Mrs.Holt: But, you know, no one was certain of that, Mrs.
Rummel; perhaps there was no truth in the rumour.

Mrs.Rummel: Well, I must say--! Wasn't it known all over the
town? Did not old Mrs. Bernick nearly go bankrupt as the result
of it? However, God forbid I should be the one to spread such
reports.

Mrs.Holt: Well, anyway, Mrs. Dorf didn't get the money, because
she--

Mrs.Lynge: Yes, what happened to Dina's parents afterwards?

Mrs.Rummel: Well, Dorf deserted both his wife and his child. But
madam was impudent enough to stay here a whole year. Of course
she had not the face to appear at the theatre any more, but she
kept herself by taking in washing and sewing--

Mrs.Holt: And then she tried to set up a dancing school.

Mrs.Rummel: Naturally that was no good. What parents would trust
their children to such a woman? But it did not last very long.
The fine madam was not accustomed to work; she got something
wrong with her lungs and died of it.

Mrs.Lynge: What a horrible scandal!

Mrs.Rummel: Yes, you can imagine how hard it was upon the
Bernicks. It is the dark spot among the sunshine of their good
fortune, as Rummel once put it. So never speak about it in this