On this afternoon
Ottilia did not turn up. She wrote a chilly letter, making excuses and
winding up by saying she could see that she was not wanted. I protested
and suggested that I should go and fetch her. That made Gurli wild! She
was sure that I was in love with Ottilia and cared no more for herself.
She knew that she was only a silly girl, who didn't know anything, was
no good at anything, and--huhuhu!--could never understand mathematics.
I sent for a sleigh and we went for a ride. In a hotel, overlooking the
sea, we drank mulled wine and had an excellent little supper. It was just
as if we were having our wedding day over again, and then we drove home."
"And then--?" asked the old woman, looking at him over her spectacles.
"And then? H'm! May God forgive me for my sins! I seduced my own little
wife. What do you say now, granny?"
"I say that you did very well, my boy! And then?"
"And then? Since then everything has been all right, and now we discuss
the education of the children and the emancipation of women from
superstition and old-maidishness, from sentimentality and the devil
and his ablative, but we talk when we are alone together and that is
the best way of avoiding misunderstandings. Don't you think so, old
lady?"
"Yes, Willy, dear, and now I shall come and pay you a call.
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