“Did I?”
“Yes, and you were right.... I feel it.”
“What are you going to do, then, Franka? What are your plans—your plan independent of the case ‘Victor Adolph’?”
“I am going to ... but it is not so entirely clear to me....”
“So, then the case ‘Victor Adolph’ is not altogether out of question!”
Franka laughed: “How persistent you are. You seem very anxious for me to have that chance. You were the first to call my attention to it. Moreover, I can imagine how eagerly you must think of this affair and desire it. Don’t you? You mean that if I should win power over the heart and actions of one of the great ones of the earth, I might then exert an influence, might be useful to my—to our ideals?”
“I might believe that—but wish it?” He shook his head. “Oh, let’s not talk about that possibility—it is much nicer not to do so.”
“Let us talk about yourself, then. You are certainly no ‘case,’ but the theme interests me.”
“It interests me, too,—especially if you treat it.”
“Do you know, I have made the acquaintance of an entirely new Helmer to-day.... Through your address ... I followed it all—all its political and social and high-thinking parts, but one thing especially impressed me: You are a good man.”