HELMER

  Well, well, don’t be frightened. We’re not coming in; you’ve bolted the door. Are you trying on your dress?

  NORA

  Yes, yes, I’m trying it on. It suits me so well, Torvald.

  MRS. LINDEN [Who has read the card.]

  Why, he lives close by here.

  NORA

  Yes, but it’s no use now. We are lost. The letter is there in the box.

  MRS. LINDEN

  And your husband has the key?

  NORA

  Always.

  MRS. LINDEN

  Krogstad must demand his letter back, unread. He must find some pretext——

  NORA

  But this is the very time when Torvald generally——

  MRS. LINDEN

  Prevent him. Keep him occupied. I shall come back as quickly as

  I can.

  [She goes out hastily by the hall door.]

  NORA [Opens HELMER’s door and peeps in.]

  Torvald!

  HELMER

  Well, may one come into one’s own room again at last? Come,

  Rank, we’ll have a look——

  [In the doorway.]

  But how’s this?

  NORA

  What, Torvald dear?

  HELMER

  Rank led me to expect a grand transformation.

  RANK [In the doorway.]

  So I understood. I suppose I was mistaken.

  NORA

  No, no one shall see me in my glory till to-morrow evening.

  HELMER

  Why, Nora dear, you look so tired. Have you been practising too hard?

  NORA No, I haven’t practised at all yet.

  HELMER

  But you’ll have to——

  NORA

  Oh yes, I must, I must! But, Torvald, I can’t get on at all without your help. I’ve forgotten everything.

  HELMER

  Oh, we shall soon freshen it up again.

  NORA

  Yes, do help me, Torvaid. You must promise me——Oh, I’m so nervous about it. Before so many people——This evening you must give yourself up entirely to me. You mustn’t do a stroke of work; you mustn’t even touch a pen. Do promise, Torvald dear!

  HELMER

  I promise. All this evening I shall be your slave. Little helpless thing——! But, by-the-bye, I must just——[Going to hall door.]

  NORA

  What do you want there?

  HELMER

  Only to see if there are any letters.

  NORA

  No, no, don’t do that, Torvald.

  HELMER

  Why not?

  NORA

  Torvald, I beg you not to. There are none there.

  HELMER

  Let me just see.

  [Is going.]

  [NORA, at the piano, plays the first bars of the tarantella.]

  HELMER [At the door, stops.]

  Aha!

  NORA

  I can’t dance to-morrow if I don’t rehearse with you first.

  HELMER [Going to her.]

  Are you really so nervous, dear Nora?

  NORA

  Yes, dreadfully! Let me rehearse at once. We have time before

  dinner. Oh, do sit down and play for me, Torvald dear; direct me

  and put me right, as you used to do.

  HELMER

  With all the pleasure in life, since you wish it.

  [Sits at piano.]

  [NORA snatches the tambourine out of the box, and hurriedly drapes

  herself in a long parti-coloured shawl; then, with a bound, stands in the

  middle of the floor.]

  NORA

  Now play for me! Now I’ll dance!

  [HELMER plays and NORA dances. RANK stands at the piano

  behind HELMER and looks on.]

  HELMER [Playing.]

  Slower! Slower!

  NORA

  Can’t do it slower!

  HELMER

  Not so violently, Nora.

  NORA

  I must! I must!

  HELMER [Stops.]

  No, no, Nora—that will never do.

  NORA [Laughs and swings her tambourine.]

  Didn’t I tell you so!

  RANK

  Let me play for her.

  HELMER [Rising.]

  Yes, do—then I can direct her better.

  [RANK sits down to the piano and plays; NORA dances more and more

  wildly. HELMER stands by the stove and addresses frequent corrections to

  her; she seems not to hear. Her hair breaks loose, and falls over her shoul

  ders. She does not notice it, but goes on dancing. MRS. LINDEN enters

  and stands spellbound in the doorway.]

  MRS. LINDEN

  Ah——!

  NORA

  [Dancing.]

  We’re having such fun here Christina!

  HELMER

  Why, Nora dear, you’re dancing as if it were a matter of life and death.

  NORA

  So it is.

  HELMER

  Rank, stop! This is the merest madness. Stop, I say!

  [RANK stops playing, and NORA comes to a sudden standstill.]

  HELMER [Going towards her.]

  I couldn’t have believed it. You’ve positively forgotten all I taught you.

  NORA [Throws the tambourine away.]

  You see for yourself.

  HELMER

  You really do want teaching.

  NORA

  Yes, you see how much I need it. You must practise with me up to the last moment. Will you promise me, Torvald?

