Henrik Ibsen — The Master Builder Act 1

        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 draughtmen's office,         on the table in the corner, and on the desk.         In the draughtsmen's office sit KNUT BROVIK and his son RAGNAR,         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, with 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 and 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 is 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 lapels. 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] 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 Lovstrand. 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. 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 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 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 may 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 every day. [Appealingly.] 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         I 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 Lovstrand. 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! 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 [Rise with difficulty.] Then I am to pass out of life without any certainty? Without a gleam of happiness? Without any faith or trust in Ragnar? Without having seen a single piece of work of his doing? Is that to be the way of it? SOLNESS         [Turns half aside, and mutters.] H'm—don't ask more just now. BROVIK         I must have an answer to this one question. Am I to pass out of life in such utter poverty? SOLNESS         [Seems to struggle with himself; finally he says, in a low but firm voice:] You must pass out of life as best you can. BROVIK         Then be it so. [He goes up the room. SOLNESS         [Following him, half is desperation.] Don't you understand that I cannot help it? I am what I am, and I cannot change my nature! BROVIK         No; I suppose that you can't. [Reels and supports himself against the sofa-table.] May I have a glass of water? SOLNESS         By all means. [Fills a glass and hands it to him. BROVIK         Thanks. [Drinks and puts the glass down again.                 [SOLNESS goes up and opens the door of the draughtsmen's office. SOLNESS         Ragnar—you must come and take your father home.                 Ragnar rises quickly. He and KAIA come into the work-room. RAGNAR         What is the matter, father? BROVIK         Give me your arm. Now let us go. RAGNAR         Very well. You had better put your things on, too, Kaia. SOLNESS         Miss Fosli must stay—just for a moment. There is a letter I want written. BROVIK         [Looks at SOLNESS.] Good night. Sleep well—if you can. SOLNESS         Good night.                 [BROVIK and RAGNAR go out by the hall-door. KAIA goes to the desk. SOLNESS stands with bent head, to the right, by the arm-chair. . KAIA         [Dubiously.] Is there any letter? SOLNESS         [Curtly.] No, of course not. [Looks sternly at her.] Kaia! KAIA         [Anxiously, in a low voice.] Yes! SOLNESS         [Points imperatively to a spot on the floor.] Come here! At once! KAIA         [Hesitatingly.] Yes. SOLNESS         [As before.] Nearer! KAIA         [Obeying.] What do you want with me? SOLNESS         [Looks at her for a while.] Is it you I have to thank for all this? KAIA         No, no, don't think that! SOLNESS         But confess now—you want to get married! KAIA         [Softly.] Ragnar and I have been engaged for four or five years, and so— SOLNESS         And so you think it time there were an end of it. Is not that so? KAIA         Ragnar and Uncle say I must. So I suppose I shall have to give in. SOLNESS         [More gently.] Kaia, don't you really care a little bit for Ragnar, too? KAIA         I cared very much for Ragnar once—before I came here to you. SOLNESS         But you don't now? Not in the least? KAIA         [Passionately, clasping hands and holding them out towards him.] Oh, you know very well there is only one person I care for now! I shall never care for any one else. SOLNESS         Yes, you say that. And yet you go away from me—leave me alone here with everything on my hands. KAIA         But could I not stay with you, even if Ragnar—? SOLNESS         [Repudiating the idea.] No, no, that is quite impossible. If Ragnar leaves me and starts work on his own account, then of course he will need you himself. KAIA         [Wringing her hands.] Oh, I feel as if I could not be separated from you! It's quite, quite impossible! SOLNESS         Then be sure you get those foolish notions out of Ragnar's head. Marry him as much as you please—[Alters his tone.] I mean—don't let him throw up his good situation with me. For then I can keep you too, my dear Kaia. KAIA         Oh yes, how lovely that would be, if it could only be managed! SOLNESS         [Clasps her head with his two hands and whispers.] For I cannot get on without you, you see. I must have you with me every single day. KAIA         [In nervous exaltation.] My God! My God! SOLNESS         [Kisses her hair.] Kaia—Kaia! KAIA         [Sinks down before him.] Oh, how good you are to me! How unspeakably good you are! SOLNESS         [Vehemently.] Get up! For goodness' sake get up! I think I hear some one.                 [He helps her to rise. She staggers over to the desk.         MRS. SOLNESS enters by the door on the right. She looks thin         and wasted with grief, but shows traces of bygone beauty.         Blonde ringlets. Dressed with good taste, wholly in black.         Speaks some-what slowly and in a plaintive voice. . MRS. SOLNESS         [In the doorway.] Halvard! SOLNESS         [Turns.] Oh, are you there, my dear—? MRS. SOLNESS         [With a glance at KAIA.] I am afraid I am disturbing you. SOLNESS         Not in the least. Miss Fosli has only a short letter to write. MRS. SOLNESS         Yes, so I see. SOLNESS         What do you want with me, Aline? MRS. SOLNESS         I merely wanted to tell you that Dr. Herdal is in the drawing-room. Won't you come and see him, Halvard? SOLNESS         [Looks suspiciously at her.]