Father. But a thing like this!--I have never in my life been contradicted before.
Mother. It is for the first and last time! He will soon learn who you are and what is due to you.
Father. And to think that, the first time, it should be my son-in-law that--
Mother. He will regret it for the rest of your life, you may be sure, and when you are gone he will have no peace of mind. We can only hope that the atmosphere of affection in this house will improve him. Really, lately, Axel has behaved as if he were bewitched.
Mother. Good gracious, Laura, do you mean that you--
Mother. Laura, are you trying to conceal something?
Father. And from us? (Gets up.) Are things as bad as that?
Laura. I assure you, dear people, it is nothing; it is only--
Laura. No, no, it is nothing--only you frighten me so.
Father and Mother (together). She is crying!
Laura. But, father, father--look, I am not crying the least bit.
Axel. Yes--and will cry every day until we make a change here! (A pause, while they all look at him.) Well, as so much has been said, it may as well all come out. Our marriage is not a happy one, because it lacks the most essential thing of all.
Mother. Merciful heavens, what are you saying!
Father. Compose yourself; let me talk to him. What do you mean, sir?
Axel. She hasn't the least idea what love means, and will never learn as long as she is in her father's house.
Axel. Because she lives only for her parents; me, she looks upon merely as an elder brother who is to assist her in loving them.
Mother. Is that so distasteful to you, then?
Axel. No, no. I am devoted to you and grateful to you, and I am proud of being your son; but it is only through her that I am that--and she has never yet really taken me to her heart. I am quite at liberty to go away or to stay, as I please; _she_ is a fixture here. There is never one of her requests to me, scarcely a single wish she expresses--indeed, scarcely a sign of endearment she shows me, that she has not first of all divided up into three portions; and I get my one-third of it, and get it last or not at all.
Father. This is mere fancy, Axel--a ridiculous idea. Do not let any one else hear you saying that.
Axel. No, it is neither mere fancy nor is it ridiculous. It colours the whole of our relations to one another; it gnaws at my feelings, and then I torment her, make you angry, and lead an idle, empty, ill-tempered existence--