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Page 15
"Yes; that's enough of that. Here's to your health, Christian
Frederick," broke in Uncle Richard, hastily. He was always nervous when
his brother began about business.
"That's a great big cask."
"Yes, it is a very big one."
And the two old gentlemen held out their lights towards it, and each of
them thought, "I am glad my brother does not know that the cask is
nearly empty;" for it returned a most unpromising sound when it was
struck, and the patch of moisture beneath it showed that it had
evidently been leaking for many years.
At the end of the bottle, they got up and clinked their glasses
together. They then took each his bottle of Burgundy for dinner, hung
their coats on their arms, and went up into the daylight. It was
strictly forbidden for any one to meet them when they came out of the
cellar, and Miss Cordsen had trouble enough to keep the way clear. They
presented a most extraordinary spectacle, especially the precise
Christian Frederick, coming up red and beaming, in their shirtsleeves,
covered with dust, and each carrying his bottle and his light.
An hour later they met at the dinner-table--Richard, trim and smart as
usual, with his conventional diplomatic smile; the Consul precise,
haughty, and correct to the very tips of his fingers.
CHAPTER V.
Dinner was served in the small room on the north side of the house, and
the company assembled in the two so-called Sunday-rooms, which looked
over the garden.
Mrs. Garman always dressed in black silk, but to-day she was more
shining and ponderous than usual. She had been looking forward to a nice
quiet little dinner with Pastor Martens and the new school inspector;
and now here came a whole posse of worldly minded people. Mrs. Garman
was thus not in the best of tempers, and Miss Cordsen had to display all
her tact. But Miss Cordsen had had long practice, for Mrs. Garman had
always been difficult to manage, especially of late years since
"religion had come into fashion," as the careless Uncle Richard
declared.
Mrs Garman did not really manage her own house; everything went on
without change, according to the immutable rules which had come down
from the old Consul's time, and she very soon gave up the attempt to
bring in new ideas, according to her own pleasure. But now, since she
was as it were without any positive influence, she contented herself
with saying "No" to everything that she observed the others wished to
do. In this way she acquired a kind of negative authority, for although
her "No" did not always prevail, it still seemed to give her a right to
show her annoyance, by meeting it with an expression full of unmerited
suffering and Christian forbearance.
It was thus, with this expression, that Mrs. Garman was listening to Mr.
Aalbom, the tall assistant master, who was holding forth about the
delicacy and effeminacy of the rising generation. Mrs. Aalbom sat by the
window, pretending to listen to the Consul, who was describing with
great clearness, and in carefully chosen language, how the garden had
been arranged in his late father's time. But the lady was in reality
listening to her husband, for whom she had a most unbounded admiration.
Mrs. Aalbom was extremely tall, lean, bony, and angular; her lips were
thin, and her teeth long and yellow.
The pastor and the carriage from the town had not yet arrived. The
Consul's only daughter, Rachel, was standing by the old-fashioned stove,
talking merrily with Uncle Richard, and as the door opened, and the
pastor and the new inspector entered the room, she was laughing still
more gaily, and her mother gave her a reproving look.
As this was Mr. Johnsen's first visit to Sandsgaard, Mr. Martens took
him round and introduced him to each guest in succession, beginning with
the ladies. When they came to the fireplace, Uncle Richard received them
with his usual affability; but Rachel only gave a momentary glance at
the new acquaintance, and, almost without turning her head, continued
her conversation with her uncle. To her astonishment, however, she
remarked that the strange gentleman still remained standing by her side,
and, raising her calm blue eyes, she looked fixedly at him. What
followed was for her most unusual: she was obliged to withdraw her
glance, for, contrary to her expectation, she did not find Mr. Johnsen
shy, awkward, and impressed with the strange surroundings. It was plain,
however, that he was conscious that his behaviour was unconventional,
but he did not therefore desist. This caused Rachel to lose somewhat of
her usual self-possession.
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