KROGSTAD. Put all that out of your head. NORA. How did you know what I had in my mind? KROGSTAD. Most of us think of _that_ at first. I thought of it, too; but I hadn’t the courage—— NORA. [_Tonelessly._] Nor I. KROGSTAD. [_Relieved._] No, one hasn’t. You haven’t the courage either, have you? NORA. I haven’t, I haven’t. KROGSTAD. Besides, it would be very foolish.—Just one domestic storm, and it’s all over. I have a letter in my pocket for your husband—— NORA. Telling him everything? KROGSTAD. Sparing you as much as possible. NORA. [_Quickly._] He must never read that letter. Tear it up. I will manage to get the money somehow—— KROGSTAD. Pardon me, Mrs. Helmer, but I believe I told you—— NORA. Oh, I’m not talking about the money I owe you. Tell me how much you demand from my husband—I will get it. KROGSTAD. I demand no money from your husband. NORA. What do you demand then? KROGSTAD. I will tell you. I want to regain my footing in the world. I want to rise; and your husband shall help me to do it. For the last eighteen months my record has been spotless; I have been in bitter need all the time; but I was content to fight my way up, step by step. Now, I’ve been thrust down again, and I will not be satisfied with merely being reinstated as a matter of grace. I want to rise, I tell you. I must get into the Bank again, in a higher position than before. Your husband shall create a place on purpose for me—— NORA. He will never do that! KROGSTAD. He will do it; I know him—he won’t dare to show fight! And when he and I are together there, you shall soon see! Before a year is out I shall be the manager’s right hand. It won’t be Torvald Helmer, but Nils Krogstad, that manages the Joint Stock Bank. NORA. That shall never be. KROGSTAD. Perhaps you will——? NORA. Now I have the courage for it. KROGSTAD. Oh, you don’t frighten me! A sensitive, petted creature like you—— NORA. You shall see, you shall see! KROGSTAD. Under the ice, perhaps? Down into the cold, black water? And next spring to come up again, ugly, hairless, unrecognisable—— NORA. You can’t terrify me. KROGSTAD.