Garman And Worse A Norwegian Novel - Alexander Lange Kielland (best way to read ebooks txt) 📗

Madeleine,  Abstractedly. She Was Wondering All

The Time Where Delphin Could Have Come From So Suddenly,  When He

Appeared Close To Her And Fanny In The Crowd At The Church Door He Had

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Greeted Her In a Most Friendly Way,  But When They Got To The Carriage

They Found That Both He And Fanny Had Vanished Without Saying Good-Bye.

 

Rachel Let Her Mother Talk Away,  As Was Her Wont. She Was All The Time

Meditating On The Importance Of The Event Which Had Just Taken Place,

And Was Wondering How Johnsen Would Come Out Of It All. It Was Quite

Clear That Her Mother'S Was The Prevailing Opinion,  And It Was But Too

Probable That With Most People The Ill Feeling Would Take A Still More

Bitter Form. She Could Picture Him To Herself Calm And Steadfast In The

Midst Of It All. Here At Length She Had Found A Truly Courageous Man.

 

During Dinner Delphin Gave His Own Rendering Of Some Extracts From The

Sermon,  With As Much Spirit As His Fear Of Mrs. Garman Would Allow,  And

The Performance Afforded Uncle Richard Great Amusement. Rachel Thought

It Best To Contain Her Feelings,  For She Knew That Conversation With Mr.

Delphin On A Serious Subject Was Nothing Else Than An Impossibility.

Madeleine,  On The Contrary,  Could Not Help Laughing. She Always Found

Delphin Very Amusing,  And At The Same Time So Good-Natured. She Had

Latterly Been Almost Annoyed With Fanny Because She Treated Delphin

Coolly And Distantly. But Delphin Seemed Scarcely To Notice Her Conduct;

On The Contrary,  He Seemed Even In better Spirits Than Before. He Really

Was A Good Fellow.

 

Several People Also Thought That Morten Garman Was A Good Fellow,  To

Allow Delphin To Carry On With Fanny Without Interference. It Was Not

Easy To Know If Morten Saw Anything Or Not,  And Whether His Confidence

In His Wife,  Or His Own Bad Conscience,  Caused His Indifference.

 

Rachel Passed The Monday And Tuesday In an Anxious State Of Mind.

Something,  She Thought,  Must Happen. The Feeling Against Johnsen Was

Strong,  But It Must Surely Take Some More Decided Form. She Knew That He

Would Come To See Her,  Happen What Might,  And She Expected Him.

 

 

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Fanny And Madeleine Had Accepted An Invitation For The Wednesday In The

Same Week. Rachel Had Simply Refused Without Giving A Reason,  But People

Were Now Used To Her Manner.

 

"I Have Such A Dreadful Headache!" Sighed Fanny,  As She Came Into

Madeleine'S Room,  Who Was Getting Ready To Go Out. Madeleine Had Come

Into The Town On The Sunday Evening.

 

"Poor Fanny!" Said Madeleine,  Feelingly; "Have You Got That Headache

Again?"

 

"Yes,  It Came Just As If It Were On Purpose,  At The Very Moment I Was

Going To Change My Dress. Oh,  How Bad It Is!"

 

"I Think You Have Had A Great Many Of These Headaches Lately,  Fanny; You

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Ought To Speak To The Doctor."

 

"It Is No Use," Answered Fanny,  Endeavouring To Cool Her Forehead By

Pressing A Little Hand-Glass Against It. "The Only Thing That Does Me

Any Good Is Fresh Air And Perfect Quiet. Oh,  The Noise Here From The

Street Is Dreadful! To Think That I Have To Spend The Whole Evening In a

Hot Room! I Can'T Bear It; It Will Be Too Much For Me!"

 

"You Shan'T Go Out At All When You Are So Unwell," Said Madeleine,

Decidedly. "I Will Make Such A Nice Excuse For You."

 

"Oh,  If I Could Only Stop At Home,  Or,  Even Better Still,  If I Could Get

To Sandsgaard; It Is So Quiet There!" Said Fanny,  With A Sigh.

 

"Yes,  That Is Just What You Shall Do," Cried Madeleine. "You Take The

Carriage When It Has Left Me,  And Drive Out There. I Believe It Is

Clearing Up,  And We Shall Have A Lovely Quiet Moonlight Evening."

 

"Yes; I Don'T Much Mind What The Weather Is," Said Fanny,  With A Sickly

Smile. "But Do You Think It Will Do For Me--"

 

"You Need Not Trouble About That. I Will Make Such Charming And

Plausible Excuses For You,  That You Will Really Feel Quite Rewarded For

All The Trouble You Have Had In Teaching Me The Ways Of Society. Look

Now,  I Will Begin Like This;" And Madeleine,  Who Had Now Got On Her

Dress,  Curtsied And Smiled,  And Began A Most Pathetic Story About Dear

Fanny'S Dreadful Headache. Fanny Began To Laugh,  Until It Gave Her Head

So Much Pain That She Could Not Help Crying Out. She,  However,  Allowed

Herself To Be Persuaded,  And Madeleine Drove Off Alone.