. H'm—is the doctor so very anxious to see me? MRS. SOLNESS         Well, not exactly anxious. He really came to see me; but he would like to say how-do-you-do to you at the same time. SOLNESS         [Laughs to himself.] Yes, I daresay. Well, you must ask him to wait a little. MRS. SOLNESS         Then you will come in presently? SOLNESS         Perhaps I will. Presently, presently, dear. In a little while. MRS. SOLNESS         [Glancing again at KAIA.] Well now, don't forget, Halvard.                 [Withdraws and closes the door behind her. . KAIA         [Softly.] Oh dear, oh dear—I am sure Mrs. Solness thinks ill of me in some way! SOLNESS         Oh, not in the least. Not more than usual at any rate. But all the same, you had better go now, Kaia. KAIA         Yes, yes, now I must go. SOLNESS         [Severely.] And mind you get that matter settled for me. Do you hear? KAIA         Oh, if it only depended on me— SOLNESS         I will have it settled, I say! And to-morrow too—not a day later! KAIA         [Terrified.] If there's nothing else for it, I am quite willing to break off the engagement. SOLNESS         [Angrily.] Break it off. Are you mad? Would you think of breaking it off? KAIA         [Distracted.] Yes, if necessary. For I must—I must stay here with you! I can't leave you! That is utterly—utterly impossible! SOLNESS         [With a sudden outburst.] But deuce take it—how about Ragnar then! It's Ragnar that I— KAIA         [Looks at him with terrified eyes.] It is chiefly on Ragnar's account, that—that you—? SOLNESS         [Collecting himself.] No, no, of course not! You don't understand me either. [Gently and softly.] Of course it is you I want to keep.—you above everything, Kaia. But for that very reason, you must prevent Ragnar, too, from throwing up his situation. There, there,—now go home. KAIA         Yes, yes—good-night, then. SOLNESS         Good night. [As she is going.] Oh, stop a moment! Are Ragnar's drawings in there? KAIA         I did not see him take them with him. SOLNESS         Then just go and find them for me. I might perhaps glance over them, after all. KAIA         [Happy.] Oh yes, please do! SOLNESS         For your sake, Kaia dear. Now, let me have them at once, please.                 [KAIA hurries into the draughtsmen's office, searches anxiously                 in the table-drawer, finds a portfolio and brings it with her. . KAIA         Here are all the drawings. SOLNESS         Good. Put them down there on the table. KAIA         [Putting down the portfolio.] Good night, then. [Beseechingly.] And please, please think kindly of me. SOLNESS         Oh, that I always do. Good-night, my dear little Kaia. [Glances to the right.] Go, go now!                 MRS. SOLNESS and DR. HERDAL enter by the door on the right.                 He is a stoutish, elderly man, with a round, good-humoured                 face, clean shaven, with thin, light hair, and gold spectacles. MRS. SOLNESS         [Still in the doorway.] Halvard, I cannot keep the doctor any longer. SOLNESS         Well then, come in here. MRS. SOLNESS         [To KAIA, who is turning down the desk-lamp.] Have you finished the letter already, Miss Fosli? KAIA         [In confusion.] The letter—? SOLNESS         Yes, it was quite a short one. MRS. SOLNESS         It must have been very short. SOLNESS         You may go now, Miss Fosli. And please come in good time to-morrow morning. KAIA         I will be sure to. Good-night,                 [She goes out by the hall door. . SOLNESS         Are you in a hurry, doctor? DR. HERDAL         No, not at all. SOLNESS         May I have a little chat with you? DR. HERDAL         With the greatest of pleasure. SOLNESS         Then let us sit down. [He motions the doctor to take the rocking-chair, and sits down himself in the arm-chair. Looks searchingly at him.] Tell me—did you notice anything odd about Aline? DR. HERDAL         Do you mean just now, when she was here? SOLNESS         Yes, in her manner to me. Did you notice anything? DR. HERDAL         [Smiling.] Well, I admit—one couldn't well avoid noticing that your wife—h'm—         DR. HERDAL. —that your wife is not particularly fond of this Miss Fosli. SOLNESS         Is that all? I have noticed that myself. DR. HERDAL         And I must say I am scarcely surprised at it. SOLNESS         At what? DR. HERDAL         That she should not exactly approve of your seeing so much of another woman, all day and every day. SOLNESS         No, no, I suppose you are right there—and Aline too. But it's impossible to make any change. DR. HERDAL         Could you not engage a clerk? SOLNESS         The first man that came to hand? No, thank you—that would never do for me. DR. HERDAL         But now, if your wife—? Suppose, with her delicate health, all this tries her too much? SOLNESS         Even then—I might almost say—it can make no difference. I must keep Kaia Fosli. No one else could fill her place. DR. HERDAL         No one else? SOLNESS         [Curtly.] No, no one. DR. HERDAL         [Drawing his chair closer.] Now listen to me, my dear Mr. Solness. May I ask you a question, quite between ourselves? SOLNESS         By all means. DR. HERDAL         Women, you see—in certain matters, they have a deucedly keen intuition— SOLNESS         They have, indeed. There is not the least doubt of that. But—? DR. HERDAL         Well, tell me now—if your wife can't endure this Kaia Fosli—? SOLNESS         Well, what then?         