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Page 19
"But then, homes are so different," said Johnsen. This was the first
time he had made a remark that Rachel found rather feeble.
"Well, I don't know," cried Mrs. Aalbom, putting her head on one side
and looking up to the ceiling. "It is possible to have too much of
natural affection, mother's influence, home feeling, and that sort of
thing."
"It entirely depends what sort of home it is, Mrs. Aalbom," broke in
Jacob Worse, suddenly.
Every eye was turned upon him. He had drawn himself up, and his face was
red and his eyes gleaming.
There came a slight pause in the conversation, of which the Consul
availed himself, and, taking up his glass, he said, with a smile, "Now
we must mind what we are about. This is not the first time I have seen
Jacob Worse join in a conversation like this; and if we do not want him
to make it too warm for us, we had better change the scene of action to
another room, where we can carry on the conflict in the shade. So if the
ladies and gentlemen are of the same opinion as myself, we had better
retire."
The company broke up. Uncle Richard laughed heartily as he thanked
Worse, while they were going downstairs, for having joined in so
opportunely. Worse himself could not help a laugh, in which all joined,
except Aalbom and his wife, who were too much annoyed to do so.
Rachel was quite astonished at the anxiety displayed by her father when
Worse began to speak. She had herself once or twice heard him take part
in a discussion, and had been surprised at the way in which his feelings
suddenly seemed to get the better of him. There was, it is true, an
originality in his views; but for all that there was no reason why he
should be silent, and she thought it mean of Jacob Worse to allow
himself to be put down so easily.
During dinner Pastor Martens had made several attempts to state his
views on the subject, but hitherto without success. The others were too
much taken up with their new and interesting guest, and besides, his
neighbour fully engrossed his attention. After dinner was over, he had
again to take his place beside Mrs. Garman on the sofa, while the young
people went down to the croquet lawn, which was shaded by the dense
avenue of limes.
Mr. Aalbom was walking up and down the broad path in front of the house,
encircled by his wife's bony arm, as Mr. Delphin kindly put it, while
they were waiting for coffee. He was still annoyed at his failure, and
at the slights he had endured, and his wife was doing her utmost to
pacify him.
"How can a man of your standing bother about such nonsense? These young
upstarts will only be here for a time. They will soon make themselves
unwelcome in some way or another. There is no doubt that we are
considered superior to the rest. You must have noticed that the Consul
took me in to dinner."
"Nonsense!" answered her husband. "What have I in common with these
tradesmen and their moneybags? But for a man of my intelligence, and of
my attainments in literature and education, to have to put up with such
impertinent answers from a set of youngsters, from such--" and from his
rich _r�pertoire_ of abuse the master poured out a choice stream of
invective, which afforded some relief to his feelings.
The Aalboms lived about half-way between Sandsgaard and the town, which
had been the original cause of their being invited to the Garmans'
house.
Since then they had shown themselves such good neighbours that the
Garmans were generally glad to fall back upon them when they wanted to
get a few people together in a hurry. Mr. Garman had also assisted the
master in some unexpected difficulties he had encountered in writing a
short paper on the origin of the French language, and its connection
with history. The pamphlet was headed "For Use in Schools," but from
want of perception and appreciation on the part of the authorities, this
pearl of literature had not been taken into use in a single school in
the country.
Both the elder Garmans were in the habit of retiring to their rooms and
taking a short nap after dinner; but on this occasion they did not sleep
long, as they were engaged in talking over Madeleine's projected visit
to the town. It was arranged that she was to come in two or three days,
and have a room upstairs, close by Miss Cordsen's.
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