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Page 32
"I did not know that Madeleine had such a concealed fund of spirits. As
a general rule, I do not much care for people who are afraid to show
their feelings."
"Afraid?" asked he, in astonishment.
"Yes; I said afraid. What else is it but want of courage which makes a
man sit down quietly and hide his thoughts, conceal his convictions,
live a false life, and play a part from morning to night? It were better
to do like your friend out there"--and she gave a toss of her head
towards Delphin--"to talk so grandly about one's principles, and to
illustrate them by paradoxes and witticisms."
Jacob Worse now saw that he had found Rachel in a more earnest mood than
he had expected.
"I have often observed," said he, seriously, "that you always think that
it is a man's duty to speak out boldly when he finds his convictions are
in danger; but allow me to explain--"
"I don't want to hear any explanations," rejoined Rachel, "and you are
not bound to give me any; but I repeat what I said. It is cowardly."
She regretted the word the moment it was spoken. She said it because she
had just used the same expression in her conversation with Johnsen; but,
however, without saying anything further, she went into the house.
Jacob Worse remained thoughtfully contemplating his cigar. At last,
then, the storm had burst. The ill humour he had so long noticed in her
had found vent. He knew she meant what she said. She thought he was a
coward. There had hitherto been a kind of friendly comradeship between
them, which excluded any attempts at courtesy. She had told him that
their friendship must be on this footing, if he wished it to continue.
He had accepted his position, and they had often talked freely together,
but latterly less than had formerly been the case.
Jacob Worse turned round, and found himself face to face with Mr.
Johnsen, who was coming up the path with his eyes fixed on the ground.
He at once perceived that here was to be found the cause for Rachel's
extraordinary conduct, and the discovery did not tend to put him in a
better humour.
Mr. Hiorth the magistrate, and Mr. Aalbom the schoolmaster, were seated
together in the old summer-house near the pond. They were generally to
be found together on these Sunday afternoons at Sandsgaard. The
opportunity for talking scandal was one not to be neglected.
Hiorth's family had been for a long time in the service of the State, a
fact of which he was not a little proud; and after his daughter's
marriage with Morten Garman, who was one of the most eligible young men
of the district, his somewhat sensitive feelings began to revolt against
the self-satisfaction which the Garman family seemed to have inherited
with their solid prosperity.
Aalbom was, therefore, not afraid to give free play to his bitter
tongue, and after a good dinner he was just in the vein for so doing.
"They are asleep," said he. "I dare bet they are both of them fast
asleep. Have you not noticed that both the Consul and his brother
disappear after dinner every Sunday?"
"Yes, I have remarked that I don't generally see them when the coffee
comes; but it is only for about a quarter of an hour," answered the
magistrate, as he brushed some cigar-ash off his coat, just where his
new North Star Order hung.
"They are not treating you properly," continued Aalbom; "especially when
Richard calls himself an _attach�_, and has some pretensions to good
manners."
"Oh! well, as far as he is concerned," answered the other, "he means to
show his contempt for people in office. Richard Garman, like all people
who have led shady lives, is an ultra-Radical."
"No doubt, sir. And I am not very certain about the Consul either; he
has no respect for a cultivated intellect."
"But can you expect anything better from a man in trade?"
"A shopkeeper, you might say," whispered Aalbom, looking cautiously
around. "There, now," he added, "I declare if it is not raining! Just
what one might have expected. We had a little sunshine in the morning,
and so of course it must rain in the afternoon. What a climate! what a
country!" and, amid a torrent of ejaculations and anathemas, they both
went hurriedly round the pond, and reached the house just as the rain
began to fall in earnest.
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