Hedda.

To be sure; it must be that.

Mrs. Elvsted.

Oh those five years——! Or at all events the last two or three of them! Oh, if you[[18]] could only imagine——

Hedda.

[Giving her a little slap on the hand.] De? Fie, Thea!

Mrs. Elvsted.

Yes, yes, I will try——Well, if—you could only imagine and understand——

Hedda.

[Lightly.] Eilert Lövborg has been in your neighbourhood about three years, hasn’t he?