Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 10).djvu/361

 Hilda.

Had you put by all these dolls, then? Ever since you were little?

Mrs. Solness.

I had not put them by. The dolls and I had gone on living together.

Hilda.

After you were grown up?

Mrs. Solness.

Yes, long after that.

Hilda.

After you were married, too?

Mrs. Solness.

Oh yes, indeed. So long as he did not see it. But they were all burnt up, poor things. No one thought of saving them. Oh, it is so miserable to think of. You mustn't laugh at me, Miss Wangel.

Hilda.

I am not laughing in the least.

Mrs. Solness.

For you see, in a certain sense, there was life in them, too. I carried them under my heart—like little unborn children.

Dr. Herdal, with his hat in his hand, comes out through the door, and observes Mrs. Solness and Hilda.