DR. HERDAL.
You must believe in me utterly and entirely. I will do anything--_anything_, Hilda, to provide you with agreeable entertainment. I _will_ swallow my own powder! [_To himself, as he goes gravely up to dispensary._] If only the drugs are sufficiently adulterated!
[_Goes in; as he does so, the_ NEW a.s.sISTANT _enters the garden in blue spectacles, unseen by_ HILDA, _and follows him, leaving open the gla.s.s door._
SENNA.
[_Comes wildly out of drawing-room._] Where is dear Dr. Herdal? Oh, Miss w.a.n.gel, he has discharged me--but I can"t--I simply _can"t_ live away from that lovely ledger.
HILDA.
[_Jubilantly._] At this moment Dr. Herdal is in the dispensary, taking one of his own powders.
SENNA.
[_Despairingly._] But--but it is utterly impossible! Miss w.a.n.gel, you have such a firm hold of him--_don"t_ let him do that!
HILDA.
I have already done all I can.
[RuBUB _appears, talking confidentially with_ MRS. HERDAL, _at gate._
SENNA.
Oh, Mrs. Herdal, Rubub! The Pill-Doctor is going to take one of his own preparations. Save him--quick!
RuBUB.
[_With cold politeness._] I am sorry to hear it--for his sake. But it would be quite contrary to professional etiquette to prevent him.
MRS. HERDAL.
And I never interfere with my husband"s proceedings. I know _my_ duty, Miss Blakdraf, if _others_ don"t!
HILDA.
[_Exulting with great intensity._] At last! Now I see him in there, great and free again, mixing the powder in a spoon--with jam!... Now he raises the spoon. Higher--higher still! [_A gulp is audible from within._] There, didn"t you hear a harp in the air? [_Quietly._] I can"t see the spoon any more. But there is one he is striving with, in blue spectacles!
THE NEW a.s.sISTANT"S VOICE.
[_Within._] The Pill-Doctor Herdal has taken his own powder!
HILDA.
[_As if petrified._] That voice! _Where_ have I heard it before? No matter--he has got the powder down! [_Waves a shawl in the air, and shrieks with wild jubilation._] It"s too awfully thrilling! My--_my_ Pill-Doctor!
[Ill.u.s.tration: "My, my Pill-doctor!"]
THE NEW a.s.sISTANT.
[_Comes out on verandah._] I am happy to inform you that--as, to avoid accidents, I took the simple precaution of filling all the dispensary-jars with camphorated chalk--no serious results may be antic.i.p.ated from Dr. Herdal"s rashness. [_Removes spectacles._] Nora, don"t you know me?
HILDA.
[_Reflects._] I really don"t remember having the pleasure---- And I"m _sure_ I heard a harp in the air!
MRS. HERDAL.
I fancy, Miss w.a.n.gel, it must have been merely a bee in your bonnet.
THE NEW a.s.sISTANT.
[_Tenderly._] Still the same little singing-bird! Oh, Nora, my long-lost lark!
HILDA.
[_Sulkily._] I"m _not_ a lark--I"m a bird of prey--and when I get my claws into anything----!
THE NEW a.s.sISTANT.
Macaroons, for instance? I remember your tastes of old. See, Nora!
[_Produces a paper-bag from his coat-tail pocket._] They were fresh this morning!
HILDA.
[_Wavering._] If you insist on calling me Nora, I think you must be just a little mad yourself.
THE NEW a.s.sISTANT.
We are all a little mad--in Norway. But Torvald Helmer is sane enough still to recognise his own little squirrel again! Surely, Nora, your education is complete at last--you have gained the experience you needed?
HILDA.
[_Nods slowly._] Yes, Torvald, you"re right enough _there_. I have thought things out for myself, and have got clear about them. And I have quite made up my mind that Society and the Law are all wrong, and that I am right.
HELMER.
[_Overjoyed._] Then you _have_ learnt the Great Lesson, and are fit to undertake the charge of your children"s education at last! You"ve no notion how they"ve grown! Yes, Nora, our marriage will be a true marriage now. You will come back to the Dolls" House, won"t you?
HILDA-NORA-HELMER-w.a.n.gEL.
[_Hesitates._] Will you let me forge cheques if I do, Torvald?
HELMER.
[_Ardently._] All day. And at night, Nora, we will falsify the accounts--together!
HILDA-NORA-HELMER-w.a.n.gEL.