Boletta. I mean that he and my stepmother [Breaking off.] Father and mother lead a life of their own, you see.
Arnholm.
Well, so much the more reason for you to see about getting away.
Boletta.
Yes, but at the same time I don't feel as if I had the right to go away—to leave father.
Arnholm.
But, my dear Boletta, you will have to leave him some time, in any case; and since that is so, why delay?
Boletta.
Yes, I suppose there is nothing else for it. Of course I ought to think of myself too, and try to find a position of some sort. When once father is gone I shall have no one to depend on.—But poor father,—I dread the thought of leaving him.
Arnholm. Dread?
Boletta.
Yes, for his own sake.
Arnholm.
But, bless me, what about your stepmother? She will still be with him.
Boletta.
Yes, that's true. But she is not at all fitted for all that mother knew so well how to do. There
