ARNE. [To OLAF.] And no harm has been done you?
OLAF. [Absent-minded.] Me! What do you mean?
LADY KIRSTEN. [Interrupting.] Of course not, Lord Arne! He went astray on the hunt and—
INGEBORG. [Pointing to ALFHILD.] But this young woman—?
LADY KIRSTEN. A poor child! She has given him lodging and shelter.
ARNE. But there is no one who lives up here.
LADY KIRSTEN. Yet a stray one here and there! There is many a solitary family still dwells among the mountains since the time of the plague.
ARNE. Then come, come! The horses are waiting below on the hill.
OLAF. [Painfully, as he glances at ALFHILD.] O mother! I cannot!
LADY KIRSTEN. [Softly and resolute.] You must! It will be your eternal shame if you—