Mrs. Alving.

Oh, what horror——!

Oswald.

Now, quiet, quiet. That is how it stands with me——

Mrs. Alving.

[Springs up.] It’s not true, Oswald! It’s impossible! It cannot be so!

Oswald.

I have had one attack down there already. It was soon over. But when I came to know the state I had been in, then the dread descended upon me, raging and ravening; and so I set off home to you as fast as I could.

Mrs. Alving.

Then this is the dread——!