OLAF. Do I? On the contrary, it is you
who—
INGEBORG. That invention won’t fool me;
only a moment ago I saw the whole crowd—
OLAF. Who? Who?
INGEBORG. My father and our relatives!
OLAF. Up here?
INGEBORG. Why, yes, right close at hand!
OLAF. Ah, then is my mother with them.
INGEBORG. Of course, she is with them.
But how can that frighten you?
OLAF. You see,—it is I they seek!
INGEBORG. No, it is I!
OLAF. [Astonished.] You!
INGEBORG. [Begins to grasp the connection.] Or—wait
a moment—Ha, ha, ha! What an idea!
Come, shall we two be honest with each other?
OLAF. Yes, that is exactly what I had in mind!
INGEBORG. Well, then, tell me, at what hour
came you up here?
OLAF. During the night!
INGEBORG. I, too!
OLAF. You!
INGEBORG. Yes, yes! And you went away
without any one’s knowing it?
OLAF. Yes!
INGEBORG. I, too!
OLAF. But tell me—
INGEBORG. Hush, we have only a moment or two!
And you fled up here because you had but little desire
to go to the altar with me?
OLAF. Aye, how can you think—
INGEBORG. Yes, that I can easily think.
Answer me now; we were to speak honestly.
OLAF. Well, then, it was therefore that I—
INGEBORG. Well and good, I did likewise!
OLAF. You, Ingeborg!
INGEBORG. And now you would rather not have
any one come upon your tracks?
OLAF. Well, it can’t be denied!
INGEBORG. I, too! Aha,—’tis
a jolly coincidence; I fled from you, and you from
me! We both fled up here, and now just as our
relatives are after us we meet again! Listen,
Olaf Liljekrans! Say we promise not to betray
one another!
OLAF. I promise.
INGEBORG. But now we must part!
OLAF. I understand!
INGEBORG. For, if they found us together, then—
OLAF. Yes, then it would be still more difficult
for you to be rid of me!
INGEBORG. Farewell! If ever I come to
have a wedding you shall be my bride’s man.
OLAF. And if anything like that should happen
to me, you will, I am sure, accommodate me in the
same way.
INGEBORG. Of course! Farewell! Farewell!
And do not think unkindly of me.
OLAF. Indeed not; I shall give you my hand wherever
we meet!
INGEBORG. I, too! Wherever we meet—only
not at the altar.
[She goes into the house. OLAF goes into the
forest on the right at the back.]
* * *
* *
[LADY KIRSTEN, ARNE of Guldvik, WEDDING GUESTS, PEASANTS
and SERVANTS from the right.]