 

Madeleine Now Began To Find Herself At Home In Her New Life. Fanny Was

So Good And Kind To Her,  That The Young Girl At Last Got The Better Of

Her Shyness,  And Told Her Friend The Whole Story About Per,  And The Rest

Of Her Doings At Home.

 

Fanny Did Not Laugh At Her In The Least; On The Contrary,  She Said That

She Quite Envied Madeleine The Romantic Little Episode,  Which Would Be A

Sweet Recollection For The Rest Of Her Life. But When Madeleine Timidly

Said That She Considered It More Than A Recollection,  And That She

Regarded Herself As Really Engaged,  She Met With Such A Determined

Opposition That She Did Not Know What To Think. "Young Girls,  Often Have

These Absurd Adventures," Said Fanny,  "When They Are Not Old Enough To

Know Better." She Had Herself Been Madly In Love With A Chimney-Sweep--A

Common Chimney-Sweep,  Just Think Of That!

 

The More Madeleine Became Accustomed To Town Life The Easier She Found

It To Deaden Her Recollections Of The Past. But However Successful She

Was In burying Them Out Of Sight For The Time,  They Would Recur Whenever

She Was Alone. But She Refused To Listen To Them; They Could Never

Become Realities. Still,  She Never Cared To Go Home To Bratvold With Her

Father,  Even For A Few Days. She Seemed To Dread Looking On The Sea

Again.

 

All That Day Rachel Had Waited In Vain; She Was Beginning To Be Uneasy.

Why Did He Not Come To See Her--She Who Had Been So Much The Cause Of

His Enterprise? He Must Know How Anxious She Was To Talk With Him,  And

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To Thank Him. It Was Surely Impossible For Him To Think That She Also

Believed That He Had Gone Too Far. Should He Not Come To-Morrow,  She

Would Write To Him.

 

There Was But Little Conversation That Evening At Dinner. The Consul Was

As Precise And Polite As He Generally Was When He Was Alone With The

Ladies. Fanny,  Who Had Come In Hopes Of Curing Her Headache,  Was Silent

And Suffering. By Ten O'Clock The Whole House Was Perfectly Quiet,  But

Rachel Was Still Sitting In Her Room,  Lost In Thought. She Could Not

Read,  But Several Times She Took Up A Pen To Write,  She Scarcely Knew

What. She Never Accomplished Her Intention,  And At Last She Put Out The

Light,  And Sat Down And Gazed Over The Fjord,  Which Lay Sparkling In The

Moonlight. If,  Forsaken By Every One,  He Now Came To Her And Prayed For

Even More Than Her Friendship,  For This Too She Was Prepared,  And Had

Finally Decided On Her Answer. He Was A Man,  And A Courageous One,  And

She Was Determined To Follow Him. What A Joy It Had Been To Her To Meet

Such A Man! But Why Was She Out Of Spirits Now?

 

Rachel Sat By The Window Till She Heard The Carriage Which Brought Home

Madeleine,  And Then Hurriedly Undressed And Went To Bed.

 

As Madeleine Was Driving Home The Carriage Stopped For A Moment In Front

Of The Club,  While A Boy Spoke A Few Words To The Coachman.

 

The Driver That Evening Was Old Per Karl,  Who Many Years Ago Had Come

From Denmark With A Pair Of Horses For The Young Consul. Both He And The

Horses Were Long Past Their Work; But Whenever He Could Get The

Opportunity,  He Was Only Too Pleased To Get The Old Blacks Into The

Carriage,  And Himself Upon The Box. This Had Been The Case This Evening,

When It Was Only The Good-Natured Miss Madeleine For Whom The Carriage

Was Going,  And She Was Always Perfectly Satisfied,  As The Old Jutlander

Well Knew,  Even If The Pace Was Not Very Terrific.

 

Per Karl Now Turned Round And Said To Madeleine,  "What Shall We Do,

Miss? Now There Will Be A Bother. Mr. Morten Is Going To Drive Out With

Us,  And When He Sees We Have Got The Old Horses He Will Be Angry."

 

A Few Moments Afterwards Morten Came Out,  And,  After Many Apologies For

The Delay,  Took His Place By Madeleine'S Side. He Said He Thought He

Would Go Out And See How Fanny Was,  She Looked So Very Unwell; And

Besides,  What A Lovely Moonlight Evening It Was For A Drive! He Sat

Himself Down Comfortably In The Carriage,  And Had Just Taken A Long

Whiff Of His Cigar,  When All At Once He Leant Forward And Said,  "Stop!

What Was That?"

 

One Of The Horses Had Made A Slight Stumble,  And The Jar Was Felt In The

Carriage.

 

"I Declare,  It Is Those Old Horses And Per Karl!" Cried Morten,  Partly

Standing Up. "What Is The Meaning Of This?"

 

"Oh!" Muttered Per Karl,  Who Was Quite Ready To Defend Himself,  "There

Is Nothing The Matter With The Old Horses; But,  Of Course,  If We Had

Known We Were Going To Have You In The Carriage,  Sir--"

 

"Rubbish! You Know Perfectly Well The Old Horses Were Not To Be Used Any

More. I Will Tell My Father,  And Have Them Shot To-Morrow,