LINDEN.
No, no.
KROGSTAD.
Yes, of course. I shall wait till Helmer comes; I shall tell him to give
it back to me—that it’s only about my dismissal—that I don’t want it
read——
MRS. LINDEN.
No, Nils, you must not recall the letter.
KROGSTAD.
But tell me, wasn’t that just why you got me to come here?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes, in my first alarm. But a day has passed since then, and in that day
I have seen incredible things in this house. Helmer must know
everything; there must be an end to this unhappy secret. These two must
come to a full understanding. They must have done with all these shifts
and subterfuges.
KROGSTAD.
Very well, if you like to risk it. But _one_ thing I can do, and at
once——
MRS. LINDEN.
[_Listening._] Make haste! Go, go! The dance is over; we’re not safe
another moment.
KROGSTAD.
I shall wait for you in the street.
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes, do; you must see me home.
KROGSTAD.
I never was so happy in all my life!
[KROGSTAD _goes out by the outer door. The door between the room
and the hall remains open._
MRS. LINDEN.
[_Arranging the room and getting her outdoor things together._] What a
change! What a change! To have some one to work for, to live for; a home
to make happy! Well, it shall not be my fault if I fail.—I wish they
would come.—[_Listens._] Ah, here they are! I must get my things on.
[_Takes bonnet and cloak._ HELMER’S _and_ NORA’S _voices are
heard outside, a key is turned in the lock, and_ HELMER
_drags_ NORA _almost by force into the hall. She wears the
Italian costume with a large black shawl over it. He is in
evening dress and wears a black domino, open._
NORA.
[_Struggling with him in the doorway._] No, no, no! I won’t go in! I
want to go upstairs again; I don’t want to leave so early!
HELMER.
But, my dearest girl——!
NORA.
Oh, please, please, Torvald, I beseech you—only one hour more!
HELMER.
Not one minute more, Nora dear; you know what we agreed. Come, come in;
you’re catching cold here.
[_He leads her gently into the room in spite of her resistance._
MRS. LINDEN.
Good-evening.
NORA.
Christina!
HELMER.
What, Mrs. Linden! You here so late?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes, I ought to apologise. I did so want to see Nora in her costume.
NORA.
Have you been sitting here waiting for me?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes; unfortunately I came too late. You had gone upstairs already, and I
felt I couldn’t go away without seeing you.
HELMER.
[_Taking_ NORA’S _shawl off._] Well then, just look at her! I assure you
she’s worth it. Isn’t she lovely, Mrs. Linden?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes, I must say——
HELMER.
Isn’t she exquisite? Every one said so. But she’s dreadfully obstinate,
dear little creature. What’s to be done with her? Just think, I had
almost to force her away.
NORA.
Oh, Torvald, you’ll be sorry some day that you didn’t let me stay, if
only for one half-hour more.
HELMER.
There! You hear her, Mrs. Linden? She dances her tarantella with wild
applause, and well she deserved it, I must say—though there was,
perhaps, a little too much nature in her rendering of the idea—more than
was, strictly speaking, artistic. But never mind—the point is, she made
a great success, a tremendous success. Was I to let her remain after
that—to weaken the impression? Not if I know it. I took my sweet little
Capri girl—my capricious little Capri girl, I might say—under my arm; a
rapid turn round the room, a curtsey to all sides, and—as they say in
novels—the lovely apparition vanished! An exit should always be
effective, Mrs. Linden; but I can’t get Nora to see it. By Jove! it’s
warm here. [_Throws his domino on a chair and opens the door to his
room._] What! No light there? Oh, of course. Excuse me——
[_Goes in and lights candles._
NORA.
[_Whispers breathlessly._] Well?
MRS. LINDEN.
[_Softly._] I’ve spoken to him.
NORA.
And——?
MRS. LINDEN.
Nora—you must tell your husband everything——
Nora.
[_Tonelessly._] I knew it!
MRS. LINDEN.
You have nothing to fear from Krogstad; but you must speak out.
NORA.
I shall not speak.
MRS. LINDEN.
Then the letter will.
NORA.
Thank you, Christina. Now I know what I have to do. Hush——!
HELMER.
[_Coming back._] Well, Mrs. Linden, have you admired her?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes; and now I must say good-night.
HELMER.
What, already? Does this knitting belong to you?
MRS. LINDEN.
[_Takes it._] Yes, thanks; I was nearly forgetting it.
HELMER.
Then you do knit?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes.
HELMER.
Do you know, you ought to embroider instead?
MRS. LINDEN.
Indeed! Why?
HELMER.
Because it’s so much prettier. Look now! You hold the embroidery in the
left hand, so, and then work the needle with the right hand, in a long,
graceful curve—don’t you?
MRS. LINDEN.
Yes, I suppose so.
HELMER.