  HELMER

  Certainly, certainly.

  NORA

  Neither to-day nor to-morrow must you think of anything but me. You mustn’t open a single letter—mustn’t look at the letter-box.

  HELMER

  Ah, you’re still afraid of that man——

  NORA

  Oh yes, yes, I am.

  HELMER

  Nora, I can see it in your face—there’s a letter from him in the box.

  NORA

  I don’t know, I believe so. But you’re not to read anything now; nothing ugly must come between us until all is over.

  RANK [Softly, to HELMER.]

  You mustn’t contradict her.

  HELMER [Putting his arm around her.]

  The child shall have her own way. But to-morrow night, when the dance is over——

  NORA

  Then you shall be free.

  ELLEN appears in the doorway, right.

  ELLEN

  Dinner is on the table, ma’am.

  NORA

  We’ll have some champagne, Ellen.

  ELLEN

  Yes, ma’am.

  [Goes out.]

  HELMER

  Dear me! Quite a banquet.

  NORA

  Yes, and we’ll keep it up till morning.

  [Calling out.]

  And macaroons, Ellen—plenty—just this once.

  HELMER [Seizing her hand.]

  Come, come, don’t let us have this wild excitement! Be my own little lark again.

  NORA

  Oh yes, I will. But now go into the dining-room; and you too, Doctor Rank. Christina, you must help me to do up my hair.

  RANK [Softly, as they go.]

  There’s nothing in the wind? Nothing—I mean——?

  HELMER

  Oh no, nothing of the kind. It’s merely this babyish anxiety I was

  telling you about.

  [They go out to the right.]

  NORA

  Well?

  MRS. LINDEN

  He’s gone out of town.

  NORA

  I saw it in your face.

  MRS. LINDEN

  He comes back to-morrow evening. I left a note for him.

  NORA

  You shouldn’t have done that. Things must take their course. After all, there’s something glorious in waiting for the miracle.

  MRS. LINDEN

  What is it you’re waiting for?

  NORA

  Oh, you can’t understand. Go to them in the dining-room; I shall

  come in a moment.

  [MRS. LINDEN goes into the dining-room. NORA stands for a moment

  as though collecting her thoughts; then looks at her watch.]

  NORA

  Five. Seven hours till midnight. Then twenty-four hours till the next midnight. Then the tarantella will be over. Twenty-four and seven? Thirty-one hours to live.

  HELMER appears at the door, right.

  HELMER

  What has become of my little lark?

  NORA [Runs to him with open arms.]

  Here she is!

  ACT THIRD

  The same room.The table, with the chairs around it, in the middle. A lighted lamp on the table.The door to the hall stands open. Dance music is heard from the floor above.

  MRS. LINDEN sits by the table and absently turns the pages of a book. She tries to read, but seems unable to fix her attention; she frequently listens and looks anxiously towards the hall door.

  MRS. LINDEN [Looks at her watch.]

  Not here yet; and the time is nearly up. If only he hasn’t——

  [Listens again.]

  Ah, there he is.

  [She goes into the hall and cautiously opens the outer door; soft footsteps

  are heard on the stairs; she whispers.]

  Come in; there is no one here.

  KROGSTAD [In the doorway.]

  I found a note from you at my house. What does it mean?

  MRS. LINDEN

  I must speak to you.

  KROGSTAD

  Indeed? And in this house?

  MRS. LINDEN

  I could not see you at my rooms. They have no separate entrance. Come in; we are quite alone. The servants are asleep, and the Helmers are at the ball upstairs.

  KROGSTAD [Coming into the room.]

  Ah! So the Helmers are dancing this evening? Really?

  MRS. LINDEN

  Yes. Why not?

  KROGSTAD

  Quite right. Why not?

  MRS. LINDEN

  And now let us talk a little.

  KROGSTAD

  Have we two anything to say to each other?

  MRS. LINDEN

  A great deal.

  KROGSTAD

  I should not have thought so.

  MRS. LINDEN

  Because you have never really understood me.

  KROGSTAD

  What was there to understand? The most natural thing in the world—a heartless woman throws a man over when a better match offers.

  MRS. LINDEN

  Do you really think me so heartless? Do you think I broke with you lightly?

  KROGSTAD

  Did you not?

  MRS. LINDEN

  Do you really think so?

  KROGSTAD

  If not, why did you write me that letter?

  MRS. LINDEN

  Was it not best? Since I had to break with you, was it not right that I should try to put an end to all that you felt for me?

  KROGSTAD [Clenching his hands together.]

  So that was it? And all this—for the sake of money!

