(SCENE.-The same room in the late evening. The lamp, with a shade on it, is burning on the table. REBECCA is standing by the table, packing some small articles in a travelling-bag. Her cloak, hat, and the white crochetted shawl are hanging on the back of the couch. MRS. HELSETH comes in from the right.)Mrs. Helseth (speaking in low tones and with a reserved manner).
Yes, all your things have been taken down, miss. They are in the kitchen passage.
Rebecca. Thank you. You have ordered the carriage?
Mrs. Helseth. Yes, miss. The coachman wants to know what time he shall bring it round.
Rebecca. I think at about eleven o'clock. The boat goes at midnight.
Mrs. Helseth (with a little hesitation). But what about Mr.
Rosmer? Suppose he is not back by that time?
Rebecca. I shall start, all the same. If I should not see him, you can tell him I will write to him--a long letter, say that.
Mrs. Helseth. Yes, I dare say it will be all right to write. But, poor dear, I really think that you ought to try and have a talk with him once more.
Rebecca. Perhaps I ought--Or perhaps not, after all.
Mrs. Helseth. Dear, dear! I never thought I should, live to see such a thing as this!
Rebecca. What did you think, then, Mrs. Helseth?
Mrs. Helseth. To tell the truth, miss, I thought Mr. Rosmer was an honester man than that.
Rebecca. Honester?
Mrs. Helseth. Yes, miss, that is the truth.
Rebecca. But, my dear Mrs. Helseth, what do you mean by that?
Mrs. Helseth. I mean what is true and right, miss. He should not get out of it in this way--that he shouldn't.
Rebecca (looking at her). Now look here, Mrs. Helseth. Tell me, honestly and frankly, why you think I am going away.
Mrs. Helseth. Good Lord, miss--because it is necessary, I suppose.
Well, well!--Still, I certainly do not think Mr. Rosmer has behaved well. There was some excuse in Mortensgaard's case, because the woman's husband was still alive; so that it was impossible for them to marry, however much they wished it. But Mr. Rosmer, he could--ahem!
Rebecca (with a faint smile). Is it possible that you could think such things about me and Mr. Rosmer?
Mrs. Helseth. Not for a moment--until to-day, I mean.
Rebecca. But why to-day?
Mrs. Helseth. Well, after all the horrible things they tell me one may see in the papers about Mr. Rosmer Rebecca. Ah!
Mrs. Helseth. What I mean is this--if a man can go over to Mortensgaard's religion, you may believe him capable of anything.
And that's the truth.
Rebecca. Yes, very likely. But about me? What have you got to say about me?
Mrs. Helseth. Well, I am sure, miss--I do not think you are so greatly to be blamed. It is not always so easy for a lone woman to resist, I dare say. We are all human after all, Miss West.
Rebecca. That is very true, Mrs. Helseth. We are all human, after all.--What are you listening to?
Mrs. Helseth (in a low voice). Good Lord!--I believe that is him coming now.
Rebecca (with a start). In spite of everything, then--! (Speaks with determination.) Very well. So be it. (ROSMER comes in from the hall. He sees the luggage, and turns to REBECCA.)Rosmer. What does this mean?
Rebecca. I am going away.
Rosmer. At once?
Rebecca. Yes. (To MRS. HELSETH.) Eleven o'clock, then.
Mrs. Helseth. Very well, miss. (Goes out to the right.)Rosmer (after a short pause). Where are you going, Rebecca?
Rebecca. I am taking the boat for the north.
Rosmer. North? What are you going there for?
Rebecca. It is where I came from.
Rosmer. But you have no more ties there now.
Rebecca. I have none here, either.
Rosmer. What do you propose to do?
Rebecca. I do not know. I only want to make an end of it.
Rosmer. Make an end of what?
Rebecca. Rosmersholm has broken me.
Rosmer (more attentively). What is that?
Rebecca. Broken me utterly. I had a will of my own, and some courage, when I came here. Now I am crushed under the law of strangers. I do not think I shall have the courage to begin anything else in the world after this.
Rosmer. Why not? What do you mean by being crushed under a law--?
Rebecca. Dear friend, do not let us talk about that now--Tell me what passed between you and Mr. Kroll.
Rosmer. We have made our peace.
Rebecca. Quite so. So it came to that.
Rosmer. He got together all our old circle of friends at his house. They convinced me that the work of ennobling men's souls was not in my line at all. Besides, it is such a hopeless task, any way. I shall let it alone.
Rebecca. Well, perhaps it is better so.
Rosmer. Do you say THAT now? Is that what your opinion is now?
Rebecca. I have come to that opinion--in the last day or two.
Rosmer. You are lying, Rebecca.
Rebecca. Lying--?
Rosmer. Yes, lying. You have never believed in me. You have never believed me to be the man to lead the cause to victory.
Rebecca. I have believed that we two together would be equal to it.
Rosmer. That is not true. You have believed that you could accomplish something big in life yourself--that you could use me to further your plans--that I might be useful to you in the pursuit of your object. That is what you have believed.
Rebecca. Listen to me, John Rosmer (sitting down wearily on the couch). Oh, let me be! I see the whole thing clearly now. I have been like a glove in your hands.
Rebecca. Listen to me, John. Let us talk this thing over. It will be for the last time. (Sits down in a chair by the couch.) I had intended to write to you about it all--when I had gone back north.
But it is much better that you should hear it at once.
Rosmer. Have you something more to tell, then?
Rebecca. The most important part of it all.
Rosmer. What do you mean?
Rebecca. Something that you have never suspected. Something that puts all the rest in its true light.
Rosmer (shaking his head). I do not understand, at all.
Rebecca. It is quite true that at one time I did play my cards so as to secure admission to Rosmersholm. My idea was that I should succeed in doing well for myself here--either in one way or in another, you understand.
Rosmer. Well, you succeeded in carrying your scheme through, too.