without having raised a finger to demolish it? You do not know
our community very much, or you would realise that it would ruin
me utterly.

Johan: I can only tell you that I mean to make Mrs. Dorf's
daughter my wife, and live with her in this town.

Bernick (wiping the perspiration from his forehead): Listen to
me, Johan--and you too, Lona. The circumstances I am in just now
are quite exceptional. I am situated in such a way that if you
aim this blow at me you will not only destroy me, but will also
destroy a great future, rich in blessings, that lies before the
community which, after all, was the home of your childhood.

Johan: And if I do not aim this blow at you, I shall be
destroying all my future happiness with my own hand.

Lona: Go on, Karsten.

Bernick: I will tell you, then. It is mixed up with the railway
project, and the whole thing is not quite so simple as you think.
I suppose you have heard that last year there was some talk of a
railway line along the coast? Many influential people backed up
the idea--people in the town and the suburbs, and especially the
press; but I managed to get the proposal quashed, on the ground
that it would have injured our steamboat trade along the coast.

Lona: Have you any interest in the steamboat trade?

Bernick: Yes. But no one ventured to suspect me on that account;