You I know, at any rate——
Mrs. Alving.
Yes, you know me; but is that all!
Oswald.
And, of course, I know how fond you are of me, and I can’t but be grateful to you. And then you can be so useful to me, now that I am ill.
Mrs. Alving.
Yes, cannot I, Oswald? Oh, I could almost bless the illness that has driven you home to me. For I see very plainly that you are not mine: I have to win you.
Oswald.
[Impatiently.] Yes yes yes; all these are just so many phrases. You must remember that I am a sick man, mother. I can’t be much taken up with other people; I have enough to do thinking about myself.
Mrs. Alving.