Manders.
I don’t in the least understand you.
Mrs. Alving.
Oh yes, indeed you do.
Manders.
Ah, you are thinking of the possibility that——Alas! yes, family life is certainly not always so pure as it ought to be. But in such a case as you point to, one can never know—at least with any certainty. Here, on the other hand—that you, a mother, can think of letting your son——!
Mrs. Alving.
But I cannot—I wouldn’t for anything in the world; that is precisely what I am saying.
Manders.
No, because you are a “coward,” as you put it. But if you were not a “coward,” then——? Good God! a connection so shocking!