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Page 26
Madeleine went down with them to the town, and stayed a few days;
afterwards she paid short visits there more frequently. Fanny took her
to the few amusements the town offered, and occasionally there were
small _r�unions_ either in their own house, or in those of some of their
acquaintances. Wherever they went the two seemed to set each other off
by the wonderful contrast in their appearance, or by some coquettish
similarity or difference in their toilets.
It was the rule in the Garmans' house, that any one who was staying
there could do exactly as they liked. They could come or go, ride or
drive, just as the fancy took them. The house was so large, and there
were so many guests, and so many business acquaintances who came either
to dinner or supper, that the absence of any particular person attracted
but little attention. Madeleine, therefore, soon perceived that no one
seemed to miss her very much if she was away. Mrs. Garman was as usual
more or less peevish; and Rachel kept to herself, which Fanny maintained
was because she had taken up with a new father confessor.
The Consul was the only person who seemed to care for her, and when she
came back from a visit in the town, he would pat her on the head and
say, "Well, my dear, I am glad to see you back again."
One day, just as she was getting into Fanny's carriage to drive down to
the town, the Consul happened to pass the door.
"Are you going to run away from us again?" said he, with a friendly
smile, as he passed.
Madeleine felt she had a guilty conscience, and, after much stammering
and hesitation, she at last managed to ask her uncle if he did not like
her to go.
"Oh no! I didn't mean that," said the Consul, as he patted her on the
cheek. "I wish you always to do exactly what you like best."
As Madeleine sat in the carriage she could not help thinking that she
was one of the dullest creatures on earth. How could she be so foolish
as to imagine that any one in the house cared whether she were there or
not? More probably she was only in the way. She could not help
regretting her defective education, and a few days after, when she
returned to Sandsgaard, she noticed that her uncle did not pat her on
the cheek. The fact was, she did not yet quite understand her new life;
everything had turned out so different to what she had expected.
When Madeleine and her friend Per had met for the last time, but few
words had passed between them, but when he went down the hill towards
Bratvold, she stood gazing after him till he was out of sight. She had
then made a vow to keep true to him, no matter what her relations might
say, and she knew well enough they would all be against her; but as she
looked over the sea, she felt herself so strong and so determined, that
she could not doubt her courage and her constancy to her first love.
But now, as it so turned out, her constancy was never called in
question. She felt certain that a rumour of her connection with Per must
have reached Sandsgaard, for she well knew that there were stories
enough about her free and unrestrained life at Bratvold, and so at first
she always dreaded the slightest allusion to it. She had at the same
time quite made up her mind to confess openly how matters stood, and to
say plainly that although he was nothing but a simple peasant and
fisherman, she, Madeleine Garman, would be true to him. But in the
course of conversation she could not discover even the most distant hint
at her adventure; it did not even appear that anything really was known
about it; her past life was, in fact, never mentioned in any way, and it
seemed to be taken for granted that she could never have conducted
herself otherwise than naturally became a Miss Garman. It was this very
assumption that seemed to shake her in her resolution.
Everything about Fanny's pretty and artistic house was always kept in
the best of order. Old mahogany and horsehair were here quite
inadmissible.
The furniture, which was mostly of carved walnut, and plush, had all
come from Hamburg. _Porti�res_ hung before the doors, and the windows
and the corners of the rooms were gay with _jardini�res_, and vases
containing flowers and choice foliage plants; while small tables and
luxurious armchairs were grouped about the room. The rooms were not
large, but when all the doors stood open the general effect was very
pleasing, enhanced by its china, paintings, bright carpets, and gilded
mirrors.
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