MRS. BORKMAN. [Indignantly.] I! After all the wrong he has done me! No thank you! Rather let the wolf go on prowling up there.

ELLA RENTHEIM. This room is too hot for me. You must let me take off my things after all.

MRS. BORKMAN.
  Yes, I asked you to.

    [ELLA RENTHEIM takes off her hat and cloak and lays them on a
        chair beside the door leading to the hall.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  Do you never happen to meet him, away from home?

MRS. BORKMAN.
  [With a bitter laugh.] In society, do you mean?

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  I mean, when he goes out walking. In the woods, or——

MRS. BORKMAN.
  He never goes out.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  Not even in the twilight?

MRS. BORKMAN.
  Never.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  [With emotion.] He cannot bring himself to go out?

MRS. BORKMAN. I suppose not. He has his great cloak and his hat hanging in the cupboard—the cupboard in the hall, you know——

ELLA RENTHEIM. [To herself.] The cupboard we used to hide in when we were little.

MRS. BORKMAN. [Nods.] And now and then—late in the evening—I can hear him come down as though to go out. But he always stops when he is halfway downstairs, and turns back—straight back to the gallery.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  [Quietly.] Do none of his old friends ever come up to see him?

MRS. BORKMAN.
  He has no old friends.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  He had so many—once.

MRS. BORKMAN. H'm! He took the best possible way to get rid of them. He was a dear friend to his friends, was John Gabriel.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  Oh, yes, that is true, Gunhild.

MRS. BORKMAN. [Vehemently.] All the same, I call it mean, petty, base, contemptible of them, to think so much of the paltry losses they may have suffered through him. They were only money losses, nothing more.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  [Not answering her.] So he lives up there quite alone.
Absolutely by himself.

MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, practically so. They tell me an old clerk or copyist or something comes out to see him now and then.

ELLA RENTHEIM. Ah, indeed; no doubt it is a man called Foldal. I know they were friends as young men.

MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, I believe they were. But I know nothing about him. He was quite outside our circle—when we had a circle——

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  So he comes out to see Borkman now?

MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, he condescends to. But of course he only comes when it is dark.

ELLA RENTHEIM. This Foldal—he was one of those that suffered when the bank failed?

MRS. BORKMAN.
  [Carelessly.] Yes, I believe I heard he had lost some money.
But no doubt it was something quite trifling.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  [With slight emphasis.] It was all he possessed.

MRS. BORKMAN. [Smiling.] Oh, well; what he possessed must have been little enough—nothing to speak of.

ELLA RENTHEIM. And he did not speak of it—Foldal I mean—during the investigation.

MRS. BORKMAN. At all events, I can assure you Erhart has made ample amends for any little loss he may have suffered.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  [With surprise.] Erhart! How can Erhart have done that?

MRS. BORKMAN. He has taken an interest in Foldal's youngest daughter. He has taught her things, and put her in the way of getting employment, and some day providing for herself. I am sure that is a great deal more than her father could ever have done for her.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  Yes, I daresay her father can't afford to do much.

MRS. BORKMAN.
  And then Erhart has arranged for her to have lessons in music.
She has made such progress already that she can come up to—to
him in the gallery, and play to him.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  So he is still fond of music?

MRS. BORKMAN. Oh yes, I suppose he is. Of course he has the piano you sent out here—when he was expected back——

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  And she plays to him on it?

MRS. BORKMAN.
  Yes, now and then—in the evenings. That is Erhart's doing, too.

ELLA RENTHEIM. Has the poor girl to come all the long way out here, and then back to town again?

MRS. BORKMAN. No, she doesn't need to. Erhart has arranged for her to stay with a lady who lives near us—a Mrs. Wilton——

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  [With interest.] Mrs. Wilton?

MRS. BORKMAN.
  A very rich woman. You don't know her.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  I have heard her name. Mrs. Fanny Wilton, is it not——?

MRS. BORKMAN.
  Yes, quite right.

ELLA RENTHEIM. Erhart has mentioned her several times. Does she live out here now?

MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, she has taken a villa here; she moved out from town some time ago.

ELLA RENTHEIM. [With a slight hesitation.] They say she is divorced from her husband.

MRS. BORKMAN.
  Her husband has been dead for several years.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  Yes, but they were divorced. He got a divorce.

MRS. BORKMAN. He deserted her, that is what he did. I am sure the fault wasn't hers.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  Do you know her at all intimately, Gunhild?

MRS. BORKMAN. Oh yes, pretty well. She lives close by here; and she looks in every now and then.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  And do you like her?

MRS. BORKMAN.
  She is unusually intelligent; remarkably clear in her judgments.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  In her judgments of people, do you mean?

MRS. BORKMAN.
  Yes, principally of people. She has made quite a study of
Erhart; looked deep into his character—into his soul. And
the result is she idolises him, as she could not help doing.

ELLA RENTHEIM. [With a touch of finesse.] Then perhaps she knows Erhart still better than she knows you?

MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, Erhart saw a good deal of her in town, before she came out here.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  [Without thinking.] And in spite of that she moved out of town?

MRS. BORKMAN. [Taken aback, looking keenly at her.] In spite of that! What do you mean?

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  [Evasively.] Oh, nothing particular.

MRS. BORKMAN.
  You said it strangely—you did mean something by it, Ella!

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  [Looking her straight in the eyes.] Yes, that is true, Gunhild!
I did mean something by it.

MRS. BORKMAN.
  Well, then, say it right out.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
  First let me tell you, I think I too have a certain claim upon
Erhart. Do you think I haven't?

MRS. BORKMAN. [Glancing round the room.] No doubt—after all the money you have spent upon him.