John Gabriel Borkman | Page 7

go
out?
MRS. BORKMAN. I suppose not. He has his great cloak and his hat
hanging in the cupboard--the cupboard in the hall, you know----
ELLA RENTHEIM. [To herself.] The cupboard we used to hide in
when we were little.
MRS. BORKMAN. [Nods.] And now and then--late in the evening--I
can hear him come down as though to go out. But he always stops
when he is halfway downstairs, and turns back--straight back to the

gallery.
ELLA RENTHEIM. [Quietly.] Do none of his old friends ever come up
to see him?
MRS. BORKMAN. He has no old friends.
ELLA RENTHEIM. He had so many--once.
MRS. BORKMAN. H'm! He took the best possible way to get rid of
them. He was a dear friend to his friends, was John Gabriel.
ELLA RENTHEIM. Oh, yes, that is true, Gunhild.
MRS. BORKMAN. [Vehemently.] All the same, I call it mean, petty,
base, contemptible of them, to think so much of the paltry losses they
may have suffered through him. They were only money losses, nothing
more.
ELLA RENTHEIM. [Not answering her.] So he lives up there quite
alone. Absolutely by himself.
MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, practically so. They tell me an old clerk or
copyist or something comes out to see him now and then.
ELLA RENTHEIM. Ah, indeed; no doubt it is a man called Foldal. I
know they were friends as young men.
MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, I believe they were. But I know nothing about
him. He was quite outside our circle--when we had a circle----
ELLA RENTHEIM. So he comes out to see Borkman now?
MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, he condescends to. But of course he only
comes when it is dark.
ELLA RENTHEIM. This Foldal--he was one of those that suffered
when the bank failed?

MRS. BORKMAN. [Carelessly.] Yes, I believe I heard he had lost
some money. But no doubt it was something quite trifling.
ELLA RENTHEIM. [With slight emphasis.] It was all he possessed.
MRS. BORKMAN. [Smiling.] Oh, well; what he possessed must have
been little enough--nothing to speak of.
ELLA RENTHEIM. And he did not speak of it--Foldal I mean--during
the investigation.
MRS. BORKMAN. At all events, I can assure you Erhart has made
ample amends for any little loss he may have suffered.
ELLA RENTHEIM. [With surprise.] Erhart! How can Erhart have done
that?
MRS. BORKMAN. He has taken an interest in Foldal's youngest
daughter. He has taught her things, and put her in the way of getting
employment, and some day providing for herself. I am sure that is a
great deal more than her father could ever have done for her.
ELLA RENTHEIM. Yes, I daresay her father can't afford to do much.
MRS. BORKMAN. And then Erhart has arranged for her to have
lessons in music. She has made such progress already that she can
come up to--to him in the gallery, and play to him.
ELLA RENTHEIM. So he is still fond of music?
MRS. BORKMAN. Oh yes, I suppose he is. Of course he has the piano
you sent out here--when he was expected back----
ELLA RENTHEIM. And she plays to him on it?
MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, now and then--in the evenings. That is
Erhart's doing, too.
ELLA RENTHEIM. Has the poor girl to come all the long way out

here, and then back to town again?
MRS. BORKMAN. No, she doesn't need to. Erhart has arranged for her
to stay with a lady who lives near us--a Mrs. Wilton----
ELLA RENTHEIM. [With interest.] Mrs. Wilton?
MRS. BORKMAN. A very rich woman. You don't know her.
ELLA RENTHEIM. I have heard her name. Mrs. Fanny Wilton, is it
not----?
MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, quite right.
ELLA RENTHEIM. Erhart has mentioned her several times. Does she
live out here now?
MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, she has taken a villa here; she moved out
from town some time ago.
ELLA RENTHEIM. [With a slight hesitation.] They say she is
divorced from her husband.
MRS. BORKMAN. Her husband has been dead for several years.
ELLA RENTHEIM. Yes, but they were divorced. He got a divorce.
MRS. BORKMAN. He deserted her, that is what he did. I am sure the
fault wasn't hers.
ELLA RENTHEIM. Do you know her at all intimately, Gunhild?
MRS. BORKMAN. Oh yes, pretty well. She lives close by here; and
she looks in every now and then.
ELLA RENTHEIM. And do you like her?
MRS. BORKMAN. She is unusually intelligent; remarkably clear in
her judgments.

ELLA RENTHEIM. In her judgments of people, do you mean?
MRS. BORKMAN. Yes, principally of people. She has made quite a
study of Erhart; looked deep into his character--into his soul. And the
result is she idolises him, as she could not help doing.
ELLA RENTHEIM. [With a touch of finesse.] Then perhaps she knows
Erhart still better than she knows you?