Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 11).djvu/395

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No, no—by all means let us not talk of what is beyond the grave—what is now beyond the grave for me.

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Where have you been, Irene? All my inquiries were fruitless—you seemed to have vanished away.

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I went into the darkness—when the child stood transfigured in the light.

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Have you travelled much about the world?

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Yes. Travelled in many lands.

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[Looks compassionately at her.] And what have you found to do, Irene?

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[Turning her eyes upon him.] Wait a moment; let me see—. Yes, now I have it. I have posed on the turntable in variety-shows. Posed as a naked statue in living pictures. Raked in heaps of money. That was more than I could do with you; for you had none.—And then I turned the heads of all sorts of men. That, too, was more than I could do with you, Arnold. You kept yourself better in hand.