Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 6).djvu/345

 Bernick.

A lie?

Lona.

How much does Betty know of all that lay beneath and before her marriage with you?

Bernick.

Can you think that I would wound her to no purpose by telling her these things?

Lona.

To no purpose, you say? Well well, you are a business man; you should understand what is to the purpose.—But listen, Karsten: I, too, will speak calmly and deliberately. Tell me—after all, are you really happy?

Bernick.

In my family, do you mean?

Lona.

Of course.

Bernick.

I am indeed, Lona. Oh, you have not sacrificed yourself in vain. I can say truly that I have grown happier year by year. Betty is so good and docile. In the course of years she has learnt to mould her character to what is peculiar in mine

Lona.

H'm.

Bernick.

At first, it is true, she had some high-flown notions about love; she could not reconcile herself to the thought that, little by little, it must pass over into a placid friendship.