Excuse me, Doctor; we may as well tell you the whole truth first as last—— MRS. STOCKMANN _enters from the back, left._ MRS. STOCKMANN. [_Seeing the DOCTOR._] Ah! just as I thought. HOVSTAD. [_Going towards her._] Mrs. Stockmann, too? DR. STOCKMANN. What the devil do _you_ want here, Katrina? MRS. STOCKMANN. You know very well what I want. HOVSTAD. Won’t you sit down? Or perhaps—— MRS. STOCKMANN. Thanks, please don’t trouble. And you must forgive my following my husband here; remember, I am the mother of three children. DR. STOCKMANN. Stuff and nonsense! We all know that well enough. MRS. STOCKMANN. Well, it doesn’t look as if you thought very much about your wife and children to-day, or you wouldn’t be so ready to plunge us all into ruin. DR. STOCKMANN. Are you quite mad, Katrina! Has a man with a wife and children no right to proclaim the truth? Has he no right to be an active and useful citizen? Has he no right to do his duty by the town he lives in? MRS. STOCKMANN. Everything in moderation, Thomas! ASLAKSEN. That’s just what I say. Moderation in everything. MRS. STOCKMANN. You are doing us a great wrong, Mr. Hovstad, in enticing my husband away from house and home, and befooling him in this way. HOVSTAD. I am not befooling any one—— DR. STOCKMANN. Befooling! Do you think I should let myself be befooled? MRS. STOCKMANN. Yes, that’s just what you do. I know very well that you are the cleverest man in the town; but you’re very easily made a fool of, Thomas. [_To HOVSTAD._] Remember that he loses his post at the Baths if you print what he has written—— ASLAKSEN. What! HOVSTAD. Well now, really, Doctor—— DR. STOCKMANN. [_Laughing._] Ha ha! just let them try—! No no, my dear, they’ll think twice about that. I have the compact majority behind me, you see! MRS. STOCKMANN. That’s just the misfortune, that you should have such a horrid thing behind you. DR. STOCKMANN. Nonsense, Katrina;—you go home and look after your house, and let me take care of society. How can you be in such a fright when you see me so confident and happy? [_Rubbing his hands and walking up and down._] Truth and the People must win the day; you may be perfectly sure of that. Oh! I can see all our free-souled citizens standing shoulder to shoulder like a conquering army——! [_Stopping by a chair._] Why, what the devil is _that_?