It is best so, John Borkman. Best
for you.

[She spreads the cloak closer around him, and sinks down in
the snow in front of the bench. A short silence.

[MRS. BORKMAN, wrapped in a mantle, comes through the wood
on the right. THE MAID goes before her carrying a lantern.

THE MAID.
[Throwing the light upon the snow.] Yes, yes, ma'am, here are
their tracks.

MRS. BORKMAN.
[Peering around.] Yes, here they are! They are sitting there
on the bench. [Calls.] Ella!

ELLA RENTHEIM.
[Rising.] Are you looking for us?

MRS. BORKMAN.
[Sternly.] Yes, you see I have to.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
[Pointing.] Look, there he lies, Gunhild.

MRS. BORKMAN.
Sleeping?

ELLA RENTHEIM.
A long, deep sleep, I think.

MRS. BORKMAN.
[With an outburst.] Ella! [Controls herself and asks in a low
voice.] Did he do it--of his own accord?

ELLA RENTHEIM.
No.

MRS. BORKMAN.
[Relieved.] Not by his own hand then?

ELLA RENTHEIM.
No. It was an ice-cold metal hand that gripped him by the heart.

MRS. BORKMAN.
[To THE MAID.] Go for help. Get the men to come up from the
farm.

THE MAID.
Yes, I will, ma'am. [To herself.] Lord save us!
[She goes out through the wood to the right.

MRS. BORKMAN.
[Standing behind the bench.] So the night air has killed him----

ELLA RENTHEIM.
So it appears.

MRS. BORKMAN.
----strong man that he was.

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.

MRS. BORKMAN.
You are right there.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
[With a painful smile.] A dead man and two shadows--that is
what the cold has made of us.

MRS. BORKMAN.
Yes, the coldness of heart.--And now I think we two may hold
out our hands to each other, Ella.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
I think we may, now.

MRS. BORKMAN.
We twin sisters--over him we have both loved.

ELLA RENTHEIM.
We two shadows--over the dead man.

[MRS. BORKMAN behind the bench, and ELLA RENTHEIM in front
of it, take each other's hand.

***END