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Page 59
At that moment he was almost afraid of her. He felt he could not remain
with her any longer, although she besought him to do so.
Fanny stood watching him as he went down the street, biting her lips to
restrain her feelings; but the tears stood in her eyes, and she kept a
convulsive hold on the curtains, behind which she was concealing
herself. For the conquest she had made, which had also on her side been
at first only mere vanity, had ended by becoming a serious matter. She
really loved him, and could now see clearly exactly how the situation
lay.
Christmas came and passed. The ordinary festivities of the season went
on as usual at the Garmans'; but this year they were less merry than
usual. There were several members of the family who each had to bear his
own separate sorrow; and little Christian Frederick, the only hope of
the family, was lying at home, slowly recovering from the measles. Uncle
Richard never seemed to gain quite his usual Christmas spirits, for
Madeleine's appearance caused him considerable anxiety. Since he had no
longer been able to keep her under his eye by means of the big
telescope, she had quite got beyond his ken amongst all the others with
whom she constantly mixed, and whenever they happened by chance to find
themselves alone together, Madeleine did nothing but cry, and that was
more than her father could bear.
Morten was dreading the settling of the year's accounts with his father.
That part of the business which was carried on in the town, and which
was regarded as a kind of offshoot from Garman and Worse, had to be most
carefully examined on account of a large amount of private business and
debts, which the son had incurred during the past year. His housekeeping
account, which his father always wished to see, had also to be worked
out carefully by itself. But the worst of it all was, that when they
were sitting together in the Consul's office, Morten could never get rid
of the feeling, that however he might twist and wriggle, the clear blue
eyes still seemed to pierce through his every manoeuvre; and the part he
had to play was very painful to him. As soon as they had reckoned up the
result of the year, the Consul put his finger on the gross receipts and
said, "These are far too small."
"Times have been very bad," answered Morten. "I feel sure that by next
year--"
"The times have not been so bad," interrupted the father, "but that a
house with the capital with which we have to work ought to have managed
to earn double. In my father's time we earned twice as much with half
our present capital."
"Yes; but times were quite different in those days, father."
"And people were quite different too," answered the Consul, severely.
"In those days we were contented to move with caution and foresight,
without ruining our credit by mixing with a lot of speculators in all
kinds of doubtful undertakings."
Morten felt the rebuke, and answered, "I did not think Garman and Worse
set such store by its credit in those days."
"The house is no longer what it has been," said the young Consul dryly,
closing the thick ledger. He then held out his hand to Morten over the
table, and said, "Best wishes for the new year."
"The same to you, father," said Morten, as their eyes met for a moment.
The young Consul thought upon the time when he himself stood where
Morten was now standing, and when the old Consul sat in the armchair.
How utterly different everything was in the old days! However, the
year's account was over, and Morten was glad of it.
After Christmas there was a succession of balls and parties in the town.
At Sandsgaard only one large ball was given every year, and that was on
the old Consul's birthday, which fell on the 15th of May.
Madeleine did not go out that winter, neither did she pay any more
visits to Fanny. Rachel was, as usual, quite incomprehensible. Sometimes
she would answer her well-known "No, thanks," and sometimes she would
take it into her head to make herself smart, go to a dance, and be
either pleasant or the contrary, just as the fit took her.
The disappointment she had experienced at the hands of Mr. Johnsen made
her more bitter than ever; but she never gave him another thought. She
had done her best for him, as she said to herself, and now that it was
over, she heard with the greatest indifference that his Bible
explanations at the prayer-meeting were so wonderfully successful; but
in her innermost heart Rachel often felt a void, which sometimes made
her uneasy. It seemed as if she was indifferent to everything. She felt
no pleasure in anything; and it was generally when she was in this mood
that she felt most inclined to go to a ball.
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