BORKMAN.
Deserted you, you say? You must know very well that it was
higher motives—well then, other motives that compelled me.
Without his support I could not have done anything.
ELLA RENTHEIM.
[Controlling herself.] So you deserted me from—higher motives.
BORKMAN. I could not get on without his help. And he made you the price of helping me.
ELLA RENTHEIM.
And you paid the price. Paid it in full—without haggling.
BORKMAN.
I had no choice. I had to conquer or fall.
ELLA RENTHEIM. [In a trembling voice, looking at him.] Can what you tell me be true—that I was then the dearest thing in the world to you?
BORKMAN.
Both then and afterwards—long, long, after.
ELLA RENTHEIM. But you bartered me away none the less; drove a bargain with another man for your love. Sold my love for a—for a directorship.
BORKMAN. [Gloomily and bowed down.] I was driven by inexorable necessity, Ella.
ELLA RENTHEIM.
[Rises from the sofa, quivering with passion.] Criminal!