But knitting is always ugly. Just look—your arms close to your sides,
and the needles going up and down—there’s something Chinese about
it.—They really gave us splendid champagne to-night.
MRS. LINDEN.
Well, good-night, Nora, and don’t be obstinate any more.
HELMER.
Well said, Mrs. Linden!
MRS. LINDEN.
Good-night, Mr. Helmer.
HELMER.
[_Accompanying her to the door._] Good-night, good-night; I hope you’ll
get safely home. I should be glad to—but you have such a short way to
go. Good-night, good-night. [_She goes;_ HELMER _shuts the door after
her and comes forward again._] At last we’ve got rid of her: she’s a
terrible bore.
NORA.
Aren’t you very tired, Torvald?
HELMER.
No, not in the least.
NORA.
Nor sleepy?
HELMER.
Not a bit. I feel particularly lively. But you? You do look tired and
sleepy.
NORA.
Yes, very tired. I shall soon sleep now.
HELMER.
There, you see. I was right after all not to let you stay longer.
NORA.
Oh, everything you do is right.
HELMER.
[_Kissing her forehead._] Now my lark is speaking like a reasonable
being. Did you notice how jolly Rank was this evening?
NORA.
Indeed? Was he? I had no chance of speaking to him.
HELMER.
Nor I, much; but I haven’t seen him in such good spirits for a long
time. [_Looks at_ NORA _a little, then comes nearer her._] It’s splendid
to be back in our own home, to be quite alone together!—Oh, you
enchanting creature!
NORA.
Don’t look at me in that way, Torvald.
HELMER.
I am not to look at my dearest treasure?—at all the loveliness that is
mine, mine only, wholly and entirely mine?
NORA.
[_Goes to the other side of the table._] You mustn’t say these things to
me this evening.
HELMER.
[_Following._] I see you have the tarantella still in your blood—-and
that makes you all the more enticing. Listen! the other people are going
now. [_More softly._] Nora—soon the whole house will be still.
NORA.
Yes, I hope so.
HELMER.
Yes, don’t you, Nora darling? When we are among strangers, do you know
why I speak so little to you, and keep so far away, and only steal a
glance at you now and then—do you know _why_ I do it? Because I am
fancying that we love each other in secret, that I am secretly betrothed
to you, and that no one dreams that there is anything between us.
NORA.
Yes, yes, yes. I know all your thoughts are with me.
HELMER.
And then, when the time comes to go, and I put the shawl about your
smooth, soft shoulders, and this glorious neck of yours, I imagine you
are my bride, that our marriage is just over, that I am bringing you for
the first time to my home—that I am alone with you for the first
time—quite alone with you, in your trembling loveliness! All this
evening I have been longing for you, and you only. When I watched you
swaying and whirling in the tarantella—my blood boiled—I could endure it
no longer; and that’s why I made you come home with me so early——
NORA.
Go now, Torvald! Go away from me. I won’t have all this.
HELMER.
What do you mean? Ah, I see you’re teasing me, little Nora! Won’t—won’t!
Am I not your husband——?
[_A knock at the outer door._
NORA
[_Starts._] Did you hear——?
HELMER.
[_Going towards the hall._] Who’s there?
RANK.
[_Outside._] It is I; may I come in for a moment?
HELMER.
[_In a low tone, annoyed._] Oh! what can he want just now? [_Aloud._]
Wait a moment. [_Opens door._] Come, it’s nice of you to look in.
RANK.
I thought I heard your voice, and that put it into my head. [_Looks
round._] Ah, this dear old place! How cosy you two are here!
HELMER.
You seemed to find it pleasant enough upstairs, too.
RANK.
Exceedingly. Why not? Why shouldn’t one take one’s share of everything
in this world? All one can, at least, and as long as one can. The wine
was splendid——
HELMER.
Especially the champagne.
RANK.
Did you notice it? It’s incredible the quantity I contrived to get down.
NORA.
Torvald drank plenty of champagne, too.
RANK.
Did he?
NORA.
Yes, and it always puts him in such spirits.
RANK.
Well, why shouldn’t one have a jolly evening after a well-spent day?
HELMER.
Well-spent! Well, I haven’t much to boast of in that respect.
RANK.
[_Slapping him on the shoulder._] But I _have_, don’t you see?
NORA.
I suppose you have been engaged in a scientific investigation, Doctor
Rank?
RANK.
Quite right.
HELMER.
Bless me! Little Nora talking about scientific investigations!
NORA.
Am I to congratulate you on the result?
RANK.
By all means.
NORA.
It was good then?
RANK.
The best possible, both for doctor and patient—certainty.
NORA.
[_Quickly and searchingly._] Certainty?
RANK.
Absolute certainty. Wasn’t I right to enjoy myself after that?
NORA.
Yes, quite right, Doctor Rank.
HELMER.
