Ghosts | Page 8

good child--
REGINA. Then I should be glad to go to town. It's very lonely out here;
you know yourself, sir, what it is to be alone in the world. And I can
assure you I'm both quick and willing. Don't you know of any such
place for me, sir?
MANDERS. I? No, certainly not.
REGINA. But, dear, dear Sir, do remember me if--
MANDERS. [Rising.] Yes, yes, certainly, Miss Engstrand.
REGINA. For if I--
MANDERS. Will you be so good as to tell your mistress I am here?
REGINA. I will, at once, sir. [She goes out to the left.]
MANDERS. [Paces the room two or three times, stands a moment in
the background with his hands behind his back, and looks out over the
garden. Then he returns to the table, takes up a book, and looks at the
title-page; starts, and looks at several books.] Ha--indeed!
[MRS. ALVING enters by the door on the left; she is followed by
REGINA, who immediately goes out by the first door on the right.]

MRS. ALVING. [Holds out her hand.] Welcome, my dear Pastor.
MANDERS. How do you do, Mrs. Alving? Here I am as I promised.
MRS. ALVING. Always punctual to the minute.
MANDERS. You may believe it was not so easy for me to get away.
With all the Boards and Committees I belong to--
MRS. ALVING. That makes it all the kinder of you to come so early.
Now we can get through our business before dinner. But where is your
portmanteau?
MANDERS. [Quickly.] I left it down at the inn. I shall sleep there
to-night.
MRS. ALVING. [Suppressing a smile.] Are you really not to be
persuaded, even now, to pass the night under my roof?
MANDERS. No, no, Mrs. Alving; many thanks. I shall stay at the inn,
as usual. It is so conveniently near the landing-stage.
MRS. ALVING. Well, you must have your own way. But I really
should have thought we two old people--
MANDERS. Now you are making fun of me. Ah, you're naturally in
great spirits to-day--what with to-morrow's festival and Oswald's
return.
MRS. ALVING. Yes; you can think what a delight it is to me! It's more
than two years since he was home last. And now he has promised to
stay with me all the winter.
MANDERS. Has he really? That is very nice and dutiful of him. For I
can well believe that life in Rome and Paris has very different
attractions from any we can offer here.
MRS. ALVING. Ah, but here he has his mother, you see. My own
darling boy--he hasn't forgotten his old mother!

MANDERS. It would be grievous indeed, if absence and absorption in
art and that sort of thing were to blunt his natural feelings.
MRS. ALVING. Yes, you may well say so. But there's nothing of that
sort to fear with him. I'm quite curious to see whether you know him
again. He'll be down presently; he's upstairs just now, resting a little on
the sofa. But do sit down, my dear Pastor.
MANDERS. Thank you. Are you quite at liberty--?
MRS. ALVING. Certainly. [She sits by the table.]
MANDERS. Very well. Then let me show you--[He goes to the chair
where his travelling-bag lies, takes out a packet of papers, sits down on
the opposite side of the table, and tries to find a clear space for the
papers.] Now, to begin with, here is--[Breaking off.] Tell me, Mrs.
Alving, how do these books come to be here?
MRS. ALVING. These books? They are books I am reading.
MANDERS. Do you read this sort of literature?
MRS. ALVING. Certainly I do.
MANDERS. Do you feel better or happier for such reading?
MRS. ALVING. I feel, so to speak, more secure.
MANDERS. That is strange. How do you mean?
MRS. ALVING. Well, I seem to find explanation and confirmation of
all sorts of things I myself have been thinking. For that is the wonderful
part of it, Pastor Minders--there is really nothing new in these books,
nothing but what most people think and believe. Only most people
either don't formulate it to themselves, or else keep quiet about it.
MANDERS. Great heavens! Do you really believe that most people--?
MRS. ALVING. I do, indeed.

MANDERS. But surely not in this country? Not here among us?
MRS. ALVING. Yes, certainly; here as elsewhere.
MANDERS. Well, I really must say--!
MRS. ALVING. For the rest, what do you object to in these books?
MANDERS. Object to in them? You surely do not suppose that I have
nothing better to do than to study such publications as these?
MRS. ALVING. That is to say, you know nothing of what you are
condemning?
MANDERS. I have read enough about these writings to disapprove of
them.
MRS. ALVING. Yes;