Among the
doctor's children was a young girl and before long Frithiof was head
over ears in love with her. He was at first ashamed of his infidelity
to his first love, but he soon came to the conclusion that love was
something impersonal, because it was possible to change the object of
one's tenderness; it was almost like a power of attorney made out on
the holder.
As soon as his guardians got wind of this new attachment, the mother
asked her son for a private interview.
"You have now arrived at that age," she began, "when a man begins to
look out for a wife."
"I have already done that, my dear mother," he replied.
"I'm afraid you've been too hasty," she said. "The girl of whom, I
suppose, you are thinking, doesn't possess the moral principles which
an educated man should demand."
"What? Amy's moral principles! Who has anything to say against them?"
"I won't say a word against the girl herself, but her father, as you
know, is a freethinker."
"I shall be proud to be related to a man who can think freely, without
considering his material interests."
"Well, let's leave him out of the question; you are forgetting, my dear
Frithiof, that you are already bound elsewhere."
"What? Do you mean.
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