fellow——
THE CHAMBERLAIN.
In what way?
FIELDBO.
Quite simply: by acknowledging the signature.
THE CHAMBERLAIN.
Then you think, Doctor, that we stick at nothing in our family?
FIELDBO.
I am trying to think for the best, Chamberlain.
THE CHAMBERLAIN.
And do you believe for a moment that I can tell a lie?—that I can play
into the hands of forgers?
FIELDBO.
And do you realise what will be the consequences if you do not?
THE CHAMBERLAIN.
The offender must settle that with the law.
[_He goes out to the left._
ACT FOURTH.
_A public room in_ MADAM RUNDHOLMEN’S _hotel. Entrance door in the back;
a smaller door on either side. A window on the right; before it, a
table with writing materials; further back, in the middle of the
room, another table._
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
[_Within, on the left, heard talking loudly._] Oh, let them go about
their business! Tell them they’ve come here to vote and not to drink. If
they won’t wait, they can do the other thing.
STENSGÅRD.
[_Enters by the back._] Good-morning! H’m, h’m, Madam Rundholmen! [_Goes
to the door on the left and knocks._] Good-morning, Madam Rundholmen!
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
[_Within._] Oh! Who’s there?
STENSGÅRD.
It is I—Stensgård. May I come in?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
No, indeed you mustn’t! No! I’m not dress’d.
STENSGÅRD.
What? Are you so late to-day?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Oh, I can tell you I’ve been up since all hours; but one must look a
little decent, you know. [_Peeps out, with a kerchief over her head._]
Well, what is it? No, you really mustn’t look at me, Mr. Stensgård.—Oh,
there’s some one else!
[_Disappears, slamming the door to._
ASLAKSEN.
[_Enters from the back with a bundle of papers._] Good morning, Mr.
Stensgård.
STENSGÅRD.
Well, is it in?
ASLAKSEN.
Yes, here it is. Look—“The Independence Day Celebrations—From our
Special Correspondent.” Here’s the founding of the League on the other
side, and your speech up here. I’ve leaded all the abuse.
STENSGÅRD.
It seems to me it’s all leaded.
ASLAKSEN.
Pretty nearly.
STENSGÅRD.
And the extra number was of course distributed yesterday?
ASLAKSEN.
Of course; all over the district, both to subscribers and others. Would
you like to see it?
[_Hands him a copy._
STENSGÅRD.
[_Running his eye over the paper._] “Our respected member, Mr.
Lundestad, proposes to resign ... long and faithful service ... in the
words of the poet: 'Rest, patriot, it is thy due!'” H’m! “The
association founded on Independence Day: the League of Youth ... Mr.
Stensgård, the guiding intelligence of the League ... timely reforms,
credit on easier terms.” Ah, that’s very good. Has the polling begun?
ASLAKSEN.
It’s in full swing. The whole League is on the spot—both voters and
others.
STENSGÅRD.
Oh, deuce take the others—between ourselves, of course. Well, you go
down and talk to the waverers.
ASLAKSEN.
All right.
STENSGÅRD.
You can tell them that I am pretty much at one with Lundestad——
ASLAKSEN.
Trust to me; I know the local situation.
STENSGÅRD.
One thing more; just to oblige me, Aslaksen, don’t drink to-day.
ASLAKSEN.
Oh, what do you mean——!
STENSGÅRD.
We’ll have a jolly evening when it’s all over; but remember what you, as
well as I, have at stake; your paper——Come, now, my good fellow, let me
see that you can——
ASLAKSEN.
There, that’s enough now; I’m old enough to look after myself.
[_Goes out to the right._
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
[_Enters from the left, elaborately dressed._] Now, Mr. Stensgård, I’m
at your service. Is it anything of importance——?
STENSGÅRD.
No, only that I want you to be good enough to let me know when Mr.
Monsen comes.
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
He won’t be here to-day.
STENSGÅRD.
Not to-day?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
No; he drove past here at four this morning; he’s always driving about
nowadays. What’s more, he came in and roused me out of bed—he wanted to
borrow money, you must know.
STENSGÅRD.
Monsen did?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Yes. He’s a tremendous man to get through money is Monsen. I hope things
may turn out all right for him. And I say the same to you; for I hear
you’re going into Parliament.
STENSGÅRD.
I? Nonsense. Who told you so?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Oh, some of Mr. Lundestad’s people.
