Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 7).djvu/265

 Engstrand.

Who could ever have thought she'd have gone and made bad worse by talking about it? Will your Reverence just fancy yourself in the same trouble as poor Johanna

Manders.

I!

Engstrand.

Lord bless you, I don't mean just exactly the same. But I mean, if your Reverence had anything to be ashamed of in the eyes of the world, as the saying goes. We menfolk oughtn't to judge a poor woman too hardly, your Reverence.

Manders.

I am not doing so. It is you I am reproaching.

Engstrand.

Might I make so bold as to ask your Reverence a bit of a question?

Manders.

Yes, if you want to.

Engstrand.

Isn't it right and proper for a man to raise up the fallen?

Manders.

Most certainly it is.

Engstrand.

And isn't a man bound to keep his sacred word?