Alfred. Perhaps I have come at an inconvenient moment.
Riis. Not a bit of it! Quite the contrary!
Alfred. At the same time, it seems evident to me that my presence is not welcome to Miss Riis. (No one answers him.)
Mrs. Christensen. But it is a family council we are holding--isn't it, my dear girl?
Riis. I assure you, you _are_ welcome! And we are all particularly anxious to hear what you have to say!
Alfred. I have not succeeded in getting a hearing yet, you know. I have been refused admittance repeatedly--both in person and when I wrote. So I thought that if I came now, perhaps I should get a hearing.
Alfred. Perhaps I may take Miss Riis's silence to mean permission? In that case--well--it is nothing so very much that I have to say, either. It is merely to remind you that, when I asked for Miss Riis's hand, it was because I loved her with all my heart--her and no one else. I could not imagine any greater happiness, and any greater honour, than to be loved by her in return. And so I think still. (He pauses, as if he expected an answer. They all look at SVAVA.) What explanation I could have given of my own free will--indeed what explanation, under other circumstances, I should have felt impelled to give--I shall say nothing about now. But I _owe_ no explanation! My honour demands that I should make point of that. It is my future that I owe to her. And with regard to that I must confess I have been hurt--deeply hurt--by the fact that Miss Riis could doubt me for a moment. Never in my life has any one doubted me before. With all respect, I must insist that my word shall be taken. (They are all silent.) That is all I have to say.
Mrs. Riis (getting up unwillingly). But, Alfred, suppose a woman, under the same circumstances, had come and said the same thing--who would believe her? (They are all silent. SVAVA bursts into tears.)
Mrs. Riis. Yes, believe her. Believe her if, after past like that, she came and assured us that she would make an honest wife?
Mrs. Riis. Perhaps that is putting it too harshly. But why should you require her to believe a man any more readily than a man would believe her? Because he would not believe her for a moment.
Riis (coming up behind her). Are you absolutely mad?