Rosmer.
I should have felt so happy—so intensely happy, in what you call my apostasy. But nevertheless I suffered deeply; for I knew it would be a bitter sorrow to you.
Kroll.
Rosmer—Rosmer! I shall never get over this! [Looks gloomily at him.] To think that you too can find it in your heart to help on the work of corruption and ruin in this unhappy land.
Rosmer.
It is the work of emancipation I wish to help on.
Kroll.
Oh yes, I know. That is what both the tempters and their victims call it. But do you think there is any emancipation to be expected from the spirit that is now poisoning our whole social life?
Rosmer.
I am not in love with the spirit that is in the ascendant, nor with either of the contending parties. I will try to bring together men from both sides—as many as I can—and to unite them as closely as possible. I will devote my life and all my energies to this one thing—the creation of a true democracy in this country.