DR. HERDAL. —may she not have just—just the least little bit of reason for this instinctive dislike? SOLNESS         [Looks at him and rises.] Oho! DR. HERDAL         Now don't be offended—but hasn't she? SOLNESS         [With curt decision.] No. DR. HERDAL         No reason of any sort? SOLNESS         No other than her own suspicious nature. DR. HERDAL         I know you have known a good many women in your time. SOLNESS         Yes, I have. DR. HERDAL         And have been a good deal taken with some of them, too. SOLNESS         Oh yes, I don't deny it. DR. HERDAL         But as regards Miss Fosli, then? There is nothing of that sort in this case? SOLNESS         No; nothing at all—on my side. DR. HERDAL         But on her side? SOLNESS         I don't think you have any right to ask that question, doctor. DR. HERDAL         Well, you know, we were discussing your wife's intuition. SOLNESS         So we were. And for that matter—[lowers his voice]—Aline's intuition, as you call it—in a certain sense, it has not been so far astray. DR. HERDAL         Aha! there we have it! SOLNESS         [Sits down.] Doctor Herdal—I am going to tell you a strange story—if you care to listen to it. DR. HERDAL         I like listening to strange stories. SOLNESS         Very well then. I daresay you recollect that I took Knut Brovik and his son into my employment—after the old man's business had gone to the dogs. DR. HERDAL         Yes, so I have understood. SOLNESS         You see, they really are clever fellows, these two. Each of them has talent in his own way. But then the son took it into his head to get engaged; and the next thing, of course, was that he wanted to get married—and begin to build on his own account. That is the way with all these young people. DR. HERDAL         [Laughing.] Yes, they have a bad habit of wanting to marry. SOLNESS         Just so. But of course that did not suit my plans; for I needed Ragnar myself—and the old man too. He is exceedingly good at calculating bearing strains and cubic contents—and all that sort of devilry, you know. DR. HERDAL         Oh yes, no doubt that's indispensable. SOLNESS         Yes, it is. But Ragnar was absolutely bent on setting to work for himself. He would hear of nothing else. DR. HERDAL         But he has stayed with you all the same. SOLNESS         Yes, I'll tell you how that came about. One day this girl, Kaia Fosli, came to see them on some errand or other. She had never been here before. And when I saw how utterly infatuated they were with each other, the thought occurred to me: if I cold only get her into the office here, then perhaps Ragnar too would stay where he is. DR. HERDAL         That was not at all a bad idea. SOLNESS         Yes, but at the time I did not breathe a word of what was in my mind. I merely stood and looked at her—and kept on wishing intently that I could have her here. Then I talked to her a little, in a friendly way—about one thing and another. And then she went away. DR. HERDAL         Well? SOLNESS         Well then, next day, pretty late in the evening, when old Brovik and Ragnar had gone home, she came here again, and behaved as if I had made an arrangement with her. DR. HERDAL         An arrangement? What about? SOLNESS         About the very thing my mind had been fixed on. But I hadn't said one single word about it. DR. HERDAL         That was most extraordinary. SOLNESS         Yes, was it not? And now she wanted to know what she was to do here—whether she could begin the very next morning, and so forth. DR. HERDAL         Don't you think she did it in order to be with her sweetheart? SOLNESS         That was what occurred to me at first. But no, that was not it. She seemed to drift quite away from him—when once she had come here to me. DR. HERDAL         She drifted over to you, then? SOLNESS         Yes, entirely. If I happen to look at her when her back is turned, I can tell that she feels it. She quivers and trembles the moment I come near her. What do you think of that? DR. HERDAL         H'm—that's not very hard to explain. SOLNESS         Well, but what about the other thing? That she believed I had said to her what I had only wished and willed—silently—inwardly—to myself? What do you say to that? Can you explain that, Dr. Herdal? DR. HERDAL         No, I won't undertake to do that. SOLNESS         I felt sure you would not; and so I have never cared to talk about it till now.—But it's a cursed nuisance to me in the long run, you understand. Here have I got to go on day after day, pretending—. And it's a shame to treat her so, too, poor girl. [Vehemently.] But I cannot do anything else. For if she runs away from me—then Ragnar will be off too. DR. HERDAL         And you have not told your wife the rights of the story? SOLNESS         No. DR. HERDAL         The why on earth don't you? SOLNESS         [Looks fixedly at him, and says in a low voice:] Because I seem to find a sort of—of salutary self-torture in allowing Aline to do me an injustice. DR. HERDAL         [Shakes his head.] I don't in the least understand what you mean. SOLNESS         Well, you see—it is like paying off a little bit of a huge, immeasurable debt— DR. HERDAL         To your wife? SOLNESS         Yes; and that always helps to relieve one's mind a little. One can breathe more freely for a while, you understand. DR. HERDAL         No, goodness knows, I don't understand at all— SOLNESS         [Breaking off, rises again.] Well, well, well—then we won't talk any more about it. [He saunters across the room, returns, and stops beside the table. Looks at the doctor with a sly smile.] I suppose you think you have drawn me out nicely now, doctor? DR. HERDAL         [With some irritation.] Drawn you out? Again I have not the faintest notion of what you mean, Mr. Solness. SOLNESS         Oh come, out with it; I have seen it quite clearly, you know. DR. HERDAL         What have you seen? SOLNESS         [In a low voice, slowly.] That you have been quietly keeping an eye upon