HADDA PADDA. There is something I want to ask you.

THE JUDGE. And that is?

HADDA PADDA. I want to ask you--[Stops abruptly.]

LADY ANNA [enters from the back].

THE JUDGE [to Hadda]. What did you want to ask me? [Smiles to his wife.]

Something mother may not hear?

HADDA PADDA. No, something I have to ask both of you.

THE JUDGE. Let us hear it, then.

HADDA PADDA. It is a very great favor, but you must not say no.

THE JUDGE. Ask it.

LADY ANNA. Well, what is it? [She has taken some work from the basket, and sits down to sew.]

HADDA PADDA. I want you to let me go to Copenhagen again. I want to go with Ingolf.

THE JUDGE. Now?

HADDA PADDA. Yes, now, Tuesday.

LADY ANNA. You are not in earnest, Hrafnhild. You know, Kristrun is going to leave for England next month, your brother has written for her.

And she hasn't been abroad yet, while you have been twice.

HADDA PADDA. Nor do I want her to abandon her plan.

LADY ANNA. But do you want me to do without both of you at the same time?

HADDA PADDA. Would that be hard for you, mother?

LADY ANNA. Hard--it would be impossible. With all the parties we have, I must have one of you at home.

THE JUDGE. Of course, it would be difficult for mother to manage without your a.s.sistance--since Kristrun is going away.

LADY ANNA. I never thought of that, Hrafnhild. Besides, I think it in good taste, since your engagement will be announced to-morrow before Ingolf leaves, for you to remain at home this year till he has pa.s.sed his examination and comes back.

HADDA PADDA. Yes, that would be in very good taste, if I could only bear it.

LADY ANNA. You must also remember that you would disturb him in his studies, if you were with him this winter.... Just when he wants to concentrate on his work.

HADDA PADDA. I want to make his work easier--that's just what I want to do.

LADY ANNA. I can't do without you, Hadda.

THE JUDGE [pats his wife on the cheek]. If our dear little Hadda Padda were sick, we would have to get one girl more in the house. And then, if she had to go away for a year to recover, and we were waiting for her to come back strong and healthy--don't you think we would readily allow her to go?

HADDA PADDA [throws her arms around his neck]. Father, I was sure that you...

LADY ANNA. That would be quite another thing.

THE JUDGE. Then you would realise that you COULD do without her.

LADY ANNA. But you don't mean, that any one else can fill her place--

HADDA PADDA. Mother, you think so much of Helga. I have talked to her, and she is willing to help you.

THE JUDGE. There you are! Can you imagine any one better?

LADY ANNA. It is not only that--If they were married, it would be quite proper for them to go abroad together.

HADDA PADDA [looks angrily at her mother, but says nothing].

THE JUDGE [discovers it. Walks up to his wife, and lays his arm on her shoulder]. We have not grown so old as you would have us. [_Heartily._]

Perhaps then, it is not proper for an old venerable judge to be as much in love with his silver-haired wife as when they were engaged. But he can't help it, and that's just the reason, he still understands love in young people. [_To Hadda._] Ask your mother once more to let you go.

Maybe she will when she knows you have my consent.

LADY ANNA. Well, I see what this is leading to. You know I don't usually oppose you.

HADDA PADDA. Father, you're always so good to me. [_Kisses him._]

THE JUDGE [_in a whisper to Hadda_]. Now kiss your mother too!

HADDA PADDA. Nice mother! I will be twice as much pleasure to you when I come back. [_Kisses her._]

LITTLE SKULI [_enters_]. Hadda Padda, do you want the ship to have two or three masts?

HADDA PADDA. Now let me see, my boy. [_Goes out with him._]

THE JUDGE. To-morrow--that will be a happy day. At last I shall see my fondest wish fulfilled, mine and my dear old friend's--that our children should belong to each other. I never suspected this would happen when Hrafnhild went abroad last year.

LADY ANNA. And now she is to go with him again. She has much to thank her father for.

THE JUDGE. I think time has kept them apart long enough.--I had a long talk with Helga the other day--they are very good friends, you know, and she was in Copenhagen at the same time as Hadda last year. She told me that Ingolf had quite given up his studies, and it was Hadda Padda who made him take them up again.... From Christmas on, last year, he studied from morning to night,--and now he will pa.s.s his examination, and begin here as an attorney. Then they will probably marry next autumn.

LADY ANNA [_nods_]. He must be kind to Hrafnhild--she is more than just fond of him. Have you noticed that she is beginning to resemble him?

THE JUDGE. Now, in spite of everything, I think we are beginning to grow old; our sight is failing us.

LADY ANNA. Not my sight. Listen to me. You should have seen her with the flowers this summer while she was home. When she watered them, she talked with them as if they could understand her. It was as if she returned every rise of fragrance with a smile. And the flowers thrived and blossomed, as if they absorbed her tenderness.

THE JUDGE. I have noticed something else lately: that every time she comes into a room it is as though the air were filled with the beauty of peace. I could have myself blindfolded, and all Reykavik could walk through the room on soles of velvet--when SHE entered I could recognize her by the delightful calm that accompanies her.

LADY ANNA. This excessive love... it is worrying me. Maybe it was mostly on that account that I delayed agreeing to her departure.