_Rank_. I have often heard Mrs. Linde's name mentioned here. I think I
passed you on the stairs when I arrived, Mrs. Linde?

_Mrs. Linde_. Yes, I go up very slowly; I can't manage stairs well.

_Rank_. Ah! some slight internal weakness?

_Mrs. Linde_. No, the fact is I have been overworking myself.

_Rank_. Nothing more than that? Then I suppose you have come to town to
amuse yourself with our entertainments?

_Mrs. Linde_. I have come to look for work.

_Rank_. Is that a good cure for overwork?

_Mrs. Linde_. One must live, Doctor Rank.

_Rank_. Yes, the general opinion seems to be that it is necessary.

_Nora_. Look here, Doctor Rank--you know you want to live.

_Rank_. Certainly. However wretched I may feel, I want to prolong the
agony as long as possible. All my patients are like that. And so are
those who are morally diseased; one of them, and a bad case, too, is at
this very moment with Helmer--

_Mrs. Linde_ (_sadly_). Ah!

_Nora_. Whom do you mean?