me. DR. HERDAL         That I have! And why in all the world should I do that? SOLNESS         Because you think that I—— [Passionately.] Well devil take it—you think the same of me as Aline does. DR. HERDAL         And what does she think about you? SOLNESS         [Having recovered his self-control.] She has begun to think that I am—that I am—ill. DR. HERDAL         Ill! You! She has never hinted such a thing to me. Why, what can she think is the matter with you? SOLNESS         [Leans over the back of the chair and whispers.] Aline has made up her mind that I am mad. That is what she thinks. DR. HERDAL         [Rising.] Why, my dear fellow—! SOLNESS         Yes, on my soul she does! I tell you it is so. And she has got you to think the same! Oh, I can assure you, doctor, I see it in your face as clearly as possible. You don't take me in so easily, I can tell you. DR. HERDAL         [Looks at him in amazement.] Never, Mr. Solness—never has such a thought entered my mind. SOLNESS         [With and incredulous smile.] Really? Has it not? DR. HERDAL         No, never! Nor your wife's mind either, I am convinced. I could almost swear to that. SOLNESS         Well, I wouldn't advise you to. For, in a certain sense, you see, perhaps—perhaps she is not so far wrong in thinking something of the kind. DR. HERDAL         Come now, I really must say— SOLNESS         [Interrupting, with a sweep of his hand.] Well, well, my dear doctor—don't let us discuss this any further. We had better agree to differ. [Changes to a tone of quiet amusement.] But look here now, doctor—h'm— DR. HERDAL         Well? SOLNESS         Since you don't believe that I am—ill—and crazy—and mad, and so forth— DR. HERDAL         What then? SOLNESS         Then I daresay you fancy that I am an extremely happy man. DR. HERDAL         Is that mere fancy? SOLNESS         [Laughs.] No, no—of course not! Heaven forbid! Only think—to be Solness the master builder! Halvard Solness! What could be more delightful? DR. HERDAL         Yes, I must say it seems to me you have had the luck on your side to an astounding degree. SOLNESS         [Suppresses a gloomy smile.] So I have. I can't complain on that score. DR. HERDAL         First of all that grim old robbers' castle was burnt down for you. And that was certainly a great piece of luck. SOLNESS         [Seriously.] It was the home of Aline's family. Remember that. DR. HERDAL         Yes, it must have been a great grief to her. SOLNESS         She has not got over it to this day—not in all these twelve or thirteen years. DR. HERDAL         But you—yourself—you rose upon the ruins. You began as a poor boy from a country village—and now you are at the head of your profession. Ah, yes, Mr. Solness, you have undoubtedly had the luck on your side. SOLNESS         [Looking at him with embarrassment.] Yes, but that is just what makes me so horribly afraid. DR. HERDAL         Afraid? Because you have the luck on your side! SOLNESS         It terrifies me—terrifies me every hour of the day. For sooner or later the luck must turn, you see. DR. HERDAL         Oh nonsense! What should make the luck turn? SOLNESS         [With firm assurance.] The younger generation! DR. HERDAL         Pooh! The younger generation! You are not laid on the shelf yet, I should hope. Oh no—your position here is probably firmer now than it has ever been. SOLNESS         The luck will turn. I know it—I feel the day approaching. Some one or other will take it into his head to say: Give me a chance! And then all the rest will come clamouring after him, and shake their fists at me and shout: Make room—make room—! Yes, just you see, doctor—presently the younger generation will come knocking at my door— DR. HERDAL         [Laughing.] Well, and what if they do? SOLNESS         What if they do? Then there's an end of Halvard Solness.                 [There is a knock at the door on the left. . SOLNESS         [Starts.] What's that? Did you not hear something? DR. HERDAL         Some one is knocking at the door. SOLNESS         [Loudly.] Come in.                 HILDA WANGEL enters by the hall door. She is of middle height,                 supple, and delicately built. Somewhat sunburnt. Dressed in                 a tourist costume, with skirt caught up for walking, a sailor's                 collar open at the throat, and a small sailor hat on her head.                 Knapsack on back, plaid in strap, and alpenstock. HILDA         [Goes straight up to SOLNESS, her eyes sparkling with happiness.] Good evening! SOLNESS         [Looks doubtfully at her.] Good evening— HILDA         [Laughs.] I almost believe you don't recognise me! SOLNESS         No—I must admit that—just for the moment— DR. HERDAL         [Approaching.] But I recognise you, my dear young lady— HILDA         [Pleased.] Oh, is it you that— DR. HERDAL         Of course it is. [To SOLNESS.] We met at one of the mountain stations this summer. [To HILDA.] What became of the other ladies? HILDA         Oh, they went westward. DR. HERDAL         They didn't much like all the fun we used to have in the evenings. HILDA         No, I believe they didn't. DR. HERDAL         [Holds up his finger at her.] And I am afraid it can't be denied that you flirted a little with us. HILDA         Well, that was better fun than to sit there knitting stockings with all those old women. DR. HERDAL         [Laughs.] There I entirely agree with you! SOLNESS         Have you come to town this evening? HILDA         Yes, I have just arrived. DR. HERDAL         Quite alone, Miss Wangel? HILDA         Oh yes! SOLNESS         Wangel? Is your name Wangel? HILDA         [Looks in amused surprise at him.] Yes, of course it is. SOLNESS         Then you must be a daughter of the district doctor up at Lysanger? HILDA         [As before.] Yes, who else's daughter should I be? SOLNESS         Oh, then I