This page needs to be proofread.
Solness.
I am afraid of retribution, Hilda.
Hilda.
Of retribution? [Shakes her head.] I don't understand that.
SOLNESS.
Sit down, and I will tell you something.
Hilda.
Yes, do! At once!
[She sits on a stool by the railing, and looks expectantly at him.
Solness.
[Throws his hat on the table.] You know that I began by building churches.
Hilda.
[Nods.] I know that well.
Solness.
For, you see, I came as a boy from a pious home in the country; and so it seemed to me that this church-building was the noblest task I could set myself.
Hilda.
Yes, yes.
Solness.
And I venture to say that I built those poor little churches with such honest and warm and heartfelt devotion that—that
Hilda.
That
? Well?