Oh, let me alone! He is better than you in many ways. At any rate he is straightforward, while you are underhand in your dealings. FIELDBO. I? THE CHAMBERLAIN. Yes, you! You have made yourself the master of this house; you come and go as you please; I consult you about everything—and yet—— FIELDBO. Well?—And yet? THE CHAMBERLAIN. And yet there’s always something confoundedly close about you; yes, and something—something uppish that I cannot endure! FIELDBO. Please explain yourself! THE CHAMBERLAIN. I? No, it is you that ought to explain yourself! But now you must take the consequences. FIELDBO. We don’t understand each other, Chamberlain. I have no bill to give up to you; yet, who knows but I may be making a greater sacrifice for your sake? THE CHAMBERLAIN. Indeed! How so? FIELDBO. By holding my tongue. THE CHAMBERLAIN. Holding your tongue, indeed! Shall I tell you what I am tempted to do? To forget my manners, use bad language, and join the League of Youth. You are a stiff-necked Pharisee, my good Doctor; and that sort of thing is out of place in our free society. Look at Stensgård; he is not like that; so he shall come here whenever he likes; he shall—he shall——! Oh, what’s the use of talking——! You must take the consequences; as you make your bed, so you must lie. LUNDESTAD. [_Enters from the back._] My congratulations, Chamberlain! May you long enjoy the respect and—— THE CHAMBERLAIN. Oh, go to the devil—I’m almost inclined to say! That’s all humbug, my dear Lundestad. There’s nothing but humbug in this world. LUNDESTAD. That is what Mr. Monsen’s creditors are saying. THE CHAMBERLAIN. Ah, about Monsen—didn’t it come upon you like a thunderbolt? LUNDESTAD. Oh, you have often prophesied it, Chamberlain. THE CHAMBERLAIN. H’m, h’m;—yes, to be sure I have. I prophesied it only the day before yesterday; he came here trying to get money out of me—— FIELDBO. It might have saved him. LUNDESTAD. Impossible; he was too deep in the mire; and whatever is, is for the best. THE CHAMBERLAIN. That is your opinion? Was it for the best, then, that you were beaten at the poll yesterday? LUNDESTAD. I wasn’t beaten; everything went just as I wanted. Stensgård is not a man to make an enemy of; he has got what we others have to whistle for. THE CHAMBERLAIN. I don’t quite understand what you mean——?