suppose we met up there, that summer when I was building a tower on the old church. HILDA         [More seriously.] Yes, of course it was then we met. SOLNESS         Well, that is a long time ago. HILDA         [Looks hard at him.] It is exactly ten years. SOLNESS         You must have been a mere child then, I should think. HILDA         [Carelessly.] Well, I was twelve or thirteen. DR. HERDAL         Is this the first time you have ever been up to town, Miss Wangel? HILDA         Yes, it is indeed. SOLNESS         And don't you know any one here? HILDA         Nobody but you. And of course, your wife. SOLNESS         So you know her, too? HILDA         Only a little. We spent a few days together at the sanatorium. SOLNESS         Ah, up there? HILDA         She said I might come and pay her a visit if ever I came up to town. [Smiles.] Not that that was necessary. SOLNESS         Odd that she should never have mentioned it.                 [HILDA puts her stick down by the stove, takes off the knapsack                 and lays it and the plaid on the sofa. DR. HERDAL offers to                 help her. SOLNESS stands and gazes at her. . HILDA         [Going towards him.] Well, now I must ask you to let me stay the night here. SOLNESS         I am sure there will be no difficulty about that. HILDA         For I have no other clothes than those I stand in, except a change of linen in my knapsack. And that has to go to the wash, for it's very dirty. SOLNESS         Oh yes, that can be managed. Now I'll just let my wife know— DR. HERDAL         Meanwhile I will go and see my patient. SOLNESS         Yes, do; and come again later on. DR. HERDAL         [Playfully, with a glance at HILDA.] Oh that I will, you may be very certain! [Laughs.] So your prediction has come true, Mr. Solness! SOLNESS         How so? DR. HERDAL         The younger generation did come knocking at your door. SOLNESS         [Cheerfully.] Yes, but in a very different way from what I meant. DR. HERDAL         Very different, yes. That's undeniable.                 [He goes out by the hall-door. SOLNESS opens the door on the                 right and speaks into the side room. . SOLNESS         Aline! Will you come in here, please. Here is a friend of yours—Miss Wangel. MRS. SOLNESS         [Appears in the doorway.] Who do you say it is? [Sees HILDA.]. Oh, is it you, Miss Wangel? SOLNESS         Miss Wangel has this moment arrived; and she would like to stay the night here. MRS. SOLNESS         Here with us? Oh yes, certainly. SOLNESS         Till she can get her things a little in order, you know. MRS. SOLNESS         I will do the best I can for you. It's no more than my duty. I suppose your trunk is coming on later? HILDA         I have no trunk. MRS. SOLNESS         Well, it will be all right, I daresay. In the meantime, you must excuse my leaving you here with my husband, until I can get a room made a little more comfortable for you. SOLNESS         Can we not give her one of the nurseries? They are all ready as it is. MRS. SOLNESS         Oh yes. There we have room and to spare. [To HILDA.] Sit down now, and rest a little. [She goes out to the right.                 [HILDA, with her hands behind her back, strolls about the room                 and looks at various objects. SOLNESS stands in front, beside                 the table, also with his hands behind his back, and follows                 her with his eyes. . HILDA         [Stops and looks at him.] Have you several nurseries? SOLNESS         There are three nurseries in the house. HILDA         That's a lot. Then I suppose you have a great many children? SOLNESS         No. We have no child. But now you can be the child here, for the time being. HILDA         For to-night, yes. I shall not cry. I mean to sleep as sound as a stone. SOLNESS         Yes, you must be very tired, I should think. HILDA         Oh no! But all the same—. It's so delicious to lie and dream. SOLNESS         Do you dream much of nights? HILDA         Oh yes! Almost always. SOLNESS         What do you dream about most? HILDA         I sha'n't tell you to-night. Another time perhaps.                 [She again strolls about the room, stops at the desk and turns                 over the books and papers a little. . SOLNESS         [Approaching.] Are you searching for anything? HILDA         No, I am merely looking at all these things. [Turns.] Perhaps I mustn't? SOLNESS         Oh, by all means. HILDA         Is it you that writes in this great ledger? SOLNESS         No, it's my book-keeper. HILDA         Is it a woman? SOLNESS         [Smiles.] Yes. HILDA         One you employ here, in your office? SOLNESS         Yes. HILDA         Is she married? SOLNESS         No, she is single. HILDA         Oh, indeed! SOLNESS         But I believe she is soon going to be married. HILDA         That's a good thing for her. SOLNESS         But not such a good thing for me. For then I shall have nobody to help me. HILDA         Can't you get hold of some one else who will do just as well? SOLNESS         Perhaps you would stay here and—and write in the ledger? HILDA         [Measures him with a glance.] Yes, I daresay! No, thank you—nothing of that sort for me.                 [She again strolls across the room, and sits down on the                 rocking-chair. SOLNESS too goes to the table. . HILDA         [Continuing.] For there must surely be plenty of other thing to be done here. [Looks smilingly at him.] Don't you think so, too? SOLNESS         Of course. First of all, I suppose, you want to make a round of the shops, and get yourself up in the height of fashion. HILDA         [Amused.] No, I think I shall let that alone! SOLNESS         Indeed? HILDA         For you must know I have run through all my money. SOLNESS         [Laughs.] Neither trunk nor money, then? HILDA         Neither one nor the other. But never mind—it doesn't matter now. SOLNESS         Come now, I like you for that. HILDA         Only for that? SOLNESS         For that among other things. [Sits in the arm-chair.] Is your father alive still? HILDA         Yes, father's alive. SOLNESS         Perhaps you are thinking of studying here? HILDA         No, that hadn't occurred to me. SOLNESS         But I suppose you will be staying for some time? HILDA         That must depend upon circumstances.                 [She sits awhile rocking herself and looking at him, half                 seriously, half with a suppressed smile. Then she takes                 off her hat and puts it on the table in front of her. . HILDA         Mr. Solness! SOLNESS         Well? HILDA         Have you a very bad memory? SOLNESS         A bad memory? No, not that I am aware of. HILDA         Then have you nothing to say to me about what happened up there? SOLNESS         [In momentary surprise.] Up at Lysanger? [Indifferently.] Why, it was nothing much to talk about it seems to me. HILDA         [Looks reproachfully at him.] How can you sit there and say such things? SOLNESS         Well, then, you talk to me about it. HILDA         When the tower was finished, we had grand doings in the town. SOLNESS         Yes, I shall not easily forget that day. HILDA         [Smiles.] Will you not? That comes well from you. SOLNESS         Comes well? HILDA         There was music in the churchyard—and many, many hundreds of people. We school-girls were dressed in white; and we all carried flags. SOLNESS         Ah yes, those flags—I can tell you I remember them! HILDA         Then you climbed right up the scaffolding, straight to the very top; and you had a great wreath with you; and you hung that wreath right away up on the weather-vane. SOLNESS         [Curtly interrupting.] I always did that in those days. It is an old custom. HILDA         It was so wonderfully thrilling to stand below and look up at you. Fancy, if he should fall over! He—the master builder himself! SOLNESS         [As if to divert her from the subject.] Yes, yes, yes, that might very will have happened, too. For one of those white-frocked little devils,—she went on in such a way, and screamed up at me so— HILDA         [Sparkling with pleasure.] "Hurrah for Master Builder Solness!" Yes!         SOLNESS. —and waved and flourished with her flag, so that I—so that it almost made me giddy to look at it. HILDA         [In a lower voice, seriously.] That little devil—that was I. SOLNESS         [Fixes his eyes steadily upon her.] I am sure of that now. It must have been you. HILDA         [Lively again.] Oh, it was so gloriously thrilling! I could not have believed there was a builder in the whole world that could build such a tremendously high tower. And then, that you yourself should stand at the very top of it, as large as life! And that you should not be the least bit dizzy! It was that above everything that made one—made one dizzy to think of. SOLNESS         How could you be so certain that I was not? HILDA         [Scouting the idea.] No indeed! Oh no! I knew that instinctively. For if you had been, you could never have stood up there and sung. SOLNESS         [Looks at her in astonishment.] Sung? Did I sing? HILDA         Yes, I should think you did. SOLNESS         [Shakes his head.] I have never sung a note in my life. HILDA         Yes, indeed, you sang then. It sounded like harps in the air. SOLNESS         [Thoughtfully.] This is very strange—all this. HILDA         [Is silent awhile, looks at him and says in a low voice:] But then,—it was after that—that the real thing happened. SOLNESS         The real thing? HILDA         [Sparking with vivacity.] Yes, I surely don't need to remind you of that? SOLNESS         Oh yes do remind me a little of that, too. HILDA         Don't you remember that a great dinner was given in your honour at the Club? SOLNESS         Yes, to be sure. It must have been the same afternoon, for I left the place next morning. HILDA         And from the Club you were invited to come round to our house to supper. SOLNESS         Quite right, Miss Wangel. It is wonderful how all these trifles have impressed themselves on your mind. HILDA         Trifles! I like that! Perhaps it was a trifle, too, that I was alone in the room when you came in? SOLNESS         Were you alone? HILDA         [Without answering him.] You didn't call me a little devil then? SOLNESS         No, I suppose I did not. HILDA         You said I was lovely in my white dress, and that I looked like a little princess. SOLNESS         I have no doubt you did, Miss Wangel.—And besides—I was feeling so buoyant and free that day— HILDA         And then you said that when I grew up I should be your princess. SOLNESS         [Laughing a little.] Dear, dear—did I say that too? HILDA         Yes, you did. And when I asked how long I should have to wait, you said that you would come again in ten years—like a troll—and carry me off—to Spain or some such place. And you promised you would buy me a kingdom there. SOLNESS         [As before.] Yes, after a good dinner one doesn't haggle about the halfpence. But did I really say all that? HILDA         [Laughs to herself.] Yes. And you told me, too, what the kingdom was to be called. SOLNESS         Well, what was it? HILDA         It was to be called the kingdom of Orangia,* you said.                 *In the original "Appelsinia," "appelsin" meaning "orange." SOLNESS         Well, that was an appetising name. HILDA         No, I didn't like it a bit; for it seemed as though you wanted to make game of me. SOLNESS         I am sure that cannot have been my intention. HILDA         No, I should hope not—considering what you did next— SOLNESS         What in the world did I do next? HILDA         Well, that's the finishing touch, if you have forgotten that too. I should have thought no one could help remembering such a thing as that. SOLNESS         Yes, yes, just give me a hint, and then perhaps—— Well? HILDA         [Looks fixedly at him.] You came and kissed me, Mr. Solness. SOLNESS         [Open-mouthed.] I did! HILDA         Yes, indeed you did. You took me in both your arms, and bent my head back, and kissed me—many times. SOLNESS         Now really, my dear Miss Wangel—! HILDA         [Rises.] You surely cannot mean to deny it? SOLNESS         Yes, I do. I deny it altogether! HILDA         [Looks scornfully at him.] Oh, indeed! [She turns and goes slowly up to the stove, where she remains standing motionless, her face averted from him, her hands behind her back. Short pause. SOLNESS         [Goes cautiously up behind her.] Miss Wangel—! HILDA         [Is silent and does not move.] SOLNESS         Don't stand there like a statue. You must have dreamt all this. [Lays his hand on her arm.] Now just listen— HILDA [Makes an impatient movement with her arm.] SOLNESS         [As a thought flashes upon him.] Or—! Wait a moment! There is something under all this, you may depend! HILDA         [Does not move.] SOLNESS         [In a low voice, but with emphasis.] I must have thought all that. I must have wished it—have willed it—have longed to do it. And then—. May not that be the explanation. HILDA         [Is still silent.] SOLNESS         [Impatiently.] Oh very well, deuce take it all—then I did do it, I suppose. HILDA         [Turns her head a little, but without looking at him.] Then you admit it now? SOLNESS         Yes—whatever you like. HILDA         You came and put your arms round me? SOLNESS         Oh yes! HILDA         And bent my head back? SOLNESS         Very far back. HILDA         And kissed me? SOLNESS         Yes, I did. HILDA         Many times? SOLNESS As many as ever you like. HILDA         [Turns quickly toward him and has once more the sparkling expression of gladness in her eyes.] Well, you see, I got it out of you at last! SOLNESS         [With a slight smile.] Yes—just think of my forgetting such a thing as that. HILDA         [Again a little sulky, retreats from him.] Oh, you have kissed so many people in your time, I suppose. SOLNESS         No, you mustn't think that of me. [HILDA seats herself in the arm-chair. SOLNESS stands and leans against the rocking-chair. Looks observantly at her.] Miss Wangel! HILDA         Yes! SOLNESS         How was it now? What came of all this—between us two. HILDA         Why, nothing more came of it. You know that quite well. For then the other guests came in, and then—bah! SOLNESS         Quite so! The others came in. To think of my forgetting that too! HILDA         Oh, you haven't really forgotten anything: you are only a little ashamed of it all. I am sure one doesn't forget things of that kind. SOLNESS         No, one would suppose not. HILDA         [Lively again, looks at him.] Perhaps you have even forgotten what day it was? SOLNESS         What day—? HILDA         Yes, on what day did you hang the wreath on the tower? Well? Tell me at once! SOLNESS         H'm—I confess I have forgotten the particular day. I only know it was ten years ago. Some time in autumn. HILDA         [Nods her head slowly several times.] It was ten years ago—on the 19th of September. SOLNESS         Yes, it must have been about that time. Fancy your remembering that too! [Stops.] But wait a moment—! Yes—it's the 19th of September today. HILDA         Yes, it is; and the ten years are gone. And you didn't come—as you had promised me. SOLNESS         Promised you? Threatened, I suppose you mean? HILDA         I don't think there was any sort of threat in that. SOLNESS         Well then, a little bit of fun. HILDA         Was that all you wanted? To make fun of me? SOLNESS         Well, or to have a little joke with you. Upon my soul, I don't recollect. But it must have been something of that kind; for you were a mere child then. HILDA         Oh, perhaps I wasn't quite such a child either. Not such a mere chit as you imagine. SOLNESS         [Looks searchingly at her.] Did you really and seriously expect me to come again? HILDA         [Conceals a half-teasing smile.] Yes, indeed! I did expect that of you. SOLNESS         That I should come back to your home, and take you away with me? HILDA         Just like a troll—yes. SOLNESS         And make a princess of you? HILDA         That's what you promised. SOLNESS         And give you a kingdom as well? HILDA         [Looks up at the ceiling.] Why not? Of course it need not have been an actual, every-day sort of a kingdom. SOLNESS         But something else just as good? HILDA         Yes, at least as good. [Looks at him a moment.] I thought, if you could build the highest church-towers in the world, you could surely manage to raise a kingdom of one sort or another as well. SOLNESS         [Shakes his head.] I can't quite make you out, Miss Wangel. HILDA         Can you not? To me it seems all so simple. SOLNESS         No, I can't make up my mind whether you mean all you say, or are simply having a joke with me. HILDA         [Smiles.] Making fun of you, perhaps? I, too? SOLNESS         Yes, exactly. Making fun—of both of us. [Looks at her.] Is it long since you found out that I was married? HILDA         I have know it all along. Why do you ask me that? SOLNESS         [Lightly.] Oh, well, it just occurred to me. [Looks earnestly at her, and says in a low voice.] What have you come for? HILDA         I want my kingdom. The time is up. SOLNESS         [Laughs involuntarily.] What a girl you are! HILDA         [Gaily.] Out with my kingdom, Mr. Solness! [Raps with her fingers.] The kingdom on the table! SOLNESS         [Pushing the rocking-chair nearer and sitting down.] Now, seriously speaking—what have you come for? What do you really