DANIEL HEIRE.
[_Enters from the back._] Hee-hee! Good-morning! I’m not in the way, am
I?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Gracious, no!
HEIRE.
Good God, how resplendent! Can it be for me that you’ve got yourself up
like this?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Of course. It’s for you bachelors we get ourselves up, isn’t it?
HEIRE.
For marrying men, Madam Rundholmen; for marrying men! Unfortunately, my
law-suits take up all my time——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Oh, nonsense; you’ve always plenty of time to get married.
HEIRE.
No; deuce take me if I have! Marriage is a thing you’ve got to give your
whole mind to. Well, well—if you can’t have me, you must put up with
somebody else. For you ought to marry again.
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Now, do you know, I’m sometimes of the same opinion.
HEIRE.
Naturally; when once one has tasted the joys of matrimony——Of course,
poor Rundholmen was one in a thousand——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Well, I won’t go so far as that; he was a bit rough, and rather too fond
of his glass; but a husband’s always a husband.
HEIRE.
Very true, Madam Rundholmen; a husband’s a husband, and a widow’s a
widow——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
And business is business. Oh, when I think of all I’ve got to attend to,
I don’t know whether I’m on my heels or my head. Every one wants to buy;
but when it comes to paying, I’ve got to go in for summonses and
executions, and Lord knows what. Upon my word, I’ll soon have to engage
a lawyer all to myself.
HEIRE.
I’ll tell you what, Madam Rundholmen, you should retain Mr. Stensgård;
he’s a bachelor.
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Oh, how you do talk! I won’t listen to a word more.
[_Goes out to the right._
HEIRE.
A substantial woman, sir! Comfortable and well-preserved; no children up
to date; money well invested. Education too; she’s widely read, sir.
STENSGÅRD.
Widely read, eh?
HEIRE.
Hee-hee; she ought to be; she had charge of Alm’s circulating library
for a couple of years. But your head’s full of other things to-day, I
daresay.
STENSGÅRD.
Not at all; I don’t even know that I shall vote. Who are you going to
vote for, Mr. Heire?
HEIRE.
Haven’t got a vote, sir. There was only one kennel that would qualify in
the market, and that you bought.
STENSGÅRD.
If you’re at a loss for a lodging, I’ll give it up to you.
HEIRE.
Hee-hee, you’re joking. Ah, youth, youth! What a pleasant humour it has!
But now I must be off and have a look at the menagerie. I’m told your
whole League is afoot. [_Sees_ FIELDBO, _who enters from the back._]
Here’s the Doctor too! I suppose you have come on a scientific mission?
FIELDBO.
A scientific mission?
HEIRE.
Yes, to study the epidemic; you’ve heard of the virulent _rabies
agitatoria_ that has broken out? God be with you, my dear young friends?
[_Goes out to the right._
STENSGÅRD.
Tell me quickly—have you seen the Chamberlain to-day?
FIELDBO.
Yes.
STENSGÅRD.
And what did he say?
FIELDBO.
What did he say?
STENSGÅRD.
Yes; you know I have written to him.
FIELDBO.
Have you? What did you write?
STENSGÅRD.
That I am still of the same mind about his daughter; that I want to talk
the matter over with him; and that I propose to call on him to-morrow.
FIELDBO.
If I were you, I should at least defer my visit. It is the Chamberlain’s
birthday to-morrow; a crowd of people will be there——
STENSGÅRD.
That’s all right; the more the better. I hold big cards in my hand, let
me tell you.
FIELDBO.
And perhaps you have bluffed a little with your big cards?
STENSGÅRD.
How do you mean?
FIELDBO.
I mean you have perhaps embellished your declaration of love with a few
little threats or so?
STENSGÅRD.
Fieldbo, you have seen the letter!
FIELDBO.
No, I assure you——
STENSGÅRD.
Well then, frankly—I _have_ threatened him.
FIELDBO.
Ah! Then I have, in a way, an answer to your letter.
STENSGÅRD.
An answer? Out with it, man!
FIELDBO.
[_Shows him a sealed paper._] Look here—the Chamberlain’s proxy.
STENSGÅRD.
And who does he vote for?
FIELDBO.
Not for you, at any rate.
STENSGÅRD.
For whom then? For whom?
FIELDBO.
For the Sheriff and the Provost.[19]
STENSGÅRD.
What! Not even for Lundestad?
