Helmer.
Has anybody called? [Nora shakes her head.] Oh, my little squirrel mustn't tell naughty whoppers. Why, I just met that fellow Krogstad in the hall. He's been asking you to get me to take him back—now, hasn't he?
Nora.
[Walking about.] Do just see how pretty the Christmas-tree looks!
Helmer.
Never mind the tree—I want to have this out about Krogstad. I can't take him back, because many years ago he forged a name. As a lawyer, a close observer of human nature, and a Bank Manager, I have remarked that people who forge names seldom or never confide the fact to their children—which inevitably brings moral contagion into the entire family. From which it follows, logically, that Krogstad has been poisoning his children for years by acting a part, and is morally lost. [Stretches out his hands to her.] I can't bear a morally lost Bank-cashier about me!
Nora.
But you never thought of dismissing him till Christina came!
Helmer.
H'm! I've got some business to attend to—so good-bye, little lark!