want to do here? HILDA         Oh, first of all, I want to go round and look at all the things that you have built. SOLNESS         That will give you plenty of exercise. HILDA Yes, I know you have built a tremendous lot. SOLNESS         I have indeed—especially of late years. HILDA         Many church-towers among the rest? Immensely high ones? SOLNESS         No. I build no more church-towers now. Nor churches either. HILDA         What do you build then? SOLNESS         Homes for human beings. HILDA         [Reflectively.] Couldn't you build a little—a little bit of a church-tower over these homes as well? SOLNESS         [Starting.] What do you mean by that? HILDA         I mean—something that points—points up into the free air. With the vane at a dizzy height. SOLNESS         [Pondering a little.] Strange that you should say that—for that is just what I am most anxious to do. HILDA         [Impatiently.] Why don't you do it, then? SOLNESS         [Shakes his head.] No, the people will not have it. HILDA         Fancy their not wanting it! SOLNESS         [More lightly.] But now I am building a new home for myself—just opposite here. HILDA         For yourself? SOLNESS         Yes. It is almost finished. And on that there is a tower. HILDA         A high tower? SOLNESS         Yes. HILDA         Very high? SOLNESS         No doubt people will say it is too high—too high for a dwelling-house. HILDA         I'll go out to look at that tower first thing to-morrow morning. SOLNESS         [Sits resting his cheek on his hand, and gazes at her.] Tell me, Miss Wangel—what is your name? Your Christian name, I mean. HILDA         Why, Hilda, of course. SOLNESS         [As before.] Hilda? Indeed? HILDA         Don't you remember that? You called me Hilda yourself—that day when you misbehaved. SOLNESS         Did I really. HILDA         But then you said "little Hilda"; and I didn't like that. SOLNESS         Oh, you didn't like that, Miss Hilda? HILDA         No, not at such a time as that. But—"Princess Hilda"—that will sound very well, I think. SOLNESS         Very well indeed. Princess Hilda of—of—what was to be the name of the kingdom? HILDA         Pooh! I won't have anything to do with that stupid kingdom. I have set my heart upon quite a different one! SOLNESS         [Has leaned back in the chair, still gazing at her.] Isn't it strange—? The more I think of it now, the more it seems to me as though I had gone about all these years torturing myself with—h'm— HILDA         With what? SOLNESS         With the effort to recover something—some experience, which I seemed to have forgotten. But I never had the least inkling of what it could be. HILDA         You should have tied a knot in your pocket-handkerchief, Mr. Solness. SOLNESS         In that case, I should simply have had to go racking my brains to discover what the knot could mean. HILDA         Oh yes, I suppose there are trolls of that kind in the world, too. SOLNESS         [Rises slowly.] What a good thing it is that you have come to me now. HILDA         [Looks deeply into his eyes.] Is it a good thing! SOLNESS         For I have been so lonely here. I have been gazing so helplessly at it all. [In a lower voice.] I must tell you—I have begun to be afraid of the younger generation. HILDA         [With a little snort of contempt.] Pooh—is the younger generation something to be afraid of? SOLNESS         It is indeed. And that is why I have locked and barred myself in. [Mysteriously.] I tell you the younger generation will one day come and thunder at my door! They will break in upon me! HILDA         Then I should say you ought to go out and open the door to the younger generation. SOLNESS         Open the door? HILDA         Yes. Let them come in to you on friendly terms, as it were. SOLNESS         No, no, no! The younger generation—it means retribution, you see. It comes, as if under a new banner, heralding the turn of fortune. HILDA         [Rises, looks at him, and says with a quivering twitch of her lips.] Can I be of any use to you, Mr. Solness? SOLNESS         Yes, you can indeed! For you, too, come—under a new banner it seems to me. You marshalled against youth—!                 DR. HERDAL comes in by the hall-door. DR. HERDAL         What—you and Miss Wangel here still? SOLNESS         Yes. We have had no end of things to talk about. HILDA         Both old and new. DR. HERDAL         Have you really? HILDA         Oh, it has been the greatest fun. For Mr. Solness—he has such a miraculous memory. All the least little details he remembers instantly.                 MRS. SOLNESS enters by the door on the right. MRS. SOLNESS         Well, Miss Wangel, your room is quite ready for you now. HILDA         Oh, how kind you are to me! SOLNESS         [To MRS. SOLNESS.] The nursery? MRS. SOLNESS Yes, the middle one. But first let us go in to supper. SOLNESS         [Nods to HILDA.] Hilda shall sleep in the nursery, she shall. MRS. SOLNESS         [Looks at him.] Hilda? SOLNESS         Yes, Miss Wangel's name is Hilda. I knew her when she was a child. MRS. SOLNESS         Did you really, Halvard? Well, shall we go?                 [She takes DR. HERDAL's arm and goes out with him to the                 right. HILDA has meanwhile been collecting her travelling                 things. HILDA         [Softly and rapidly to SOLNESS.] Is it true, what you said? Can I be of use to you? SOLNESS         [Takes the things from her.] You are the very being I have needed most. HILDA         [Looks at him with happy, wondering eyes and clasps her hands.] But then, great heavens—! SOLNESS         [Eagerly.] What—? HILDA         Then I have my kingdom! SOLNESS         [Involuntarily.] Hilda—! HILDA         [Again with the quivering twitch of her lips.] Almost—I was going to say.                 [She goes out to the right, SOLNESS follows her.