ACT III
(SCENE.—A room in HALVDAN REJN's house. He is lying, supported on pillows, on a sofa on the left-hand side of the room. There is a table in the background, and another near the sofa. A lamp is hanging from the ceiling, and another standing on the table at the back. HAAKON REJN, his dress proclaiming him to be a well-to-do yeoman farmer, is sitting on a chair by the sofa.)
Halvdan. So she couldn't come?
Haakon. No; there are the youngsters, you know—she finds it difficult to get away.
Halvdan (after a moment's silence). Remember to thank her for all her kindness to me. The happiest moments of my life have been those Sundays and evenings that she and you and I spent together at your house. (A pause.)
Haakon. She wanted very much to know how you were feeling—whether you, who have suffered so much, are at peace now.
Halvdan. At peace? A man who has to die with all his work unfinished, cannot easily root out all thoughts of that from his heart.
Haakon. You should try to lay in God's hands all that you have striven for.
Halvdan. That is what I struggle daily to do. (A pause.)
Haakon. A sister of my wife's, who was a widow and badly off, died leaving three young children. But she was glad to die. "Their Heavenly Father will help them better when I am out of the way," she said. "I took up too much room," she said; "I know I have often stood in their way." (A pause.)