_Krogstad_. Bank business--in a way. I have a small post in the Bank, and I hear your husband is to be our chief now-- _Nora_. Then it is-- _Krogstad_. Nothing but dry business matters, Mrs. Helmers; absolutely nothing else. _Nora_. Be so good as to go into the study then. (_She bows indifferently to him and shuts the door into the hall; then comes back and makes up the fire in the stove_.) _Mrs. Linde_. Nora--who was that man? _Nora_. A lawyer, of the name of Krogstad. _Mrs. Linde_. Then it really was he. _Nora_. Do you know the man? _Mrs. Linde_. I used to--many years ago. At one time he was a solicitor's clerk in our town. _Nora_. Yes, he was. _Mrs. Linde_. He is greatly altered. _Nora_. He made a very unhappy marriage. _Mrs. Linde_. He is a widower now, isn't he? _Nora_. With several children. There now, it is burning up. (_Shuts the door of the stove and moves the rocking-chair aside_.) _Mrs. Linde_. They say he carries on various kinds of business. _Nora_. Really! Perhaps he does; I don't know anything about it. But don't let us think of business; it is so tiresome. _Doctor Rank_ (_comes out of_ HELMER'S _study. Before he shuts the door he calls to him_). No, my dear fellow, I won't disturb you; I would rather go in to your wife for a little while. (_Shuts the door and sees_ Mrs. LINDE.) I beg your pardon; I am afraid I am disturbing you too. _Nora_. No, not at all. (_Introducing him_.) Doctor Rank, Mrs. Linde. _Rank_. I have often heard Mrs. Linde's name mentioned here. I think I passed you on the stairs when I arrived, Mrs. Linde? _Mrs. Linde_. Yes, I go up very slowly; I can't manage stairs well. _Rank_. Ah! some slight internal weakness? _Mrs. Linde_. No, the fact is I have been overworking myself. _Rank_. Nothing more than that? Then I suppose you have come to town to amuse yourself with our entertainments? _Mrs. Linde_. I have come to look for work. _Rank_. Is that a good cure for overwork? _Mrs. Linde_. One must live, Doctor Rank. _Rank_. Yes, the general opinion seems to be that it is necessary. _Nora_. Look here, Doctor Rank--you know you want to live. _Rank_. Certainly. However wretched I may feel, I want to prolong the agony as long as possible. All my patients are like that. And so are those who are morally diseased; one of them, and a bad case, too, is at this very moment with Helmer-- _Mrs. Linde_ (_sadly_). Ah! _Nora_. Whom do you mean? _Rank_. A lawyer of the name of Krogstad, a fellow you don't know at all. He suffers from a diseased moral character, Mrs. Helmer; but even he began talking of its being highly important that he should live. _Nora_. Did he? What did he want to speak to Torvald about? _Rank_. I have no idea; I only heard that it was something about the Bank. _Nora_. I didn't know this--what's his name--Krogstad had anything to do with the Bank.