Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 10).djvu/227

 am determined to have it out this evening with—[in a tone of suppressed bitterness]—with him—with the chief.

Kaia.

[Anxiously.] Oh no, uncle,—do wait awhile before doing that!

Ragnar.

Yes, better wait, father!

Brovik.

[Draws his breath laboriously.] Ha—ha—! I haven't much time for waiting.

Kaia.

[Listening.] Hush! I hear him on the stairs. [All three go back to their work. A short silence.

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

Solness.

[Near the door, points towards the draughtsmen's office, and asks in a whisper:] Are they gone?

Kaia.

[Softly, shaking her head.] No.

[She takes the shade off her eyes. Solness crosses the room, throws his hat on a