Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 7).djvu/237

 I shall not speak to-morrow. But now I will speak frankly to you, as you have spoken to me.

Manders.

To be sure; you will plead excuses for your conduct

Mrs. Alving.

No. I will only tell you a story.

Manders.

Well?

Mrs. Alving.

All that you have just said about my husband and me, and our life after you had brought me back to the path of duty—as you called it—about all that you know nothing from personal observation. From that moment you, who had been our intimate friend, never set foot in our house again.

Manders.

You and your husband left the town immediately after.

Mrs. Alving.

Yes; and in my husband's lifetime you never came to see us. It was business that forced you to visit me when you undertook the affairs of the Orphanage.

Manders.

[Softly and hesitatingly.] Helen—if that is meant as a reproach, I would beg you to bear in mind

Mrs. Alving.

the regard you owed to your position, yes;