Chapter 10

Monsen.

Naturally, sir, for I give higher interest.

The Chamberlain.

Yes, but you charge higher interest onloans.loans.

Monsen.

But I don’t make so many difficulties about security and so forth.

The Chamberlain.

That is just the mischief of it; for now we have people making bargains to the tune of ten ortwenty thousand dollars,[18]though neither of the parties has so much as a brass farthing. That is what sets me against you, Mr. Monsen. And there is another thing too that touches me still more nearly. Do you think it was with my good will that my son flung himself into all these wild speculations?

Monsen.

But how can I help that?

The Chamberlain.

It was your example that infected him, as it did the others. Why could you not stick to your last?

Monsen.

Remain a lumberman, like my father?

The Chamberlain.

Was it a disgrace to be in my employment? Your father made his bread honourably, and was respected in his own class.

Monsen.

Yes, until he’d almost worked his life out, and at last went over the waterfall with his raft. Do you know anything of life in that class, Chamberlain? Have you ever realised what the men have to endure who toil for you deep in the forests, and along the river-reaches, while you sit comfortably at home and fatten on the profits? Can you blame such a man for struggling to rise in the world? I had had a little more schooling than my father; perhaps I had rather more brains too——

The Chamberlain.

Very likely. But by what means have you risen in the world? You began by selling brandy. Then you bought up doubtful debts, and enforced them mercilessly;—and so you got on and on. How many people have you not ruined to push yourself forward!

Monsen.

That’s the course of business; one up, another down.

The Chamberlain.

But there are different methods of business. I know of respectable families whom you have brought to the workhouse.

Monsen.

Daniel Heire is not very far from the workhouse.

The Chamberlain.

I understand you; but I can justify my conduct before God and man! When the country was in distress, after the separation from Denmark, my father made sacrifices beyond his means. Thus part of our property came into the hands of the Heire family. What was the result? The people who lived upon the property suffered under Daniel Heire’s incompetent management. He cut down timber to the injury, I may even say to the ruin, of the district. Was it not my obvious duty to put a stop to it if I was able? And it happened that Iwasable; I had the law on my side; I was well within my rights when I re-entered upon my family property.

Monsen.

I, too, have always had the law on my side.

The Chamberlain.

But what about your sense of right, your conscience, if you have such a thing? And how you have broken down all social order! How you have impaired the respect that should attach to wealth! People never think of asking nowadays how such and such a fortune was made, or how long it has been in such and such a family; they only ask: how much is so-and-so worth?—and they esteem him accordingly. Now I suffer by all this; I find myself regarded as a sort of associate of yours; people speak of us in one breath, because we are the two largest proprietors in the neighbourhood. This state of things I cannot endure! I tell you once for all: that is why I am set against you.

Monsen.

This state of things shall come to an end, sir; I will give up business, and make way for you at every point; but I beg you, I implore you, to help me!

The Chamberlain.

I will not.

Monsen.

I’m willing to pay what you like——

The Chamberlain.

To pay! And you dare to——!

Monsen.

If not for my sake, then for your son’s!

The Chamberlain.

My son’s!

Monsen.

Yes, he’s in it. I reckon he stands to win some twenty thousand dollars.

The Chamberlain.

Stands to win?

Monsen.

Yes.

The Chamberlain.

Then, good God, who stands to lose all this money?

Monsen.

How do you mean?

The Chamberlain.

If my son wins, some one or other must lose!

Monsen.

It’s a good stroke of business; I’m not in a position to say more. But I need a solid name; only just your endorsement——

The Chamberlain.

Endorsement! On a bill——?

Monsen.

Only for ten or fifteen thousand dollars.

The Chamberlain.

Do you suppose for a moment that——?Myname! In such an affair! My name? As surety, no doubt?

Monsen.

A mere matter of form——

The Chamberlain.

A matter of swindling! My name! Not upon any consideration. I have never put my name on other men’s paper.

Monsen.

Never? That’s an exaggeration, Chamberlain.

The Chamberlain.

It is the literal truth.

Monsen.

No, not literal; I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

The Chamberlain.

What have you seen?

Monsen.

Your name—ononebill at least.

The Chamberlain.

It is false, I tell you! You have never seen it!

Monsen.

I have! On a bill for two thousand dollars. Think again!

The Chamberlain.

Neither for two thousand nor for ten thousand! On my sacred word of honour, never!

Monsen.

Then it’s a forgery.

The Chamberlain.

Forgery?

Monsen.

Yes, a forgery—for Ihaveseen it.

The Chamberlain.

Forgery? Forgery! Where did you see it? In whose hands?

Monsen.

That I won’t tell you.

The Chamberlain.

Ha-ha! We shall soon find thatout.out.

Monsen.

Listen to me——!

The Chamberlain.

Silence! It has come to this then! Forgery. They must mix me up in their abominations! No wonder, then, that people bracket me with the rest of you. But it is my turn now!

Monsen.

Chamberlain—for your own sake and for the sake of others——

The Chamberlain.

