Ella Rentheim.

[Coming in front of the bench.] Will you not look at him, Gunhild?

Mrs. Borkman.

[With a gesture of repulsion.] No, no, no. [Lowering her voice.] He was a miner’s son, John Gabriel Borkman. He could not live in the fresh air.

Ella Rentheim.

It was rather the cold that killed him.

Mrs. Borkman.

[Shakes her head.] The cold, you say? The cold—that had killed him long ago.

Ella Rentheim.

[Nodding to her.] Yes—and changed us two into shadows.