Borkman.
Oh, you must not believe that, Ella.
Ella Rentheim.
It is a disease that there is no help or cure for. The doctors can do nothing with it. They must just let it take its course. They cannot possibly check it; at most, they can allay the suffering. And that is always something.
Borkman.
Oh, but it will take a long time to run its course. I am sure it will.
Ella Rentheim.
I may perhaps last out the winter, they told me.
Borkman.
[Without thinking.] Oh, well, the winter is long.