And so say I, provided you don’t have to pay for it to-morrow.
RANK.
Well, in this life nothing is to be had for nothing.
NORA.
Doctor Rank—I’m sure you are very fond of masquerades?
RANK.
Yes, when there are plenty of amusing disguises——
NORA.
Tell me, what shall we two be at our next masquerade?
HELMER.
Little featherbrain! Thinking of your next already!
RANK.
We two? I’ll tell you. You must go as a good fairy.
HELMER.
Ah, but what costume would indicate _that_?
RANK.
She has simply to wear her everyday dress.
HELMER.
Capital! But don’t you know what you will be yourself?
RANK.
Yes, my dear friend, I am perfectly clear upon that point.
HELMER.
Well?
RANK.
At the next masquerade I shall be invisible.
HELMER.
What a comical idea!
RANK.
There’s a big black hat—haven’t you heard of the invisible hat? It comes
down all over you, and then no one can see you.
HELMER.
[_With a suppressed smile._] No, you’re right there.
RANK.
But I’m quite forgetting what I came for. Helmer, give me a cigar—one of
the dark Havanas.
HELMER.
With the greatest pleasure. [_Hands cigar-case._
RANK.
[_Takes one and cuts the end off._] Thank you.
NORA.
[_Striking a wax match._] Let me give you a light.
RANK.
A thousand thanks.
[_She holds the match. He lights his cigar at it._
RANK.
And now, good-bye!
HELMER.
Good-bye, good-bye, my dear fellow.
NORA.
Sleep well, Doctor Rank.
RANK.
Thanks for the wish.
NORA.
Wish me the same.
RANK.
You? Very well, since you ask me—Sleep well. And thanks for the light.
[_He nods to them both and goes out._
HELMER.
[_In an undertone._] He’s been drinking a good deal.
NORA.
[_Absently._] I daresay. [HELMER _takes his bunch of keys from his
pocket and goes into the hall._] Torvald, what are you doing there?
HELMER.
I must empty the letter-box; it’s quite full; there will be no room for
the newspapers to-morrow morning.
NORA.
Are you going to work to-night?
HELMER.
You know very well I am not.—Why, how is this? Some one has been at the
lock.
NORA.
The lock——?
HELMER.
I’m sure of it. What does it mean? I can’t think that the servants——?
Here’s a broken hair-pin. Nora, it’s one of yours.
NORA.
[_Quickly._] It must have been the children——
HELMER.
Then you must break them of such tricks.—There! At last I’ve got it
open. [_Takes contents out and calls into the kitchen._] Ellen!—Ellen,
just put the hall door lamp out.
[_He returns with letters in his hand, and shuts the inner
door._
HELMER.
Just see how they’ve accumulated. [_Turning them over._] Why, what’s
this?
NORA.
[_At the window._] The letter! Oh no, no, Torvald!
HELMER.
Two visiting-cards—from Rank.
NORA.
From Doctor Rank?
HELMER.
[_Looking at them._] Doctor Rank. They were on the top. He must just
have put them in.
NORA.
Is there anything on them?
HELMER.
There’s a black cross over the name. Look at it. What an unpleasant
idea! It looks just as if he were announcing his own death.
NORA.
So he is.
HELMER.
What! Do you know anything? Has he told you anything?
NORA.
Yes. These cards mean that he has taken his last leave of us. He is
going to shut himself up and die.
HELMER.
Poor fellow! Of course I knew we couldn’t hope to keep him long. But so
soon——! And to go and creep into his lair like a wounded animal——
NORA.
When we _must_ go, it is best to go silently. Don’t you think so,
Torvald?
HELMER.
[_Walking up and down._] He had so grown into our lives, I can’t realise
that he is gone. He and his sufferings and his loneliness formed a sort
of cloudy background to the sunshine of our happiness.—Well, perhaps
it’s best as it is—at any rate for him. [_Stands still._] And perhaps
for us too, Nora. Now we two are thrown entirely upon each other.
[_Takes her in his arms._] My darling wife! I feel as if I could never
hold you close enough. Do you know, Nora, I often wish some danger might
threaten you, that I might risk body and soul, and everything,
everything, for your dear sake.
NORA.
[_Tears herself from him and says firmly._] Now you shall read your
letters, Torvald.
HELMER.
No, no; not to-night. I want to be with you, my sweet wife.
NORA.
With the thought of your dying friend——?
HELMER.
You are right. This has shaken us both. Unloveliness has come between
us—thoughts of death and decay. We must seek to cast them off. Till
then—we will remain apart.
NORA.
[_Her arms round his neck._] Torvald! Goodnight! good-night!
HELMER.
[_Kissing her forehead!_] Good-night, my little song-bird. Sleep well,
Nora. Now I shall go and read my letters.
[_He goes with the letters in his hand into his room and shuts
the door._
NORA.