FIELDBO.
No. And do you know why? Because Lundestad is going to propose you as
his successor.
STENSGÅRD.
He dares to do this!
FIELDBO.
Yes, he does. And he added: “If you see Stensgård, you can tell him how
I am voting; it will show him on what footing we stand.”
STENSGÅRD.
Good; since he will have it so!
FIELDBO.
Take care; it’s dangerous to tug at an old tower—it may come down on
your head.
STENSGÅRD.
Oh, I have learnt wisdom in these two days.
FIELDBO.
Indeed? You’re not so wise but that you let old Lundestad lead you by
the nose.
STENSGÅRD.
Do you think I haven’t seen through Lundestad? Do you think I don’t
understand that he took me up because he thought I had won over the
Chamberlain, and because he wanted to break up our League and keep
Monsen out?
FIELDBO.
But now that he knows you haven’t won over the Chamberlain——
STENSGÅRD.
He has gone too far to draw back; and I’ve made good use of the time,
and scattered announcements broadcast. Most of his supporters will
abstain from voting; mine are all here——
FIELDBO.
It’s a big stride from the preliminary election to the final election.
STENSGÅRD.
Lundestad knows very well that if he fails me in the College of
Electors, I’ll soon agitate him out of the Town Council.
FIELDBO.
Not a bad calculation. And to succeed in all this, you feel that you
must strike root here more firmly than you have as yet done?
STENSGÅRD.
Yes, these people always demand material guarantees, community of
interests——
FIELDBO.
Just so; and therefore Miss Bratsberg is to be sacrificed?
STENSGÅRD.
Sacrificed? If that were so, I should be no better than a scoundrel. But
it will be for her happiness, that I’m convinced. What now? Fieldbo, why
do you look like that? You have some underhand scheme of your own——
FIELDBO.
I?
STENSGÅRD.
Yes, you have! You are intriguing against me, behind my back. Why do you
do that? Be open with me—will you?
FIELDBO.
Frankly, I won’t. You are so dangerous, so unscrupulous—well, so
reckless at any rate, that one dare not be open with you. Whatever you
know, you make use of without hesitation. But this I say to you as a
friend: put Miss Bratsberg out of your head.
STENSGÅRD.
I cannot. I must extricate myself from these sordid surroundings. I
can’t go on living in this hugger-mugger way. Here have I got to be
hail-fellow-well-met with Dick, Tom, and Harry; to whisper in corners
with them, to hob-nob with them, to laugh at their beery witticisms; to
be hand in glove with hobbledehoys and unlicked cubs. How can I keep my
love of the People untarnished in the midst of all this? I feel as if
all the electricity went out of my words. I have no elbow-room, no fresh
air to breathe. Oh, a longing comes over me at times for exquisite
women! I want something that brings beauty with it! I lie here in a sort
of turbid eddy, while out there the clear blue current sweeps past
me——But what can _you_ understand of all this!
LUNDESTAD.
[_Enters from the back._] Ah, here we are. Good-morning, gentlemen.
STENSGÅRD.
I have news for you, Mr. Lundestad! Do you know who the Chamberlain is
voting for?
FIELDBO.
Silence! It’s dishonourable of you.
STENSGÅRD.
What do I care? He is voting for the Sheriff and the Provost.
LUNDESTAD.
Oh, that was to be expected. You went and ruined your chances with
him—though I implored you to play your cards neatly.
STENSGÅRD.
I shall play them neatly enough—in future.
FIELDBO.
Take care—two can play at that game.
[_Goes out to the right._
STENSGÅRD.
That fellow has something up his sleeve. Have you any idea what it can
be?
LUNDESTAD.
No, I haven’t. But, by-the-bye, I see you are flourishing in the paper
to-day.
STENSGÅRD.
I?
LUNDESTAD.
Yes, with a nice little epitaph on me.
STENSGÅRD.
Oh, that’s that beast Aslaksen, of course——
LUNDESTAD.
Your attack on the Chamberlain is in too.
STENSGÅRD.
I don’t know anything about that. If it’s to be war between the
Chamberlain and me, I have sharper weapons.
LUNDESTAD.
Indeed!
STENSGÅRD.
Have you ever seen this bill? Look at it. Is it good?
LUNDESTAD.
Good, you say? This bill here?
STENSGÅRD.
Yes, look closely at it.
HEIRE.
