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Wangel.
Bought
Did you say—bought?Ellida.
Oh, I was not a bit better than you. I joined in the bargain. I went and sold myself to you.
Wangel.
[Looks at her, deeply pained.] Ellida,—have you the heart to say so?
Ellida.
Why, what else can you call it? You could not bear the void in your house; you looked about for a new wife
Wangel.
And for a new mother for the children, Ellida.
Ellida.
That too, perhaps—incidentally, as it were. Although—you did not in the least know whether I was fit to be a mother to them. You had only seen me and spoken with me once or twice. But you took a fancy to me, and so
Wangel.
Well, you may give it what name you please.
Ellida.
And I, for my part
. There was I, helpless and forlorn, and utterly alone. What more natural than that I should accept the bargain—when you came and offered to maintain me all my life.Wangel.
I assure you I did not think of it in that light,