Off with you! Out of my sight! It is you that are at the root of it all!—Yes you are! Woe unto him from whom offences come. Your home-life is scandalous. What sort of society do you get about you? Persons from Christiania and elsewhere, who think only of eating and drinking, and do not care in what company they gorge themselves. Silence! I have seen with my own eyes your distinguished guests tearing along the roads at Christmas-time like a pack of howling wolves. And there is worse behind. You have had scandals with your own maid-servants. You drove yourwife out of her mind by your ill-treatment and debauchery.

Monsen.

Come, this is going too far! You shall pay for these words!

The Chamberlain.

Oh, to the deuce with your threats! What harm can you do to me?Me? You asked what I had to say against you. Well, I have said it. Now you know why I have kept you out of decent society.

Monsen.

Yes, and now I’ll drag your decent society down——

The Chamberlain.

That way!

Monsen.

I know my way, Chamberlain!

[Goes out by the back.

The Chamberlain.

[Opens the door on the right and calls.] Ringdal, Ringdal—come here!

Ringdal.

What is it, sir?

The Chamberlain.

[Calls into the drawing-room.] Doctor, please come this way!—Now, Ringdal, now you shall see my prophecies fulfilled.

Fieldbo.

[Entering.] What can I do for you, Chamberlain?

Ringdal.

What prophecies, sir?

The Chamberlain.

What do you say to this, Doctor? You have always accused me of exaggerating when I said that Monsen was corrupting the neighbourhood.

Fieldbo.

Well, what then?

The Chamberlain.

We are getting on, I can tell you! What do you think? There are forgeries going about.

Ringdal.

Forgeries?

The Chamberlain.

Yes, forgeries! And whose name do you think they have forged? Why, mine!

Fieldbo.

Who in the world can have done it?

The Chamberlain.

How can I tell? I don’t know all the scoundrels in the district. But we shall soon find out.—Doctor, do me a service. The papers must have come into the hands either of the Savings Bank or the Iron-works Bank. Drive up to Lundestad; he is the director who knows most about things. Find out whether there is any such paper——

Fieldbo.

Certainly; at once.

Ringdal.

Lundestad is here at the works to-day; there’s a meeting of the school committee.

The Chamberlain.

So much the better. Find him; bring him here.

Fieldbo.

I’ll go at once.

[Goes out at the back.

The Chamberlain.

And you, Ringdal, make inquiries at the Ironworks. As soon as we have got to the bottom of the matter, we’ll lay an information. No mercy to the scoundrels!

Ringdal.

Very good, sir. Bless me, who’d have thought of such a thing?

[Goes out to the right.

[The Chamberlainpaces the room once or twice, and is then about to go into his study. At that instantErik Bratsbergenters from the back.

Erik.

My dear father——!

The Chamberlain.

Oh, areyouthere?

Erik.

I want so much to speak to you.

The Chamberlain.

H’m; I’m not much in the humour for speaking to any one. What do you want?

Erik.

You know I have never mixed you up in my affairs, father.

The Chamberlain.

No; that is an honour I should certainly have declined.

Erik.

But now I am forced to——

The Chamberlain.

What are you forced to do?

Erik.

Father, you must help me!

The Chamberlain.

With money! You may be very sure that——

Erik.

Only this once! I swear I’ll never again——The fact is, I am under certain engagements to Monsen of Stonelee——

The Chamberlain.

I know that. You have a brilliant speculation on hand.

Erik.

A speculation? We? No! Who told you so?

The Chamberlain.

Monsen himself.

Erik.

Has Monsen been here?

The Chamberlain.

He has just gone. I showed him the door.

Erik.

If you don’t help me, father, I am ruined.

The Chamberlain.

You?

Erik.

Yes. Monsen has advanced me money. I had to pay terribly dear for it; and now the bills have fallen due——

The Chamberlain.

There we have it! What did I tell you——?

Erik.

Yes, yes; it’s too late now——

The Chamberlain.

Ruined! In two years! But how could you expect anything else? What had you to do among these charlatans that go about dazzling people’s eyes with wealth that never existed! They were no company for you. Among people of that sort you must meet cunning with cunning, or you’ll go to the wall; you have learnt that now.

Erik.

Father, will you save me or will you not?

The Chamberlain.

No; for the last time, no. I will not.

Erik.

My honour is at stake——

The Chamberlain.

Oh, let us have no big phrases! There’s no honour involved in commercial success nowadays; quite the opposite, I had almost said. Go home and make up your accounts; pay every man his due, and have done with it, the sooner the better.

Erik.

Oh, you don’t know——

SelmaandThoraenter from the drawing-room.

Selma.

Is that Erik’s voice?—Good heavens, what is the matter?

The Chamberlain.

Nothing. Go into the drawing-room again.

Selma.

No, I won’t go. I will know. Erik, what is it? Tell me!

Erik.

It’s only that I am ruined!

Thora.

Ruined!

The Chamberlain.

There, you see!

Selma.

What is ruined?

Erik.