[_Enters from the right._] Why, what the deuce can be the meaning
of——Ah, how interesting! Do remain as you are, gentlemen, I beg! Do you
know what you irresistibly remind me of? Of a summer night in the Far
North.
LUNDESTAD.
That’s a curious simile.
HEIRE.
A very obvious one—the setting and the rising sun together. Delightful,
delightful! But, talking of that, what the deuce is the matter outside
there? Your fellow citizens are scuttling about like frightened fowls,
cackling and crowing and not knowing what perch to settle on.
STENSGÅRD.
Well, it’s an occasion of great importance.
HEIRE.
Oh, you and your importance! No, it’s something quite different, my dear
friends. There are whispers of a great failure; a bankruptcy—oh, not
political, Mr. Lundestad; I don’t mean that!
STENSGÅRD.
A bankruptcy?
HEIRE.
Hee-hee! That puts life into our legal friend. Yes, a bankruptcy; some
one is on his last legs; the axe is laid to the root of the tree——I say
no more! Two strange gentlemen have been seen driving past; but where
to? To whose address? Do you know anything, Mr. Lundestad?
LUNDESTAD.
I know how to hold my tongue, Mr. Heire.
HEIRE.
Of course; you are a statesman, a diplomatist. But I must be off and
find out all I can about it. It’s such sport with these heroes of
finance: they are like beads on a string—when one slips off, all the
rest follow.
[_Goes out by the back._
STENSGÅRD.
Is there any truth in all this gossip?
LUNDESTAD.
You showed me a bill; I thought I saw young Mr. Bratsberg’s name upon
it?
STENSGÅRD.
The Chamberlain’s too.
LUNDESTAD.
And you asked me if it was good?
STENSGÅRD.
Yes; just look at it.
LUNDESTAD.
It’s perhaps not so good as it might be.
STENSGÅRD.
You see it then?
LUNDESTAD.
What?
STENSGÅRD.
That it is a forgery.
LUNDESTAD.
A forgery? Forged bills are often the safest; people redeem them first.
STENSGÅRD.
But what do you think? Isn’t it a forgery?
LUNDESTAD.
I don’t much like the look of it.
STENSGÅRD.
How so?
LUNDESTAD.
I’m afraid there are too many of these about, Mr. Stensgård.
STENSGÅRD.
What! It’s not possible that——?
LUNDESTAD.
If young Mr. Bratsberg slips off the string, those nearest him are only
too likely to follow.
STENSGÅRD.
[_Seizes his arm._] What do you mean by those nearest him?
LUNDESTAD.
Who can be nearer than father and son?
STENSGÅRD.
Why, good God——!
LUNDESTAD.
Remember, I say nothing! It was Daniel Heire that was talking of failure
and bankruptcy and——
STENSGÅRD.
This is a thunderbolt to me.
LUNDESTAD.
Oh, many a man that seemed solid enough has gone to the wall before now.
Perhaps he’s too good-natured; goes and backs bills; ready money isn’t
always to be had; property has to be sold for an old song——
STENSGÅRD.
And of course this falls on—falls on the children as well.
LUNDESTAD.
Yes, I’m heartily grieved for Miss Bratsberg. She didn’t get much from
her mother; and heaven knows if even the little she has is secured.
STENSGÅRD.
Oh, now I understand Fieldbo’s advice! He’s a true friend, after all.
LUNDESTAD.
What did Doctor Fieldbo say?
STENSGÅRD.
He was too loyal to say anything, but I understand him all the same. And
now I understand you too, Mr. Lundestad.
LUNDESTAD.
Have you not understood me before?
STENSGÅRD.
Not thoroughly. I forgot the proverb about the rats and the sinking
ship.
LUNDESTAD.
That’s not a very nice way to put it. But what’s the matter with you?
You look quite ill. Good God, I haven’t gone and blasted your hopes,
have I?
STENSGÅRD.
How do you mean?
LUNDESTAD.
Yes, yes—I see it all. Old fool that I am! My dear Mr. Stensgård, if you
really love the girl, what does it matter whether she is rich or poor?
STENSGÅRD.
Matter? No, of course——
LUNDESTAD.
Good Lord, we all know happiness isn’t a matter of money.
STENSGÅRD.
Of course not.
LUNDESTAD.
And with industry and determination you’ll soon be on your feet again.
