HEDVIG. [_Making signs._] H'm—h’m! GINA. [_Not noticing._]——he has been in to fetch hot water—— HIALMAR. Aha! Then he’s—— GINA. Yes, I suppose so. HIALMAR. Oh God! my poor old white-haired father!—Well, well; there let him sit and get all the enjoyment he can. [OLD EKDAL, _in an indoor coat and with a lighted pipe, comes from his room._ EKDAL. Got home? Thought it was you I heard talking. HIALMAR. Yes, I have just come. EKDAL. You didn’t see me, did you? HIALMAR. No; but they told me you had passed through—so I thought I would follow you. EKDAL. H'm, good of you, Hialmar.—Who were they, all those fellows? HIALMAR. Oh, all sorts of people. There was Chamberlain Flor, and Chamberlain Balle, and Chamberlain Kaspersen, and Chamberlain—this, that, and the other—I don’t know who all—— EKDAL. [_Nodding._] Hear that, Gina! Chamberlains every one of them! GINA. Yes, I hear as they’re terrible genteel in that house nowadays. HEDVIG. Did the Chamberlains sing, father? Or did they read aloud? HIALMAR. No, they only talked nonsense. They wanted _me_ to recite something for them; but I knew better than that. EKDAL. You weren’t to be persuaded, eh? GINA. Oh, you might have done it. HIALMAR. No; one mustn’t be at everybody’s beck and call. [_Walks about the room._] That’s not _my_ way, at any rate. EKDAL. No no; Hialmar’s not to be had for the asking, he isn’t. HIALMAR. I don’t see why _I_ should bother myself to entertain people on the rare occasions when I go into society. Let the others exert themselves. These fellows go from one great dinner-table to the next and gorge and guzzle day out and day in. It’s for them to bestir themselves and do something in return for all the good feeding they get. GINA. But you didn’t say that? HIALMAR. [_Humming._] Ho-ho-ho——; faith, I gave them a bit of my mind. EKDAL. Not the Chamberlains? HIALMAR. Oh, why not? [_Lightly._] After that, we had a little discussion about Tokay. EKDAL. Tokay! There’s a fine wine for you! HIALMAR.