BERTHA. Love me, be merciful! I am honest now, I believe, otherwise I would never humiliate myself as—as I am doing now, before a man.
AXEL. Even if I had compassion for you, I cannot call forth any love. It has come to an end. It is dead.
BERTHA. I beg for a man's love, I, a woman, and he shoves me away from him!
AXEL. Why not? We should also have leave to say no for once, although we are not always very hard to please.
BERTHA. A woman offers herself to a man and is refused!
AXEL. Feel now how millions have felt, when they have begged on their knees for the mercy of being allowed to give what the other accepts. Feel it for your whole sex, and then tell them how it felt.
BERTHA [Rising]. Good night. The day after tomorrow, then.
AXEL. You still want the party tomorrow, then?
BERTHA. Yes, I want the party tomorrow.
AXEL. Good. The day after tomorrow, then.