Don’t let poverty frighten you. I know what love is; I went into all
that in my young days. A happy home; a faithful woman——! My dear young
friend, beware how you take any step that may involve you in life-long
self-reproach.
STENSGÅRD.
But what will become of your plans?
LUNDESTAD.
Oh, they must go as best they can. I couldn’t think of demanding the
sacrifice of your heart!
STENSGÅRD.
But I will make the sacrifice. Yes, I will show you that I have the
strength for it. Think of the longing multitude out there: they claim me
with a sort of voiceless pathos. I cannot, I dare not, fail them!
LUNDESTAD.
Yes, but the stake in the district——?
STENSGÅRD.
I shall take measures to fulfil the demands of my fellow citizens in
that respect, Mr. Lundestad. I see a way, a new way; and I will follow
it up. I renounce the happiness of toiling in obscurity for the woman I
love. I say to my fellow countrymen: “Here I am—take me!”
LUNDESTAD.
[_Looks at him in quiet admiration and presses his hand._] You are
indeed a man of rare gifts, Mr. Stensgård.
[_Goes out to the right._
[STENSGÅRD _paces the room several times, now stopping for a
moment at the window, now running his fingers through his
hair. Presently_ BASTIAN MONSEN _enters from the back._
BASTIAN.
Here I am, my dear friend.[20]
STENSGÅRD.
Where have you come from?
BASTIAN.
From the Nation.
STENSGÅRD.
The Nation? What does that mean?
BASTIAN.
Don’t you know what the Nation means? It means the People; the common
people; those who have nothing, and are nothing; those who lie chained——
STENSGÅRD.
What monkey-tricks are these, I should like to know?
BASTIAN.
Monkey-tricks?
STENSGÅRD.
I have noticed lately that you go about mimicking me; you imitate even
my clothes and my handwriting. Be kind enough to stop that.
BASTIAN.
What do you mean? Don’t we belong to the same party?
STENSGÅRD.
Yes, but I won’t put up with this—you make yourself ridiculous——
BASTIAN.
By being like you?
STENSGÅRD.
By aping me. Be sensible now, Monsen, and give it up. It’s quite
disgusting. But look here—can you tell me when your father is coming
back?
BASTIAN.
I have no idea. I believe he’s gone to Christiania; he may not be back
for a week or so.
STENSGÅRD.
Indeed? I’m sorry for that. He has a big stroke of business on hand, I
hear.
BASTIAN.
I have a big stroke of business on hand too. Look here, Stensgård, you
must do me a service.
STENSGÅRD.
Willingly. What is it?
BASTIAN.
I feel so full of energy. I have to thank you for that; you have
stimulated me. I feel I must do something, Stensgård:—I want to get
married.
STENSGÅRD.
To get married? To whom?
BASTIAN.
Sh! Some one in this house.
STENSGÅRD.
Madam Rundholmen?
BASTIAN.
Sh! Yes, it’s her. Put in a good word for me, do! This sort of thing is
just the thing for me. She’s in the swim, you know; she’s on the best of
terms with the Chamberlain’s people, ever since her sister was
housekeeper there. If I get her, perhaps I shall get the town-contracts
too. So that on the whole—damn it, I love her!
STENSGÅRD.
Oh, love, love! Have done with that sickening hypocrisy.
BASTIAN.
Hypocrisy!
STENSGÅRD.
Yes; you are lying to yourself, at any rate. You talk in one breath of
town-contracts and of love. Why not call a spade a spade? There’s
something sordid about all this; I will have nothing to do with it.
BASTIAN.
But listen——!
STENSGÅRD.
Do your dirty work yourself, I say! [_To_ FIELDBO, _who enters from the
right._] Well, how goes the election?
FIELDBO.
Excellently for you, it appears. I saw Lundestad just now; he said you
were getting all the votes.
STENSGÅRD.
Am I indeed?
FIELDBO.
But what good will they do you? Since you’re not a man of property——
STENSGÅRD.
[_Between his teeth._] Isn’t it confounded!
FIELDBO.
Well, you can’t do two things at once. If you win on the one side, you
must be content to lose on the other. Good-bye!
[_Goes out by the back._
BASTIAN.
What did he mean by winning and losing?
STENSGÅRD.
I’ll tell you afterwards. But now, my dear Monsen—to return to what we
were talking about—I promised to put in a good word for you——
BASTIAN.
