KROGSTAD. And life has taught me not to trust fine speeches. MRS. LINDEN. Then life has taught you a very sensible thing. But deeds you _will_ trust? KROGSTAD. What do you mean? MRS. LINDEN. You said you were a shipwrecked man, clinging to a spar. KROGSTAD. I have good reason to say so. MRS. LINDEN. I too am shipwrecked, and clinging to a spar. I have no one to mourn for, no one to care for. KROGSTAD. You made your own choice. MRS. LINDEN. No choice was left me. KROGSTAD. Well, what then? MRS. LINDEN. Nils, how if we two shipwrecked people could join hands? KROGSTAD. What! MRS. LINDEN. Two on a raft have a better chance than if each clings to a separate spar. KROGSTAD. Christina! MRS. LINDEN. What do you think brought me to town? KROGSTAD. Had you any thought of me? MRS. LINDEN. I must have work or I can’t bear to live. All my life, as long as I can remember, I have worked; work has been my one great joy. Now I stand quite alone in the world, aimless and forlorn. There is no happiness in working for one’s self. Nils, give me somebody and something to work for. KROGSTAD. I cannot believe in all this. It is simply a woman’s romantic craving for self-sacrifice. MRS. LINDEN. Have you ever found me romantic? KROGSTAD. Would you really——? Tell me: do you know all my past? MRS. LINDEN. Yes. KROGSTAD. And do you know what people say of me? MRS. LINDEN. Did you not say just now that with me you could have been another man? KROGSTAD. I am sure of it. MRS. LINDEN. Is it too late? KROGSTAD. Christina, do you know what you are doing? Yes, you do; I see it in your face. Have you the courage then——? MRS. LINDEN. I need some one to be a mother to, and your children need a mother. You need me, and I—I need you. Nils, I believe in your better self. With you I fear nothing. KROGSTAD. [_Seizing her hands._] Thank you—thank you, Christina. Now I shall make others see me as you do.—Ah, I forgot—— MRS. LINDEN. [_Listening._] Hush! The tarantella! Go! go! KROGSTAD. Why? What is it? MRS. LINDEN.