Mrs. Alving. Shortly afterwards I heard my husband come in too. I
heard him say something to her in a low voice. And then I heard--
(with a short laugh)--oh, it rings in my ears still, with its
mixture of what was heartbreaking and what was so ridiculous--I
heard my own servant whisper: "Let me go, Mr. Alving! Let me be!"

Manders. What unseemly levity on his part! But surely nothing
more than levity, Mrs. Alving, believe me.

Mrs. Alving. I soon knew what to believe. My husband had his will
of the girl--and that intimacy had consequences, Mr. Manders.

Manders (as if turned to stone). And all that in this house! In
this house!

Mrs. Alving. I have suffered a good deal in this house. To keep
him at home in the evening--and at night--I have had to play the
part of boon companion in his secret drinking-bouts in his room
up there. I have had to sit there alone with him, have had to
hobnob and drink with him, have had to listen to his ribald
senseless talk, have had to fight with brute force to get him to
bed--

Manders (trembling). And you were able to endure all this!

Mrs. Alving. I had my little boy, and endured it for his sake.
But when the crowning insult came--when my own servant--then I
made up my mind that there should be an end of it. I took the
upper hand in the house, absolutely--both with him and all the