Evje. Well!--I am determined to put an end to it!

Mrs. Evje. Yes, I have never been able to understand why you were
so lenient with John.

Evje. He has been with us five years; and, besides, it makes people
talk so, if you have to send your servants away.

Mrs. Evje. But surely this sort of thing makes them talk much
worse!

Evje. Well--he shall leave this very day.

The Doctor (to HARALD). How are you, Rejn?--Oho! I understand. I
have come at an inopportune moment with my complaints of John? You
have all got something more serious on your minds?

Mrs. Evje. Yes, we have had it out, as we agreed yesterday.

The Doctor. You must forgive me, my dear Rejn, for having told my
old friends the whole truth yesterday. She (pointing to MRS. EVJE)
was an old playfellow of mine, and her husband and I have been
friends from boyhood; so we have no secrets from each other. And
Gertrud's condition makes me very uneasy.

Harald. Why have you never told me that before?

The Doctor. Goodness knows I have often enough given her parents
hints that she was not well; but they have only made up their minds