Everything.

Selma.

Do you mean you have lost your money?

Erik.

Money, house, inheritance—everything!

Selma.

Is that what you call everything?

Erik.

Come, let us go, Selma. You are all I have left me. We must bear the blow together.

Selma.

The blow? Bear it together? [With a cry.] Do you think I am fit for that, now?

The Chamberlain.

For heaven’s sake——!

Erik.

What do you mean?

Thora.

Oh, Selma, take care!

Selma.

No, I won’t take care! I cannot go on lying and shamming any longer! I must speak the truth. I will not “bear” anything!

Erik.

Selma!

The Chamberlain.

Child, what are you saying?

Selma.

Oh, how cruel you have been to me! Shamefully—all of you! It was my part always to accept—neverto give. I have been like a pauper among you. You never came and demanded a sacrifice of me; I was not fit to bear anything. I hate you! I loathe you!

Erik.

What can this mean?

The Chamberlain.

She is ill; she is out of her mind!

Selma.

How I have thirsted for a single drop of your troubles, your anxieties! But when I begged for it you only laughed me off. You have dressed me up like a doll; you have played with me as you would play with a child. Oh, what a joy it would have been to me to take my share in your burdens! How I longed, how I yearned, for a large, and high, and strenuous part in life! Now you come to me, Erik, now that you have nothing else left. But I will not be treated simply as a last resource. I will have nothing to do with your troubles now. I won’t stay with you! I will rather play and sing in the streets——! Let me be! Let me be!

[She rushes out by the back.

The Chamberlain.

Thora, was there any meaning in all that, or——

Thora.

Oh, yes, there was meaning in it; if only I had seen it sooner.

[Goes out by the back.

Erik.

No! All else I can lose, but not her! Selma, Selma!

[FollowsThoraandSelma.

Ringdal.

[Enters from the right.] Chamberlain!

The Chamberlain.

Well, what is it?

Ringdal.

I have been to the Bank——

The Chamberlain.

The Bank? Oh, yes, about the bill——

Ringdal.

It’s all right; they have never had any bill endorsed by you——

FieldboandLundestadenter by the back.

Fieldbo.

False alarm, Chamberlain!

The Chamberlain.

Indeed? Not at the Savings Bank either?

Lundestad.

Certainly not. During all the years I’ve been a director I have never once seen your name; except, of course, on your son’s bill.

The Chamberlain.

My son’s bill?

Lundestad.

Yes, the bill you accepted for him early this spring.

The Chamberlain.

My son? My son? Do you dare to tell me——?

Lundestad.

Why, bless me, just think a moment; the bill for two thousand dollars drawn by your son——

The Chamberlain.

[Groping for a chair.] Oh, my God——!

Fieldbo.

For heaven’s sake——!

Ringdal.

It’s not possible that——!

The Chamberlain.

[Who has sunk down on a chair.] Quietly, quietly! Drawn by my son, you say? Accepted by me? For two thousand dollars?

Fieldbo.

[ToLundestad.] And this bill is in the Savings Bank?

Lundestad.

Not now; it was redeemed last week by Monsen——

The Chamberlain.

By Monsen——?

Ringdal.

Monsen may still be at the works; I’ll go——

The Chamberlain.

Stop here!

Daniel Heireenters by the back.

Heire.

Good-morning, gentlemen! Good-morning, Chamberlain! Thank you so much for the delightful evening we spent yesterday. What do you think I’ve just heard——?

Ringdal.

Excuse me; we are busy——

Heire.

So are other people, I can tell you; our friend from Stonelee, for example——

The Chamberlain.

Monsen?

Heire.

Hee-hee; it’s a pretty story! The electioneering intrigues are in full swing. And what do you think is the last idea? They are going to bribe you, Chamberlain!

Lundestad.

To bribe——?

The Chamberlain.

They judge the tree by its fruit.

Heire.

Deuce take me if it isn’t the most impudent thing I ever heard of! I just looked in at Madam Rundholmen’s to have a glass of bitters. Theresat Messrs. Monsen and Stensgård drinking port—filthy stuff! I wouldn’t touch it; but they might have had the decency to offer me a glass, all the same. However, Monsen turned to me and said, “What do you bet that Chamberlain Bratsberg won’t go with our party at the preliminary election to-morrow?” “Indeed,” said I, “how’s that to be managed?” “Oh,” he said, “this bill will persuade him——”

Fieldbo.

Bill——?

Lundestad.

At the election——?

The Chamberlain.

Well? What then?

Heire.

Oh, I know no more. They said something about two thousand dollars. That’s the figure they rate a gentleman’s conscience at! Oh, it’s abominable, I say!

The Chamberlain.

A bill for two thousand dollars?

Ringdal.

And Monsen has it?

Heire.

No, he handed it over to Stensgård.

Lundestad.

Indeed!

Fieldbo.

To Stensgård?

The Chamberlain.

Are you sure of that?

Heire.

Quite certain. “You can make what use you please of it,” he said. But I don’t understand——

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