  MRS. LINDEN

  You ought not to forget that I had a helpless mother and two little brothers. We could not wait for you, Nils, as your prospects then stood.

  KROGSTAD

  Perhaps not; but you had no right to cast me off for the sake of others, whoever the others might be.

  MRS. LINDEN

  I don’t know. I have often asked myself whether I had the right.

  KROGSTAD [More softly.]

  When I had lost you, I seemed to have no firm ground left under my feet. Look at me now. I am a shipwrecked man clinging to a spar.

  MRS. LINDEN

  Rescue may be at hand.

  KROGSTAD

  It was at hand; but then you came and stood in the way.

  MRS. LINDEN

  Without my knowledge, Nils. I did not know till to-day that it was you I was to replace in the Bank.

  KROGSTAD

  Well, I take your word for it. But now that you do know, do you mean to give way?

  MRS. LINDEN

  No, for that would not help you in the least.

  KROGSTAD

  Oh, help, help——! I should do it whether or no.

  MRS. LINDEN

  I have learnt prudence. Life and bitter necessity have schooled me.

  KROGSTAD

  And life has taught me not to trust fine speeches.

  MRS. LINDEN

  Then life has taught you a very sensible thing. But deeds you will trust?

  KROGSTAD

  What do you mean?

  MRS. LINDEN

  You said you were a shipwrecked man, clinging to a spar.

  KROGSTAD

  I have good reason to say so.

  MRS. LINDEN

  I too am shipwrecked, and clinging to a spar. I have no one to mourn for, no one to care for.

  KROGSTAD

  You made your own choice.

  MRS. LINDEN

  No choice was left me.

  KROGSTAD

  Well, what then?

  MRS. LINDEN

  Nils, how if we two shipwrecked people could join hands?

  KROGSTAD

  What!

  MRS. LINDEN

  Two on a raft have a better chance than if each clings to a separate spar.

  KROGSTAD

  Christina!

  MRS. LINDEN

  What do you think brought me to town?

  KROGSTAD

  Had you any thought of me?

  MRS. LINDEN

  I must have work or I can’t bear to live. All my life, as long as I can remember, I have worked; work has been my one great joy. Now I stand quite alone in the world, aimless and forlorn. There is no happiness in working for one’s self. Nils, give me somebody and something to work for.

  KROGSTAD

  I cannot believe in all this. It is simply a woman’s romantic craving for self-sacrifice.

  MRS. LINDEN

  Have you ever found me romantic?

  KROGSTAD

  Would you really——? Tell me: do you know all my past?

  MRS. LINDEN

  Yes.

  KROGSTAD

  And do you know what people say of me?

  MRS. LINDEN

  Did you not say just now that with me you could have been another man?

  KROGSTAD

  I am sure of it.

  MRS. LINDEN

  Is it too late?

  KROGSTAD

  Christina, do you know what you are doing? Yes, you do; I see it in your face. Have you the courage then——?

  MRS. LINDEN

  I need some one to be a mother to, and your children need a mother. You need me, and I—I need you. Nils, I believe in your better self. With you I fear nothing.

  KROGSTAD [Seizing her hands.]

  Thank you—thank you, Christina. Now I shall make others see me as you do.—Ah, I forgot——

  MRS. LINDEN [Listening.]

  Hush! The tarantella! Go! go!

  KROGSTAD

  Why? What is it?

  MRS. LINDEN

  Don’t you hear the dancing overhead? As soon as that is over they will be here.

  KROGSTAD

  Oh yes, I shall go. Nothing will come of this, after all. Of course, you don’t know the step I have taken against the Helmers.

  MRS. LINDEN

  Yes, Nils, I do know.

  KROGSTAD

  And yet you have the courage to——?

  MRS. LINDEN

  I know to what lengths despair can drive a man.

  KROGSTAD

  Oh, if I could only undo it!

  MRS. LINDEN

  You could. Your letter is still in the box.

  KROGSTAD

  Are you sure?

  MRS. LINDEN

  Yes; but——

  KROGSTAD [Looking to her searchingly.]

  Is that what it all means? You want to save your friend at any price. Say it out—is that your idea?

  MRS. LINDEN

  Nils, a woman who has once sold herself for the sake of others, does not do so again.

  KROGSTAD

  I shall demand my letter back again.

  MRS. LINDEN

  No, no.

  KROGSTAD

  Yes, of course. I shall wait till Helmer comes; I shall tell him to give it back to me—that it’s only about my dismissal—that I don’t want it read——

  MRS. LINDEN

  No, Nils, you must not recall the letter.

  KROGSTAD

  But tell me, wasn’t that just why you got me to come here?