You promised? On the contrary, I thought you said——?
STENSGÅRD.
Oh, nonsense; you didn’t let me explain myself fully. What I meant was
that there is something sordid in mixing up your love with
town-contracts and so forth; it is an offence against all that is
noblest in your nature. So, my dear friend, if you really love the
girl——
BASTIAN.
The widow——
STENSGÅRD.
Yes, yes; it’s all the same. I mean when one really loves a woman, that
in itself should be a conclusive reason——
BASTIAN.
Yes, that’s just what I think. So you’ll speak for me, will you?
STENSGÅRD.
Yes, with great pleasure—but on one condition.
BASTIAN.
What’s that?
STENSGÅRD.
Tit for tat, my dear Bastian—you must put in a word for me too.
BASTIAN.
I? With whom?
STENSGÅRD.
Have you really not noticed anything? Yet it’s before your very nose.
BASTIAN.
You surely don’t mean——?
STENSGÅRD.
Your sister Ragna? Yes, it is she. Oh, you don’t know how I have been
moved by the sight of her quiet, self-sacrificing devotion to her home——
BASTIAN.
Do you really mean to say so?
STENSGÅRD.
And you, with your penetrating eye, have suspected nothing?
BASTIAN.
Yes, at one time I did think——; but now people are talking of your
hanging about the Chamberlain’s——
STENSGÅRD.
Oh, the Chamberlain’s! Well, Monsen, I’ll tell you frankly that for a
moment I did hesitate; but, thank goodness, that is over; now I see my
way quite clear before me.
BASTIAN.
There’s my hand. I’ll back you up, you may be sure. And as for
Ragna—why, she daren’t do anything but what I and father wish.
STENSGÅRD.
Yes, but your father—that’s just what I wanted to say——
BASTIAN.
Sh! There—I hear Madam Rundholmen. Now’s your chance to speak for me, if
she’s not too busy; for then she’s apt to be snappish. You do your best,
my dear fellow, and leave the rest to me. Do you happen to have seen
Aslaksen?
STENSGÅRD.
He’s probably at the polling-booth.
[BASTIAN _goes out by the back, as_ MADAM RUNDHOLMEN _enters
from the right._
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Things are going as smooth as possible, Mr. Stensgård; every one is
voting for you.
STENSGÅRD.
That’s very odd.
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Goodness knows what Monsen of Stonelee will say.
STENSGÅRD.
I want a word with you, Madam Rundholmen.
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Well, what is it?
STENSGÅRD.
Will you listen to me?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Lord yes, that I will.
STENSGÅRD.
Well then: you were talking just now about being alone in the world——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Oh, it was that horrid old Heire——
STENSGÅRD.
You were saying how hard it is for an unprotected widow——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Yes, indeed; you should just try it, Mr. Stensgård!
STENSGÅRD.
But now if there came a fine young man——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
A fine young man?
STENSGÅRD.
One who had long loved you in secret——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Oh, come now, Mr. Stensgård, I won’t hear any more of your nonsense.
STENSGÅRD.
You must! A young man who, like yourself, finds it hard to be alone in
the world——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Well, what then? I don’t understand you at all.
STENSGÅRD.
If you could make two people happy, Madam Rundholmen—yourself and——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
And a fine young man?
STENSGÅRD.
Just so; now, answer me——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Mr. Stensgård, you can’t be in earnest?
STENSGÅRD.
You don’t suppose I would jest on such a subject? Should you be
disposed——?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Yes, that I am, the Lord knows! Oh, you dear, sweet——
STENSGÅRD.
[_Recoiling a step._] What is this?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Bother, here comes some one!
RAGNA MONSEN _enters hastily, and in evident disquietude,
from the back._
RAGNA.
I beg your pardon—isn’t my father here?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Your father? Yes; no;—I—I don’t know—excuse me——
RAGNA.
Where is he?
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Your father? Oh, he drove past here——
STENSGÅRD.
Towards Christiania.
RAGNA.
No; it’s impossible——
MADAM RUNDHOLMEN.
Yes, I know for certain he drove down the road. Oh, my dear Miss Monsen,
you can’t think how happy I am! Wait a moment—I’ll just run to the
cellar, and fetch up a bottle of the real thing.
[_Goes out to the left._
STENSGÅRD.
Tell me, Miss Monsen—is it really your father you are looking for?
RAGNA.
Yes, of course it is.