[Going towards her.] What do you want with me?
Mrs. Borkman.
I will fight with all my might for you. I will protect you from the powers of evil.
Ella Rentheim.
The worst “powers of evil” are in yourself, Gunhild!
Mrs. Borkman.
[Harshly.] So be it then. [Menacingly, with upstretched arm.] But this I tell you—he shall bear his father’s name! And bear it aloft in honour again. And I will be his mother! I alone! My son’s heart shall be mine—mine, and no other’s.
[She goes out by the tapestry door and shuts it behind her.
Ella Rentheim.
[Shaken and shattered.] Borkman, Erhart’s life will be wrecked in this storm. There must be an understanding between you and Gunhild. We must go down to her at once.