LADY KIRSTEN. [Loudly and clearly.] Lord Arne of Guldvik! Now is the hour come at length which we have all, I imagine, been looking forward to.
HEMMING. [Aside.] Now it begins!
LADY KIRSTEN. Soon will the church bestow its blessing on our children and unite them in a long and loving union.
HEMMING. [Aside, startled.] What now?
LADY KIRSTEN. The terms we have already agreed upon. But I suggest that we here once again seal them with hand and word.
HEMMING. [As before.] Heaven and earth! Is she trying to deceive me?
ARNE. That is not necessary; I stand by my word like an honorable man.
LADY KIRSTEN. That I well know, Lord Arne! but it will take but a moment. First of all, there shall be an end for all time to every quarrel and dispute between our families,—and as for the damages and injuries which our old disagreements have caused on either side, no one shall demand compensation for them; each must manage them as best he knows how. We promise that, do we not?
ARNE. That we promise!
[General shaking of hands among the relatives of the bridal couple.]