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Page 36
"I have felt grieved at the thought that it might be so, nothing
further."
"Well, well, dear Ulgenie, I will release you from this burden on your
conscience."
Mr. Fabian, who always found it a difficult matter to converse long upon
a serious matter, spoke the above words in a tone of voice especially
lively, for his heart was rejoiced at the thought that now he had an
opportunity of ridding himself of an unwelcome guest, without giving
cause for any one to believe that it was his own desire to do so.
"What are you babbling about?" inquired Mistress Ulrica, sharply, "what
do you know about my nephew's affairs?"
"Nothing further than that he has had a little love affair of his own,
which occupies his attention during those solitary walks you referred to
a moment ago."
"He! Gottlieb! Has he dared to fall in love!"
"Certainly."
"Impossible!"
"But I assure you that it is true, and if you will ask him why he so
frequently visits the valley, he certainly will not deny that he goes
there for the purpose of meeting handsome Nanna, the daughter of old Mr.
Lonner. He reads poetry to her, and under the pretence of teaching her
the guitar, he finds an opportunity of pressing her pretty little white
hands."
"If that is true. If he, while he remains under my roof, enters into
such a miserable intrigue, I will--for I consider it my duty as
occupying the place of his mother--I will to-morrow morning mar his
plans. But how did you learn this?"
This was a question which Mr. Fabian could not truthfully answer, for if
he should do so, he would have been obliged to state that he, after his
disagreeable parting with Magde, had taken a roundabout path towards
Almvik, which conducted him so near the valley that he discovered two
persons sitting beneath the tree near the fountain, and that from that
day forward he had closely watched Gottlieb's movements, so that he
might be enabled to hold a weapon over the one who might perhaps be a
spy upon his own actions.
It was therefore an accident which opened Mr. Fabian's eyes to
Gottlieb's crime; but he had not wished to play the part of an accuser,
O, no, for such love affairs were common to all young men, at least he
thus assured his wife.
"Make no excuse for him, sir," interrupted Mistress Ulrica sharply,
"this indeed is excellent, and will become still richer if not prevented
in time. The reproaches of a mother on the one hand, and the curses of a
father on the other; a seduced girl, perhaps something worse; a criminal
investigation, and a scandal in which our house, and possibly
ourselves, will figure largely; all this we must expect. As true as my
name is Ulrique Eugenie, this matter shall have an end, and a speedy
end, too."
"But how will you accomplish that?" inquired Fabian.
"That I shall attend to myself. Gottlieb has said that he should like to
travel over the mountains into Norway. Now then he can go to Amal, and
from thence he may commence his journey. He shall have money, but must
obey me."
* * * * *
The following morning, after Mistress Ulrica had convinced herself by
her own eyes of the truth of her husband's report, for she followed
Gottlieb to the meadow that morning instead of taking her usual ride,
Gottlieb was summoned to her apartment, and underwent an examination
that nearly exhausted his entire stock of patience. The interview
resulted in his determination to accept his aunt's proposal, that he
should take a journey into Norway. He did not inform Nanna, however, of
the cause of his sudden departure, for he feared that it would grieve
her.
Their last interview was cheered by bright anticipations of the day when
Gottlieb should return and observe the improvement which Nanna should
make, both in her performance on the guitar, and in her education; for
when his aunt had made a contract of peace with him, Gottlieb had
insisted that Nanna should have the guitar, to which clause the old lady
consented.
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